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Benjamin Lapidus

BLUES FOR OCHUN

self-released
Release Date: April 30, 2023

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Benjamin Lapidus chats with WBUR: Boston “¡Con Salsa!” Live
Neon Jazz Interview - World-Renowned & Grammy™-Nominated Cuban Guitar Virtuoso & Scholar Ben Lapidus
Benjamin Lapidus & Group from NYC's FB Lounge - Quien Tiene Ritmo
1 Blues for Ochu´n  
2 3 for Ochu´n  
3 Cachita  
4 I Finally Realized  
5 Donna Lee  
6 Ensalada ji´bara  
7 Dulce de coco  
8 La vaina 2.0  
9 I'll Remember Compadre Pedro Juan in April  
10 Changu¨i´ Medley  
11 Yo me di cuenta  
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Latin music’s cutting-edge musician/scholar returns with Blues for Ochún, a grooving and ear-pleasing recording rooted in Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Dominican music traditions as well as jazz. The result is a deep listening experience that offers a truly unique take on Latin jazz featuring touchstyle/tapping guitar, Cuban tres, electric guitar, English, Spanish, and Yoruba vocals, a heavy helping of Afro-Caribbean percussion, and the Hammond organ he explored on his last record, Ochosi Blues. The recording’s focus on the Warr guitar, a touchstyle/tapping instrument created by Mark Warr that allows the player to perform melody, harmony, and bass simultaneously, marks the first time that a Latin jazz album has ever been made featuring this instrument. When asked to label Benjamin Lapidus’ music, critics and fans agree that it is Latin Jazz in the truest sense of the term, as Lapidus continues to explore different ways of mixing Jazz and Spanish-Caribbean music, while making the music accessible, organic, and logical. This is the direct result of Lapidus and the New York musicians involved, who are completely bi-and even tri-cultural, a benefit of being residents of the largest Caribbean city in the United States. Active in the New York Latin scene since 1995, Lapidus has made a name for himself among the elders as the go to player for long-established bands and new live and recording projects such as The Buena Vista Social Club, Jerry and Andy González, Típica 73, Larry Harlow, and many more.

Critics and fans agree that Benjamin Lapidus’ music is unique in its cutting-edge approach without sacrificing accessibility or the traditions of Spanish-Caribbean music. With Blues for Ochún, Lapidus continues his dynamic vision of bringing Spanish-Caribbean music and jazz together as equals while charting new ground and creatively altering the musical conventions of both worlds. He started on this path in his previous five releases of original compositions (1998-2005) as the leader of the world-renowned Latin jazz phenomenon Sonido Isleño, and continued with his pan-Latin jazz interpretation of the Brazilian songbook with Kaori Fujii on Garota de Ipanema for RCA-Victor Japan (2007). In 2008, he released Herencia Judía a critically acclaimed Afro-Latin Jewish recording project. And in 2014, he released the Hammond organ-based Ochosi Blues to wide critical acclaim performing the title track and other originals at Havana’s Jazzplaza Festival in 2019.

  • Benjamin Lapidus Q&A's with MODERN JAZZ TODAY
    Posted At: June 14, 2023
    MODERN JAZZ TODAY's Susan Frances writes…..Latin jazz has nurtured several generations of musicians known to American audiences, from singer, dancer, and actress Carmen Miranda in 1929 to present-day guitarist, composer, and organist Benjamin Lapidus. Most people identify Latin music from the rhythmic dance forms of samba, salsa, mambo, merengue, bossa nova, cha-cha, rhumba, pasodoble, and tango, but Lapidu...

