Led by guitarist Gonzalo Rodriguez, Zola Quartet easily passes the difficult milestone of the second album by asserting both its identity and its great musicality. The young group, full of enthusiasm and vitality, offers jazz that is resolutely modern but strongly anchored in tradition.
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Supported by the “ça balance” program in Liège, the quartet recorded a first album, “Where we come from?” (Spookhuis, 2014). A series of concerts and festivals in Belgium followed by a tour in China gave the guitarist the impetus to continue the adventure and write a new repertoire. 5 years later, Zola quartet returns with “From Far and Near”, 8 compositions signed by Gonzalo Rodriguez.
If the leader’s Spanish roots sometimes shine through in these little miniatures, it is less through the inclusion of traditional sounds than through a certain sunshine which makes the notes dance and illuminates the melodies.
The young Mons native Mathieu Robert blows beautiful and vibrant lyrical phrases into his soprano saxophone, imbued with classical culture, which are reminiscent of Fabrice Alleman or Wayne Shorter at the time of his first recordings for Blue Note. As for the guitarist, he demonstrates fluid and agile playing based on a judicious choice of chords that we feel are more in tune with the melodic approach of musicians like Barney Kessell than with the groovy jazz of George Benson for example.
Galvanized by the particularly dynamic rhythm of double bassist Nicola Lancerotti and drummer Didier Van Uytvanck, the two soloists soar in sophisticated counterpoints or in limpid choruses which intersect like destinies with their little parts of happiness, emotion and nostalgia. And if titles like Aurora or El Olor Del Alba take us into a dreamlike world of pastel shades as elegant as they are soothing, others like Monte or Spicy Lentil favor an impressionist universe of vivacious and contrasting colors.
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