Dominican Drummer/Composer Ivanna Cuesta Releases Powerful Debut Album, "A Letter To The Earth"

The highly sought-after Dominican drummer, composer, educator, and synthesist Ivanna Cuesta Gonzalez is proud to reveal her debut album, A Letter to the Earth. This album of all original music features Gonzalez on drums and electronics, along with pianist Kris Davis, bassist Max Ridley, and tenor saxophonist Ben Solomon.

From an artist who’s been turning heads at least since her graduation from the Dominican Republic Conservatory of Music in 2015 and Berklee College of Music in 2020, A Letter to the Earth is a stunning opening salvo in service of the blue marble — our only home.

“Since I was little I always loved nature and I was surrounded by many trees, rivers, and beaches in my country, the Dominican Republic,” Gonzalez says. “But climate change is a reality, and everything that I experienced as a child has been disappearing so fast— and now, they are just memories.”

To that end, A Letter to the Earth not only keeps the memory alive; it’s a plea for humanity to reverse course, via its universal language. Eschewing any lecturing in favor of pure feeling, A Letter to the Earth is an atmospheric, evocative jaw dropper — with a cross-section of contemporary jazz’s best and brightest buoying her artistic vision.

The concept of A Letter to the Earth is a combination of free improvisation with electronic elements — all inspired by issues surrounding the dire reality of climate change.

It opens with its title track and main theme, “A Letter to the Earth,” which begins with an instrumental evocation of the elements, and gradually transitions into a haunting melody by way of Solomon. Over Davis’ piano accompaniment, his ostinato reveals itself to be the foundation of the tune — and blooms into a hopeful melody and harmony.

The shattered “Humans vs Humans” points toward humanity’s hubris, and endless zest for destructive “advancement.” “The power of technology has deprived us of our personal lives,” Gonzalez states. “[Oftentimes] there is no real bond of love or empathy between humans, but just the rush of being ‘connected.’”

As such, the intro is a combination of free improv between the sax and piano over a written melody, then progresses into a broken feel groove — leading to what Gonzalez characterizes as “the acoustic and electric fine balance between the simple and the complex.”

“Ongoing Cycles” concerns itself with cycles and their repetitions. “It can be attributed to life processes that do not always start at the right time, but do their job at the right time,” Gonzalez says astutely. “In this song, the piano introduces an idea that moves, giving the other instruments the opportunity to coexist together — thus forming a repeating cycle.”

The penultimate track, “Duality,” features an astonishing push and pull between Gonzalez and Davis, underscoring the essential yin and yang of all things under the sun. And the minute-and-change closer, “Este Lugar” — translated to “in this place,” or “on this spot” It is a message of reflection and personal thoughts about her relationship with the earth — features a heartfelt voiceover from guest Pauli Camou over Gonzalez’s glacial, droning electronics.

A Letter to the Earth can be appreciated either on a messaging level or as pure sound — after all, Gonzalez has composed music for film. “I tried to use some elements of those styles in a way that the composition can be more as a journey,” Gonzalez concludes. “[My accompanists] knew what to play and respected my vision, but also brought great ideas that elevate everything for the better.

And with that, may this heartfelt Letter find you well. 

Guitarist/Compser/Multi-instrumentalist Max Kutner Releases New Trio Album "Partial Custody" featuring Tubist Ben Stapp and Percussionist James Paul Nadine

Partial Custody, the latest project and album from Brooklyn-based composer and multi-instrumentalist Max Kutner, is ultimately about impressions and experience. In sound and practice, this debut recording from his new trio represents a unique evolution in Kutner’s artistic vision. By incorporating more repetitive, trancelike open forms, Kutner is able to better immerse listeners in the full experience of his fantastical sound-world. That said, fans of the more familiar qualities of his work thus far — namely collisions of intricate, math-y jazz, process music and post punk — will reap many rewards from this adventurous collection of tunes.