  • Benjamin Lapidus chats with NYC's 89.9WKCR - Caribe Latino about 'BLUES FOR OCHUN'
    Posted At: June 5, 2023
    World-renowned and Grammy™-nominated Cuban tres and guitar virtuoso and music scholar Benjamin Lapidus releases his long-awaited 8th Latin jazz recording and 9th as a bandleader, BLUES FOR OCHUN. The unique album features heavyweights from the Latin and jazz worlds such as Mauricio Herrera, Willie Martínez, Jorge Bringas, Manuel Alejandro Carro, Ray “Chino” Díaz, Hector Torres, Jadele McPherson, and Paul Ca...

  • Benjamin Lapidus IMPROV EXCHANGE: Episode 118 'Fearless Beats'
    Posted At: May 30, 2023
    Benjamin Lapidus is a Grammy-nominated musician who has performed and recorded throughout the world as a bandleader and supporting musician playing guitar, Cuban tres, Puerto Rican cuatro, touch style/tapping instruments (Warr guitar and Chapman Stick), as well as organ. As a scholar, he has published widely on Latin music, and he is a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, and The Graduat...

  • Neon Jazz interviews Benjamin Lapidus
    Posted At: May 17, 2023
    World-renowned and Grammy™-nominated Cuban tres and guitar virtuoso and music scholar Benjamin Lapidus recently released his long-awaited 8th Latin jazz recording and 9th as a bandleader. The unique album features heavyweights from the Latin and jazz worlds such as Mauricio Herrera, Willie Martínez, Jorge Bringas, Manuel Alejandro Carro, Ray “Chino” Díaz, Hector Torres, Jadele McPherson, and Paul Carlon.Thi...

  • Benjamin Lapidus chats with WorldSalsaRadio about 'BLUES FOR OCHUN'
    Posted At: May 6, 2023
    World-renowned and Grammy™-nominated Cuban tres and guitar virtuoso and music scholar Benjamin Lapidus releases his long-awaited 8th Latin jazz recording and 9th as a bandleader: BLUES FOR OCHUN. The unique album features heavyweights from the Latin and jazz worlds such as Mauricio Herrera, Willie Martínez, Jorge Bringas, Manuel Alejandro Carro, Ray “Chino” Díaz, Hector Torres, Jadele McPherson, and Paul Ca...

  • Benjamin Lapidus chats with WBUR: Boston - Con Salsa! Live
    Posted At: April 30, 2023
    World-renowned and Grammy™-nominated Cuban tres and guitar virtuoso and music scholar Benjamin Lapidus releases his long-awaited 8th Latin jazz recording and 9th as a bandleader. The unique album features heavyweights from the Latin and jazz worlds such as Mauricio Herrera, Willie Martínez, Jorge Bringas, Manuel Alejandro Carro, Ray “Chino” Díaz, Hector Torres, Jadele McPherson, and Paul Carlon.Latin music’...

  • The authenticity in Benjamin Lapidus' music is ageless / jazz2love
    Posted At: April 29, 2023
    Latin music’s cutting-edge musician/scholar Benjamin Lapidus returns with Blues for Ochún, a grooving and ear-pleasing recording rooted in Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Dominican music traditions as well as jazz. The result is a deep listening experience that offers a truly unique take on Latin jazz featuring touchstyle/tapping guitar, Cuban tres, electric guitar, English, Spanish, and Yoruba vocals, a heavy hel...

  • Benjamin Lapidus releases 8th latin jazz recording and 9th as bandleader: 'Blues For Ochun' / LatinJazzNet
    Posted At: April 24, 2023
    LatinJazzNet's Danilo Navas writes…..World-renowned and Grammy™-nominated Cuban tres and guitar virtuoso and music scholar Benjamin Lapidus releases his long-awaited 8th Latin jazz recording and 9th as a bandleader. The unique album features heavyweights from the Latin and jazz worlds such as Mauricio Herrera, Willie Martínez, Jorge Bringas, Manuel Alejandro Carro, Ray “Chino” Díaz, Hector Torres, Jadele Mc...

