Jorge Roeder - El Suelo Mio (2020)

The imaginative musicality and extraordinary range of bassist Jorge Roeder – born and raised in Lima, Peru, but living in the United States for nearly two decades – can be easily discerned by the artistic company he keeps. Roeder is a longstanding collaborator of guitar-star Julian Lage, exploring a panoramic range of Americana styles in his hit band; together with Lage, Roeder also works with avant-garde maestro John Zorn as part of his New Masada Quartet. The New York-based Roeder is a key member of Israeli pianist Shai Maestro’s trio, which mixes the ethereal with the earthy. The bassist has also partnered closely with Argentinian singer-songwriter Sofia Rei, who draws on a broad palette of South American traditions, and with trombonist Ryan Keberle in his politically minded jazz ensemble Catharsis. Even with this far-reaching, well-documented experience, Roeder’s debut album of solo double-bass – El Suelo Mío, due for release via streaming, download, and CD, in July 2020 – may come as a dazzling surprise with its irresistible melodicism and rhythmic buoyancy. This ravishing collection blends the bassist’s original compositions and improvisations with deeply lyrical Peruvian and Brazilian songs, the jazz standard “I’ll Remember April” and Ornette Coleman’s ever-affecting ballad “Lonely Woman.”