SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum)

Album review

Madrid-born, New York-based pianist Marta Sánchez explores the complex duality of her identity on her engaging fourth album and third with her quintet, 2022's SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum). The record's title is a wry play on the Smithsonian American Art Museum and one that exemplifies Sánchez's goals in bridging both her Spanish roots and status as one of the leading lights of the New York contemporary creative music scene. Joining her is her quintet featuring longtime associate Roman Filiu on tenor saxophone, along with altoist Alex LoRe, bassist Rashaan Carter, and drummer Allan Mednard. Together, they play with a quiet intensity marked by knotty post-bop improvisation, polyphonic group interplay, and Sánchez's compositions that artfully weave together modern jazz, folk, and classical traditions. As a pianist, Sánchez favors shimmering arpeggios and moments of cascading contrapuntal harmonies, as on the opening "The Unconquerable Vulnerable Areas," in which she sets up the song's roiling groove with a dancerly piano riff. While her own improvisations bring to mind the chamber introspection of players like Dave Brubeck and Carla Bley, her bold use of a two-sax frontline also recalls the similarly cerebral work of pianist Lennie Tristano's '60s group with saxophonists Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz. It's a vibe Sánchez evokes throughout, as on the delicate "If You Could Create It," her lyrical piano lines spiraling against Filiu and LoRe's dual-sax melody. Sánchez strikes ever more personal tones throughout the album, as on "Marivi" a poetic ballad written for her mother, who died while in lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic. Sung in Spanish by vocalist/guitarist Camila Meza, and featuring gorgeous improvisational flourishes from trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, the song, as with much of SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum), is a poignant expression of Sánchez's grief, as well as her bold, boundary-pushing musical identity.

© Matt Collar /TiVo