Cuban Pianist/Composer Dánae Olano to release “Children’s Corner,” her debut recording from Lulaworld Records
“Danae Olano represents the future of the music”
–Felix Contreras, NPR
About the Recording
Presenting the inaugural full-length album from the Danae Olano Trio, a collection comprising nine songs that signify the artist’s first venture into bandleading. This album symbolizes the culmination of her artistic evolution since she relocated from Cuba to the multicultural city of Toronto in 2016. The central theme of this project revolves around capturing her original compositions, seamlessly merging a diverse range of musical styles that have influenced her during her Canadian journey, including jazz, classical, and Afro-Cuban traditions.
From a track titled “This City,” born from the simple act of strolling through downtown Toronto, to other compositions that accentuate the fusion of jazz and Olano’s Cuban heritage, rooted in the legacy of Cuba’s esteemed “Great Masters of the Piano” and enriched with Afro-Cuban rhythms, there is a conviction that this album has the potential to create a substantial artistic influence, resonating not only within Canada,but also across the global stage. The album features worldwide known musicians such as Jane Bunnett on flute, drummer Horacio el Negro Hernandez, singer Joanna Majoko, among others.
About the Trio
Havana-born pianist and composer Dánae Olano is known across North America and internationally as a founding member of the all-female Afro-Cuban band Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, which since its formation in 2013 has earned a Juno Award and been nominated on one other occasion, as well as earning a Grammy nomination. She is the band’s pianist and sings, composes, and arranges for this renowned ensemble. Dánae has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious jazz clubs, including Birdland, The Blue Note and Bimhuis as well as at top American festivals such as the Monterrey, Newport and Saratoga Jazz Festivals in addition to Jazz al Parque in Bogota, Colombia and JazzAhead (Bremen, Germany). In 2018 she shared the stage with pianists Jason Moran, James Francis, Booker T. Jones and Jane Bunnett as part of NPR’s Jazz Piano Christmas” which was hosted by Felix Contreras at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Dánae’s own project focuses on the roots of Cuban piano, and explores the legacy of the Master of Jazz Music.
Amhed Mitchel is a Cuban-Canadian drummer who calls Toronto home since 2006. As a session musician Mitchel has collaborated with a vast amount of artists. In 2004 he was part of the closing concert of the Tokyo Jazz Festival where he shared stage with such musical icons like the great Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, Dianne Reeves and Leonel Loueke.
Amhed continues to collaborate and record with renowned artists from the music scene. These include multiple Juno Award winners and Grammy- nominated figures such as Jane Bunnett and Hilario
Duran, the highly successful singer-songwriter Marc Jordan, Shawn Kellerman, the eminent Lucky Peterson, Jordan John, among others.
Born in Holguin, Cuba, bassist Roberto Riveron was a founding member of the legendary Cuban group Klimax, playing and contributing compositions to the ground- breaking ensemble’s first four CDs. He can be heard on Isaac Delgado’s 2001 Grammy-nominated album La fórmula. He is a Latin Grammy-winner as part of the compilation La rumba Soy Yo which was recognized in the
folk category that same year.
Roberto worked with the Grammy Award-winning Cubanismo! led by Jesus Alemañy for more than six years, touring in Japan, The United States, Australia, Asia and Canada. Riveron has performed and recorded with international artists Poncho Sanchez, Chucho Valdez, Ricardo Lemvo and Harold Lopez Nussa as well as Canadian luminaries Hilario Duran, Jane Bunnett, Amanda Martinez, OKAN Penderecki String Quartet and Alexis Baro, to name a few.
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