Kemuel Roig: Both Sides Now
Kemuel Roig was born in Cuba, began playing piano when he was four, and at eight was studying classical piano and percussion at
the National Vocational Art School. After moving to Miami with his family in 2002 and discovering jazz in his mid-teens he got a master’s degree from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami and worked and toured with trumpeter Arturo Sandoval (2010–18) and guitarist Al DiMeola (2018–20). He has also worked with Brian Lynch, Chris Potter, Randy Brecker and Giovanni Hidalgo.
With its blend of Roig’s Cuban heritage, his classical training and a sense of quiet introspection, Both Sides Now offers the listener a solo piano album of exceptional beauty. What sounds effortless over 84 minutes is actually a combination of some important and carefully selected ingredients – Kemuel’s musical skills and knowledge that have been honed over the years (but he’s still under 40), the selection of strong material from some of the very finest composers of popular song, and performing the music on a wonderful sounding Steinway piano. The engineering of the album, by Roig and producer Gary Galimidi, is also worth mentioning as this adds an intimate atmosphere to the listening experience.
On the one hand, it is possible to argue that few musicians could go wrong choosing songs by the likes of Paul McCartney, Jimmy Rowles, Joni Mitchell and Michel Legrand. On the other, the material is so well known that slipping into cliché and wringing too much emotion from it is a danger. Roig side-steps the latter, offering nuanced, delicate interpretations of the songs that never sound false. Every note is considered and there is a freshness and honesty to be heard. Amongst the many gems on offer my favourites included a lovely version of How Can I Be Sure, originally recorded by the Young Rascals for their 1967 album Groovin’, and a brooding yet delicate interpretation of Billie Holiday and Arthur Herzog Jr’s song Don’t Explain. Both Sides Now is built on technical brilliance and a theoretical knowledge of music but it is performed from the heart and soul, and that makes Kemuel Roig’s album a joy to hear.
Discography
Junk; How Can I Be Sure; The Peacocks; Solamente Una Vez; I Love You; Bésame Mucho; Both Sides Now; Don’t Explain; Contigo Aprendí; My Romance; Esta Tarde Vi Llover; Windmills Of Your Mind; The Peacocks (bonus track) (84.00)
Kemuel Roig (p), 19 Oaks Studios, Miami, FL, January 2026.
Life In Music LIM 202605
The Phoenix Trio: Tomorrow Is Today
There are a few bands out there called The Phoenix Trio. Not to be confused with the trio that performs classical music and other trios operating under the same moniker, this Phoenix Trio is newly risen and comprises Mark Turner, Joe Martin and Marcus Gilmore. Tenor saxophonist Turner is no stranger to the pianoless format, having been in the Fly trio with Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier. Indeed, the music served up by The Phoenix Trio is reminiscent of tracks performed and recorded by Fly.
Recorded live in New York in 2025, the six tracks are long and explorative in nature, with four penned by bassist Joe Martin, one by drummer Gilmore and one from Turner. The Fencer opens the set, with Martin laying down a bass line that reminded me of Art Pepper’s pulsing Red Car. There is a “sort of” tribute to trumpeter Tom Harrell with 1946 (the year of the trumpeter’s birth), which is loosely based on his composition Helios. Tomorrow Is Today is an album full of hard-edged music that is sometimes difficult to warm to. There are quiet moments, but the overall mood of things sounds urban, sharp-edged and slightly inaccessible. Safe closes the album, developing from an extended Gilmore drum solo which builds with frenetic bass and saxophone from the other members of the trio. It is technically accomplished for sure, but for me the only warmth in the album stems from the name the band has chosen. The content itself left me cold.
Discography
The Fencer; Lioness; 1946; Harvest; Tomorrow Is Today; Safe (65.40)
Mark Turner (ts); Joe Martin (b); Marcus Gilmore (d). Live at Ornithology Jazz Club New York, 23-24 March 2025.
Giant Steps Arts GSA 20
Matthew Stevens: Matthew Stevens
“I have never been more in touch with myself artistically, which is why this album is self-titled,” explains guitarist Matthew Stevens about this release. His website provides useful and detailed information about how the eponymous album is a culmination of around 20 years’ work as a producer and sideman, and it also explains the diverse range of sounds that can be heard across the 10 tracks. Anyone listening to just the first and last tracks that bookend the album would gain a false impression of what is on offer musically. That is because these tracks, Take Heart and The Air Is Thick, are frenetic, distorted compositions, with the instruments sounding like they have been bent and twisted to produce a soundscape that is alien and quite cold.
The warmer, melodic heart of the album is to be found in the middle tracks, where Stevens works with some other musicians to change the mood. 1000 Times, Edgewood and Who Does She Hope To Be? edge the dial towards the mellower end of the spectrum and the lovely Alberta, with intimate, almost whispered vocals from Anna B Savage, takes things towards the direct simplicity and honesty of the folk ballad. A mixed bag then, revealing the full range of compositions and musical textures that Matthew Stevens feels completely at home with at this stage of his career.
Discography
Take Heart; Hazy (Intro); Hazy; SMLS; 1000 Times; Edgewood; Who Does She Hope To Be? Born Of Silence; Alberta; The Air Is Thick (44.54)
Stevens, Jeff Parker (g); Joel Ross (vib); Chris Fishman (kyb); Kyle Miles (b); Josh Johnson (as); Eric Doob, Terri Lyne Carrington (d); Paulo Stagnaro (pc); Rich Hinman (pedal steel); Dylan Day (slide guitar); Corey King, Anna B Savage (v). Los Angeles, 8-10 May 2025.
Candid Records CAN3355