In mid-2022, Kutner became interested forming a new band involving tuba and drums. This coincided with meeting two of the most inventive and sympathetic musical personalties working in the greater NYC creative community in tubist Ben Stapp and drummer James Paul Nadien. William Parker once called Stapp “a low-brass hero who creates beautiful full-range tuba sounds that make you love the instrument and the musician...and reinvented many aspects of tuba playing regarding the sounds, colors and textures.”

Throughout Partial Custody, Stapp provides grounding bass, singular solos and a menagerie of extended sounds including using mouthpieces from different instruments, electronics and even vacuum attachments. Nadien is a likewise widely renowned member of multiple music scenes with an inimitable combination of boldness, physicality and humor behind and around the drum-kit. Fresh chemistry between the trio was immediate and the music on Partial Custody represents the evolution of that chemistry since the group’s inception. The set is also an exploration of Kutner’s recent considerations of group dynamic interplay through limitations of form and greater sharing of ideas in real time.

Regarding adopting the name Partial Custody, Kutner explains: “That phrase has been in my vocabulary since I was a small child experiencing it in the most familiar sense (pun intended). In a similar sense, the dissolution of previous bands that I helped form or lead over the past decade left a similar feeling of failure or incompletion .Thus, I always associated the term with negativity and conflict. Full disclosure: I’m a bit of a control freak when it comes to my music. For this project, I wanted to experiment with the concept of “partial custody" as a composition tool by creating a platform and context for the group to explore and develop together, which is a different focus from my previous efforts. It became apparent throughout the process that coming at writing like this rejuvenated my interest and inspiration musically without feeling like a hinderance. This is not to say that there is a total absence of more through-composed pieces on Partial Custody but I wanted to see if I could still create music that reminds me of my tastes and thoughts while having openness being more of a feature this time.”

Partial Custody is a vast, multi-fared aural world that moves through novel settings like kaleidoscopic roller coaster. Kutner has said before that he approaches full length albums as compositional forms; carefully curating the material and tone of each original - and also a cover of Brian Eno’s “Bone Jump” - included so as to give a sense of the album as a piece in itself. In that respect, Kutner has layered various guitars, synthesizers and found sounds in each of the seven tracks that adds a dense, psychedelic quality which is particular and undeniably individualistic. Driven by an unbridled, brightly-colored and ever bold zaniness, the group commits fully to whatever setting they happen to find themselves in from the dour, jazz-tinged opener "Whatever Else the News Has Planned" through the Zappa-esque twists and turns of “Exaggeration Holmes" and even to extended, meditative places on “The Bell Mimic” and “Dancing to the Dead Beat”. In line with the writing, Kutner made the decision to only rarely interfere by editing the open performances, displaying the truth of the group’s vibe in all of its chaotic glory. As a result, most of the pieces here exceed six minutes with the final track “Jet Plane” clocking in at over 24 minutes.

Partial Custody is a gargantuan statement that showcases the ever developing voice of a highly unique, driven artist possessing a novel perspective on what that role means in the modern world. Kutner wears the influence of countless heroes on his sleeve at all times (The Mothers of Invention, Magic Band, Carla Bley, Oingo Boingo, Wayne Shorter, Lightning Bolt, Deerhoof, Bela Bartok, Weather Report Mike Keneally, Nels Cline and more) while also providing sonic flavors found only here. He has been featured on prior Orenda Records releases from Evil Genius, Android Trio and Joe Santa Maria. In line with the visionary approach to the writing and conception of the album, Kutner has opted to physically release Partial Custody on unique media in lieu of discs or LPs. Buyers will receive a QR code-stamped casino chip that links directly to a download of the tracks along with a small, foldout poster of the album art from Sunny Allis and Animoscillator. 

LA-Based Saxophonist-Composer Joe Santa Maria Issues His “Sonic Autobiography,” The Bold and Wildly Imaginative Echo Deep

Joe Santa Maria, a fiery alto saxophonist with a strongcommand of post-bop vernacular, took a detour from earlier acoustic jazz releases The Illustrated Man (2012) and Introspection (2014) when he made Creature (2016), an absorbing, otherworldly set of electronic tracks and experimental woodwind sounds and improvisations. His new release, Echo Deep, has a foot in both these worlds, in a sense: a sonically exploratory solo voyage, though one involving other players in a plethora of roles.

