Michel Camilo and the Latin jazz trio

Latin Beat Magazine, April, 2004 by Frank M. Figueroa

The winners of the 46th Annual Grammy Awards were announced on February 8, 2004. In the category of "Best Latin Jazz Album," the choice was Michel Camilo's Live at the Blue Note. As the old Smith Barney television commercial said, "He did it the old fashioned way: HE EARNED IT." It has been a long, difficult road to the top of the jazz piano world for Michel Camilo. It started in his native country of the Dominican Republic, followed by his development as a pianist and eventually his creation of the modern jazz piano trio.

Trios have long been identified with Latin music. They first appeared during the era of the troubadours and serenaders, and remain popular to this day. Among the dozens of legendary trios are the Trío Matamoros, Trío de Johnny Rodríguez, Trio San Juan, Trío Los Panchos, Trío Vegabajeño, Los Tres Ases and Trio Tariácuri. These are all guitar-led trios with configurations ranging from one guitar and two singers to three guitarists singing in three-part harmony.

Simultaneously, in the United States, a different type of trio developed. It was composed of a pianist backed by a bassist and a drummer. The group played a style of music called jazz. In this ensemble, the pianist played the melody and improvisations, while the bass and drum provided the rhythmic background. The trio setting allowed musicians to improvise and create freely. There were neither limiting written arrangements nor interference by many other instruments. One of the earliest piano jazz trios was the JellyRoll Morton Trio organized in New York City in 1928. Since that time, there have been numerous prominent jazz trios, many of which use formal written arrangements. Some of the most notable include the ones led by Nat King Cole, Kenny Barron, Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Ahmad Jamal, Ramsey Lewis, Marion McPharland and Oscar Peterson.

The piano jazz trio came into Latin music in the 1940s with the conception of Latin jazz. Perhaps the first group of this type was the Joe Loco Trio. Thereafter many trios have been led by pianists such as Al Romero, Hilton Ruiz, Chucho Valdés, Danilo Pérez and Michel Camilo.

While many of these pianists introduced innovations of their own, none of them has modified the execution of the jazz trio as fundamentally as Michel Camilo. In order to better appreciate Camilo's contributions, we refer to respected jazz expert Jerry Jerome's classification of jazz trio interplay. He has identified three main approaches: melodically interactive, melodically non-interactive and an approach somewhere in between. In the melodically interactive approach, all three instruments provide rhythmic and melodic counterpoint for the group. At the other extreme we find the non-interactive approach in which the pianist monopolizes the spotlight while the bassist and drummer play supportive roles. The third approach is self-evident. Here the pianist is still the dominant force, but the bassist and drummer are given an opportunity to participate creatively.

The traditional Latin jazz trio generally falls in the category of non-interactive. Although the drummers and bassists are usually masters of their instrument, they are not expected to make melodic contributions. As in all cases, there may be some rare exceptions to the above.

However, Michel Camilo's trio is a phenomenon of the new millennium that belongs in the first category as melodically interactive. The trio's sound and execution is strongly influenced by Michel Camilo's classical training and his total mastery of the piano. In answer to a question about his album Triángulo, Camilo gave us an insight into how he perceives his modern jazz trio: "I always felt my trio was like a triangle. Each one of us is in charge of his own angle, his own point of view. As we play, a triangle is formed. Each one of us is holding his own corner. At some point, one of the angles becomes more important. This is the soloist at that moment. The other two angles hold their own corner, shifting forms and shapes."

The pianist loves to create special moods, asking his bassist and drummer to add textures and colors. Camilo requested his drummer Horacio "El Negro" Hernández to get two large custom-made cymbals that have a lot of shimmer and produce a unique ringing sound. The bassist is equally allowed space to exploit the full potential of the instrument.

Michel Camilo's innovations are a result of his classical music training and his thorough familiarity with the jazz idiom. He started playing piano at an early age and at five he had composed his first song. He then spent 13 years studying the piano at Santo Domingo's National Conservatory. During his formative years, Camilo patterned his playing after the great Cuban pianist Ernesto Lecuona. He admitted as much in an interview with these words: "Lecuona had a great influence on me. I owe him much for the development of my left hand playing. I have read he was a gifted interpreter of Chopin. Lecuona was one of the pillars of Caribbean piano playing who translated to the piano the rhythm of the drums and other African elements of our music."