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New Music Critique: Ricardo Pinzon

Production7
Music7
Musicianship8
7.3

Ricardo Pinzon
Contact: [email protected]

Web: ricardopinzonmusic.com

Seeking: Review
Style: Jazz

We have a mixed reaction to recordings by guitarist-composer Ricardo Pinzon. Unlike many instrumentalists, he thankfully does not deliver an onslaught of manic virtuosity. Instead, his recordings are relaxed, expansive but, unfortunately, meandering. And it sounds as if the composer often employs digital instruments, instead of actual bandmates, and it’s a continuous distraction. That’s especially true of “Aligator,” a moody, low-key composition in which a saxophone takes flight and inspires a quickened pace. What mars this recording and the others, however, is that Pinzon’s compositions too often sound like warmups, with themes that are absent or at least elusive, leaving the listener underwhelmed.