  • Los Olvidados - The Forgotten Ones explores the unique artistic contributions in the Latin Jazz experience / 88.3WBGO
    Posted At: September 26, 2022
    WBGO's Stevan Smith writes….No matter the label (Latin Jazz, Afro-Latin Jazz, Afro-Cuban Jazz etc.) Jazz simply isn't Jazz without the scope of Latin influence that helped shaped it. As the Smithsonian National American Latino Museum takes root, advocates are quick to mention the immense scope of history this new institution must undertake. Spanning more than 500 years and 24 countries, the museum will...

  • NPR - Alt.Latino speaks with Ben Lapidus about 'New York City's influence on Latin Music
    Posted At: April 29, 2021

    NPR - Alt.Latino host and producer FELIX CONTRERAS writes.....2021 is turning out to be a good year for books about Latin music. Just last month, we featured books by Leila Cobo and Betto Arcos about Latin pop music and the communities built through these musicians. On this episode, I speak with Ben Lapidus, author of New York and the International Sound of Latin Music, 1940-1990. The deeply research...

  • Ben Lapidus | Sonido Isleno to play Paul Carlon's tribute to Billy Strayhorn
    Posted At: April 15, 2015

    Ben Lapidus will be playing NYC's Zinc Bar on Thursday April 16 with his band Sonido Isleño@Paul Carlon's tribute to Billy Strayhorn. La Rumba is A Lovesome Thing Paul Carlon's 11-piece ensemble takes you on a fantastic journey through the Strayhorn repertoire, seeing it as a vehicle for reinterpreting guaguancó, son, bomba, and timba. Featuring sultry vocals...

  • Benjamin Lapidus - Ochosi Blues / Jazz Weekly
    Posted At: October 15, 2014

    Here is a disc that will take you everywhere and back again. What a trip! Got your passport stamped? Benjamin Lapidus plays guitar and tres (a South American guitar) and mixes and matches with a rotation of drums, percussion, vocals, horns and organs on this exciting collection of jazz standards and Latin traditionals. You get bluesy grooves with guitar and B3 on pieces like "Bilongo" and "Ochosi Blu...

  • Benjamin Lapidus releases Ochosi Blues / WKCR Out to Lunch interview
    Posted At: September 5, 2014

    Benjamin Lapidus was interviewed live on WKCR: Out to Lunch on September 5 to discuss his career and his new Tresero Productions album - Ochosi Blues. Over the years, he has worked with Ibrahim Ferrer, Paquito D'Rivera, Cándido Camero, Larry Harlow, Ruben Blades, Típica 73, Bobby Sanabria, and many others.  SEE THE WKCR POST HERE...

  • Benjamin Lapidus & Kari-B3: Ochosi Blues - Latin Jazz Network: Album of the Week
    Posted At: August 27, 2014

      From the earliest times of its existence-certainly during the 1700's and the baroque era of Johann Sebastian Bach-the organ has been the principle instrument played in sacred music. Its capacity for glorious polyphony has been largely responsible for its use in praise of God's creation of the heavens and earth. So to call upon God to recall his great works was not unusual. Hundreds of years la...

  • Benjamin Lapidus - Ochosi Blues / Latin Jazz Corner 'Album of the Week' review
    Posted At: August 9, 2014

    When someone mentions Latin Jazz, specific sounds automatically pop into our heads; these are usually based on strong musical memories, but they're not the end of the story. In most cases, that sound we identify strongly with Latin Jazz is Cubop, a mixture of Afro-Cuban rhythms and bebop harmonies. There's good reason behind this connection, based on the historical foundation of the music and a g...

  • Jazz.com's conversation with Benjamin Lapidus
    Posted At: July 30, 2014

    The fusion of musical cultures stands out as one of the leading themes in the jazz world during the new millennium, yet few artists have been as ambitious as Benjamin Lapidus in bringing together diverse soundscapes. His music spans the heritage of five continents, although he is especially skilled at bringing together the currents of Latin and Jewish song under the driving influence of jazz. On his new ...
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