(L-R): Chloe White, Yusa, Marina Albero, Serena, and Chris Cotton. Photo courtesy of the artist
BY NATHAN BLUFORD
Pianist and composer Marina Albero is a radiant presence in Seattle’s music community. This year, she began an exciting new life chapter by spending January through May living in New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. She designed her time in Louisiana as a musical residency focused on recording a new album. Marina being Marina, she also befriended a lengthy list of musicians along the way.
Raised among a traveling musical family in Spain, Albero quickly established herself as a critical branch in Seattle’s extended family of improvisers when she resettled here with her children in 2014. Her notable local accomplishments include serving as the piano chair at Teatro ZinZanni and presenting a concert series as the 2021 Earshot Jazz Festival’s resident artist.
Albero’s Crescent City sojourn was inspired by newfound independence. “Everything came from my youngest kid moving out. I was like, wow, I don’t need to stay in Seattle anymore – I can go places!” she recalls. “It was like a self-gift – I’ve been a musician since I was born because my family are musicians, so I never took a real break.”
With the help of some generous community fundraising, Albero secured a temporary home just a short bike ride from Frenchmen Street’s buzzing row of live music venues. Accompanied by her hammered dulcimer, a modest electric piano and her trusty keytar, she settled into a more contemplative lifestyle. “I would go out, and of course, check out concerts and meet friends, but I spent a lot of time at home just practicing and being on my own,” she describes.
Expecting boiling heat, Albero was surprised when below-freezing temperatures early in her trip led to gig cancellations and the surreal sight of a deserted Frenchmen Street. In spite of other obstacles, including the Big Easy’s world-famous potholes and its feared stinging caterpillars, she gathered momentum quickly.
New Orleans’ vibrant mixture of Black American, African, Caribbean and European musical lineages was a natural fit for Albero’s layered artistic background. Her virtuosic piano talents and gregarious personality were a hit with the city’s rich, flamboyant performance scene. Local musicians couldn’t wait to get her and her keytar on their gigs.
Meanwhile, the recording gradually grew from a planned EP to a full-length. Compositions written for a brass band were joined by compositions for a quintet and then a second quintet. With the help of her recording engineer Justin Armstrong, who built his career in Seattle before relocating to New Orleans, she booked recording dates at the Ellis Marsalis Center and Marigny Studios.
In a leap of faith, however, Albero secured the studios before the band members. As always, improvisation prevailed: an all but cinematic montage of gig sightings, family connections and other only-in-New-Orleans coincidences led her to the musicians that she needed. “I wanted it to be people that wanted to be on my recording,” she recounts. “I felt like it needed to be very organic. And it happened!”
The resulting album, which Albero named A Nomad of Sound, features nearly a dozen musicians. Among them are bassists Amina Scott and Yusa; reeds player (and sometimes-Seattleite) Rex Gregory; drummers Pedro Segundo and Jafet Perez; and trumpeter Chris Cotton, a member of the popular New Breed Brass Band. Albero’s daughter Serena sings in both quintets and wrote most of the lyrics.
Recording at the Ellis Marsalis Center, a 9th Ward music education facility for underprivileged children, meant that Albero got to record on the late master’s piano. Cotton shared that one of her compositions really captured the flow of a jazz funeral. “That made me feel very proud, that compliment,” she reflects.
Now back in Seattle, Albero is thrilled for her recording’s release, which will take place at a celebratory performance on November 3 as a part of the 2024 Earshot Jazz Festival. “I feel very, very grateful to Seattle,” she says. “I had moments where I had to weep – 80 or 90 percent of the [online fundraising] support comes from Seattle. It’s an army of love. I love how people support my music here.”
Albero’s Southern residency was only the first episode in this new, travel-oriented chapter of her musical story. July brought a whirlwind trip to New York City, and the future will hopefully bring journeys to India, Brazil, and beyond. Fortunately for her community here in Seattle, she considers herself lucky to call the Emerald City home.