“Scenes from the album are drawn from my earliest memories of sound, beauty, and humor as well as from challenging and triumphant moments in my teenage and post-college years,” Santa Maria explains. “Travels to Indonesia, Mexico, South America, and a seven-year stint living in Boston and NYC all have scenes to play on this record, which took nearly 10 years from inception to completion. The melodies and rhythms are meant to be cyclical and trancelike.”

Santa Maria holds a BFA from Berklee College of Music, an MFA from CalArts and a diploma from Houston’s famed High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (alma mater of Beyoncé, Robert Glasper, Chris Dave, Eric Harland, Kendrick Scott and countless others). “At CalArts I was welcomed into a very special and creative Los Angeles community,” he recalls. “I studied gamelan music, culminating in a trip to Bali to learn and perform an epic piece by ear. I studied African and Indian rhythmic techniques. I spent time writing and searching for a compositional voice in jazz and other genres. I had more time to work on my doubles and progressed in my flute and clarinet playing. I also started playing soprano and baritone saxophones regularly and began to deviate from only playing alto.”

Echo Deep finds Santa Maria placing these varied influences and experiences in captivating dialogue, conjuring reeds, brass and strings in varied aesthetic combinations and soundscapes. It is, quite simply, his “sonic autobiography.” Contemporary chamber music, electronica, Brazilian brass ensembles, Balkan music and other inspirations creep in, almost imperceptibly in a music that falls beyond genre. “Growing up playing in the forests and lakes of Michigan influenced the track ‘Soap Box,’” Santa Maria says, “drawing on years of enjoying string and folk music on Midwestern public radio as well as idyllic seasonal weather. ‘Apix Groob,’ a favorite of mine, reflects on a later period in high school when I was listening to Aphex Twin as regularly as John Coltrane and Thelonious Monk, andexperiencing many exciting trips and early life lessons.”

The piccolo and reed sonorities of “Pathways 1” were inspired by the flute music of Bali yet have a grand, almost organ-like quality here. “Pathways 2,” by contrast, has its origin in Mozart, with “a feeling of ascending and falling” and a growing density throughout. “Mad Max” and “Play Play” are more fiercely percussive, the former with irregular, machine-like rhythms, recalling dystopian cyberpunk scenes like “the pizza delivery driver from the beginning of Snow Crash,” Santa Maria offers, “or maybe a chase scene from Akira.” “Play Play” is less angular but still full of tension and dissonance, facilitating a nasty alto solo on an otherwise non-alto-centric release.

Although Echo Deep is a solo outing, the massed instrumental forces at times give it a big-band energy, as unconventional a band as that might be. “Lullaby” is a tableau of “a plane over water,” says Santa Maria, with “an endless soft sunset and a tired moment on a journey.” “On the Water” has a beautifullyplainspoken trumpet melody, with a striking blend of synth and horns thickening the middle section. And “Where’s Annie,” the finale, has a Twin Peaks inspiration, opening with strings before grinding into slow funk anchored by bass clarinet and trombone, not to mention atmospheric voices and surrealist noise. “Try listening at different times of day, in different situations, or sound systems,” muses Santa Maria as he sends this dazzling “sonic autobiography” out into the world.

In addition to his solo work, Joe Santa Maria performs and records with famous rock acts including Airborne Toxic Event, Daniel Platzman (Imagine Dragons), Django Django and Vampire Weekend. He has played with jazz greats Danilo Perez, James Moody, Jason Moran, Joe LaBarbera, Larry Koonse, Roy McCurdy, Vinny Golia, Kim Richmond, Bill Holman, Ron King and more, performing at The Blue Whale, Vibrato, Sam First, Disney Hall, The Greek Theater, The Lighthouse and other top LA venues. He is a member of multiple creative ensembles including the Joey Sellers Jazz Aggregation and The Lauren Baba Orchestra.