Whaddya mean you don't know Matías Pizarro

Chilean pianist Matías Pizarro issued Pelo de Rata (Rat's Hair) in 1975, just before joining Jorge López Ruiz's Viejas Raices.

Here's the scoop...

Hey, there's this new guy around that plays like Herbie Hancock!!". When Chilean pianist Matías Pizarro arrived in Argentina fleeing Pinochet's dictatorship, word spread like wildfire in the local jazz scene. 

In the two short years that Pizarro spent in Buenos Aires, he became one third of the Viejas Raíces project alongside local jazz heroes Jorge López Ruiz and Pocho Lapouble, recorded with famed Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava and released his own solo album, Pelo de Rata ("Rat's hair"). 

Pizarro was no beginner though. Whilst in Chile he had already participated in several music projects and worked as a producer and arranger for the IRT label, and was connected to influential bands such as Los Jaivas and Blops. He had also studied in the Berklee School of Music where he not only met and lived with the cream of an emerging new wave of musicians, but he also had the chance to attend live performances of giants such as Miles Davis or Thelonious Monk. 

In the recording of "Pelo de Rata" Pizarro is joined by fellow Chilean Alejandro Rivera (Sacros, Grupo Sol) on quena and charango, Swedish bassist Bo Gathu on bass, Uruguayan saxophonist Finito Bingert and an impressive percussion team featuring Pocho Lapouble, "El Zurdo" Roizner and the mighty Domingo Cura. The album draws from the US jazz fusion currents of the time (think Chick Corea and Miles Davies), adding an undeniable Latin American character, all projected through Pizarro's own musical prism which displays his acute sense of harmony and a musical intimacy that reminds of those sincere, dreamy moments in Viejas Raíces. 

The 8-page booklet that accompanies the vinyl edition will give you a deeper insight into the story of Matías Pizarro, with previously unseen pictures and liner notes by Argentinean journalist Humphrey Hinzillo (La Nación , Rolling Stone Argentina). 

Credits:

MATÍAS PIZARRO: piano and voice 

ALEJANDRO RIVERA: guitar, charango, quena and voice 

HÉCTOR "Finito" BINGERT: saxophone 

POCHO LAPOUBLE: drums 

BO GATHU: bass 

DOMINGO CURA: percussion 

ENRIQUE "El Zurdo" ROIZNER: percussion 

You can get a copy of AlterCat's reissue of Matías Pizarro's Pelo de Rata album via Bandcamp right here. 

Argentinian jazz-funk gem from Viejas Raices finally gets reissued

Bass boss Jorge López Ruiz cut his sought-after Viejas Raices LP with Pocho Lapouble & Matías Pizarro back in 1976. 

Here's the scoop from Altercat Records...

The trio known as Viejas Raices that recorded this album consisted of Jorge López Ruiz along with his life-long friend drummer Pocho Lapouble and gifted Chilean pianist Matías Pizarro. Together they created a thrilling blend of jazz and Uruguayan candombe, surrounded by an undeniable cinematic feel spurred by López Ruiz’s long experience in the soundtrack field. When read as one element, the cleverly chosen combination of group name and album title 'De Las Colonias Del Rio De La Plata' (in English: ‘Old Roots of the Colonies of the River Plate’) readily hints at the kind of sounds the listener will be challenged with when diving into this LP.

Recorded in 1976 in the wake of the “Proceso de Reorganización Nacional”, the bloodiest period of dictatorship in Argentina, the album was initially frowned upon by critics and public alike, both still firmly rooted in jazz traditionalism and obviously not ready for the new ideas that musicians like López Ruiz were experimenting with. Despite being a commercial flop upon its release, the album has been enjoying a growing reputation over the last two decades, acclaimed by jazz enthusiasts who value it from a different historical perspective and embrace its experimentation during this revolutionary period of change.

Forty-five years after its release, the album receives the Altercat treatment with a much deserved deluxe reissue, with sound direct from the master tapes and an accompanying eight page booklet with previously unpublished pictures and bilingual liner notes telling everything you ever wanted to know about the album and those who made it possible.

Get a copy of the Viejas Raices reissue directly from Berlin's Altercat Records right here. Listen to "O'placar" and "Los Berugos Wor" below. 

Happy Birthday Jorge López Ruiz!

Remembering the great Argentine composer/bassist Jorge López Ruiz with 1967's El Grito and 1975's Viejas Raices.