The debut solo album from bassist
Jorge Roeder, 2020's
El Suelo Mio is literally that: an album of unaccompanied acoustic double bass performances that showcase the Peruvian jazz musician's lyrically romantic and harmonically sophisticated style. Born in Lima, Peru,
Roeder is a classically trained performer who honed his skills at both the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Since leaving school, he has earned critical praise and accolades, including taking first prize at the 2007 International Society of Bassists Jazz Competition and reaching the semifinals of the 2009 Thelonious Monk Bass Competition. He has also worked on projects with such esteemed performers as
Julian Lage,
Shai Maestro,
Ryan Keberle,
John Zorn, and others. On
El Suelo Mio, he showcases his immense control and virtuosic mastery of the acoustic bass, playing a mix of original compositions as well as a handful of finely curated standards. He recorded the album without any overdubs, choosing instead to capture the natural, woody resonance of the instrument and his ability to create harmonies by himself. There's a warmth and spacious emotionality about
Roeder's playing. It's a sound that brings to mind the work of bass icons like
Charlie Haden,
Dave Holland, and
Ron Carter, all intensely soulful players known for their own solo bass performances.
Roeder explicitly calls out the
Haden influence on
El Suelo Mio, dedicating his languid "Rambler" to the acclaimed
Ornette Coleman associate and following it with an elegiacally bowed rendition of
Coleman's "Lonely Woman." Elsewhere, he draws upon his Peruvian roots with the original "Solo Juntos," an improvisation based on Andes Mountain Huayno style. He also offers a buoyant rendition of influential Peruvian songwriter
Felipe Pinglo Alva's "El Plebeyo," and there's a joyous take on "I'll Remember April" done in an animated Latin style that's as gorgeously melodic as it is kinetic. Elsewhere,
Roeder evokes the dusky and measured dramaticism of pianist
Keith Jarrett on his own "Thing Thing" and spotlights his knack for rich polyphonic balladry on his cover of Brazilian composer
Noel Rosa's tender "Silencio de um Minuto." With
El Suelo Mio,
Roeder has crafted a solo bass album that's alluringly spare yet packed with the expansive breadth of his influences.