Harold Lopez-nussa Trio at Kuumbwa Jazz Center

Cuban pianist Harold Lopez-Nussa is among the brightest stars in the new wave of clave-based jazz artists taking Latin jazz in a new direction. His performance on the American-Cuban collaborative project Ninety Miles in 2011 with Stefon Harris, Christian Scott, and David Sanchez signaled the arrival of a new talent. An excellent composer—as well as an excellent pianist—Nussa has put together an incredibly exciting duo with his gifted younger brother, Ruy Adrian, who plays drums, vibraphone, and percussion. Aside from his sophisticated piano style, it is Lopez-Nussa’s fully realized compositional skills that set him apart from his musical peers...

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Cuban pianist Harold Lopez-Nussa is among the brightest stars in the new wave of clave-based jazz artists taking Latin jazz in a new direction. His performance on the American-Cuban collaborative project Ninety Miles in 2011 with Stefon Harris, Christian Scott, and David Sanchez signaled the arrival of a new talent. An excellent composer—as well as an excellent pianist—Nussa has put together an incredibly exciting duo with his gifted younger brother, Ruy Adrian, who plays drums, vibraphone, and percussion. Aside from his sophisticated piano style, it is Lopez-Nussa’s fully realized compositional skills that set him apart from his musical peers. His vision for pulling together jazz, classical and traditional Cuban styles, melding them into a refreshing sound has won Harold an international fan base. The duo with his younger brother, percussion phenomenon Ruy Adrian Lopez-Nussa (also a composer), is nothing short of explosive. Their piano and drums/vibraphone format allows for an instantaneous, dynamic interplay between the two young musicians that keeps everybody on their toes. Soulful melodies and powerhouse rhythms mix with transcendent balladry. If anyone thinks Latin-jazz as a creative vehicle has “played itself out,” the Harold Lopez-Nussa Trio offers evidence quite to the contrary. In their hands, Latin-jazz is just getting started. All About Jazz.com praised Nussa’s most recent recording, New Day, exclaiming, “New Day provides an example of what is fresh and vital in Latin jazz.”

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