de Volkskrant 15 Nov, 2021

(English translation below)

In the low register of his grand piano, the Cuban-American pianist and composer Aruán Ortiz lays down a threatening bottom while he lets trills rise at lightning speed. That ominous underground alternated with staccato explosions of virtuosity sounds familiar. But only when the oud player, with his Arabic lute, exchanges melodies with Ortiz can you bring it this way. Here piano and oud have taken over the job of flamenco guitars.

Ortiz, a fixture in the New York jazz scene, was invited by the Flamenco Biennale to conduct research into the cross-fertilizations that have formed Andalusia's best-known piece of cultural heritage. In addition to the contribution from North Africa, this also includes melody lines.

Persia can be heard in the flamenco of the 19th century. Or the clap of flamenco that, shipped as a cultural stowaway from Cádiz to Cuba, took root in rumba.

For Flamenco Criollo, Ortiz wanted to bring out the different flavors from the Andalusian stew. He assembled an oud player, a cellist, African, South American, and Arabic percussion, and singers and dancers in the Verkade factory in Den Bosch.

First the parts, then the sum. Charming singing and percussion that belong to the Santería religion from Cuba open the concert. Then a duet for melancholic singing and passionate heels as flamenco singer Ismael de la Rosa and dancer María Moreno challenge each other.

It produces beautiful hybrids.

Arabic vocal lines on flamenco compás rhythms. And De la Rosa's heartbreaking duende thrives just as well on a Cuban waltz.

It makes Flamenco Criollo a musical ecumenical service where genres come together beautifully.