TONY MADRUGA: Compilation by CB

TONY MADRUGA
Eu já havia ouvido falar dele, mas não conhecia pessoalmente Tony Madruga, um senhor pianista, tremendo músico profissional, de apenas 14 ANOS DE IDADE. Há poucas semanas fui convidado pelo meu amigo Goetz Kujaks, baterista alemão radicado em Miami (e que já morou no Brasil, onde gravou com Delia Fischer), para assistir
a um concerto do trio de Tony, com Gaby Vivas no baixo e o próprio Goetz na bateria. E o menino é mesmo um assombro: não se trata de um daqueles "meninos prodígios chatos", mas de um músico maduro, com postura profissional. Aliás, como se constata em sua biografia abaixo transcrita, entre seus maiores admiradores se inscrevem Paquito D´Rivera, Arturo Sandoval e Danilo Perez. Portanto, com esse aval, não preciso dizer mais nada.

(*) A boa nova em Miami é que, apesar da crise - (ou por causa dela, quem sabe?) - os donos do "Van Dyke´s Cafe" decidiram promover a volta do jazz "upstairs". O Trio de Tony lá tem se apresentado regularmente.
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TONY MADRUGA (Antonio Madruga )
Antonio Madruga was born on July 2, 1994 in Pembroke Pines, Florida, from Cuban parents immigrants who came to the U.S. Antonio, or “Tony” as he is known by many, has grown up in a home environment where music is appreciated. His father played the trumpet during his youth and is jazz enthusiast. His mother, who does not have a musical background, also appreciates music and exposed Tony to Classical, Jazz and
Rhythm & Blues by placing headphones on her abdomen for many hours a day before Tony was born. From age three, Tony began to demonstrate a keen ear for music and began formal piano lessons at age five. At age six, he began to attend the Keyboard for Kids program at the University of Miami. By the age of eight, Tony was earning awards in local talent events. He also started performing in many different public venues such as Heidi’s Jazz Club, the Cocoa Beach Jazz Festival. In the latter part of 2004, Tony had the good fortune to meet Giselle Brodsky, the Artistic Director and Founder of the Miami International Piano Festival and Founder of the Patrons of Exceptional Artists. Since then she has been teaching him the Taubman approach which has made a marked difference in Tony’s performance ability and style. To her credit, Tony has also gained a greater appreciation of Classical music and looks forward to participating in musical events under her direction. Giselle Brodsky also introduced Tony to the internationally recognized pianist/conductor William Noll. Maestro Noll a virtuoso in both classical and Jazz genres and has graciously being teaching Tony.
These opportunities are providing a solid well rounded music foundation. He is now a full-time student at the New World School of Arts in Miami. In 2005, Tony made is first appearance at the Miami International Piano Festival as part of William Noll’s lecture on “The Art of Solo Jazz.” In July of 2005 Tony performed at the Miami International Piano Festival in Lecce, Italy. He participated in a Master Class on July 23, 2005 at the Golandsky Institute Symposium in Princeton, NJ and later that evening he was invited to perform with Jazz pianist Danilo Perez. He was featured in JAZZIZ” Magazine in October 2005. He made his solo debut for the Miami International Piano Festival at the Lincoln Theater, Miami Beach in May of 2006. He was invited to be a guest performer at Bill Charlap’s Master Class at the 92Y Jazz Festival in
Manhattan in July 2006. He was featured in HBO’s Family Special entitled “The Music in Me.” In January, 2006 he was a guest of Danilo Perez at the Panamanian Jazz Festival. In Panama he was a huge success which resulted in an invitation, by owner James Browne, to perform with his trio at one of New York’s top Jazz club SWEET RHYTHM. As a result of his overwhelming reception he was asked to perform a
second night. That night the world renowned Jazz/Classical artist Paquito D’Rivera made a guest appearance with Tony which resulted in several collaborations. In June 2007 Tony was awarded the prestigious DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE student award for outstanding classical solo performance and outstanding jazz performance. In September, 2007 Tony was invited to perform at the Duke Ellington Jazz festival in Washington D.C., where he was a special guest of Paquito D’Rivera at the Voice of America tribute. On December 8th, 2007 Paquito invited Tony to perform at Carnegie Hall to be part of a tribute for him sponsored by the Cuban Cultural Center
of NY. In January of 2008 he appeared at the Punta Este Jazz Festival in Uruguay with Paquito D’Rivera and with his trio. On February 2, 2008 he was a special guest of Paquito D’Rivera at the Gusman Hall in Miami. In June 2008 he was a guest of Paquito D’rivera and Arturo O’Farill at Birdland. In August 2008 Tony made a
debut appearance at the Van Dyke Café with his quartet in South Beach. He appeared for 4 nights at the Dizzy Coca Cola Club in NYC in December, 2008. Tony is greatly influenced by Jazz Greats such as Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum, Gene Harris, Danilo Perez, Bill Charlap, Bill Evans Tommy Flanagan, Bebo and Chucho Valdez, Charlie Parker, Paquito D’Rivera, Dizzy Gillespie, Ira Sullivan, Tito Puente and many more. However, with his new found passion for Classical music, the works of Liszt, Chopin, Bach, Brahms and Lecuona are among his favorite. His favorite Cuban Classical
Pianist are Jorge Luis Prats, Jorge Bolet and Ernesto Lecuona.
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ALBUM REVIEW
TONY MADRUGA did not record any CD, yet. So I´ve converted some youtube videos to MP3 and made this compilation. The quality isn´t that good but, anyway, it´s fair enough to show Tony´s artistry.
(CB)
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MINHA OPINIÃO: como Tony Madruga ainda não gravou nenhum álbum, resolvi produzir esta postagem, convertendo para MP3 os vídeos disponíveis no youtube. O garoto é fantástico e se aos 14 anos já toca assim, podemos imaginar o que não estará fazendo quando atingir a maioridade. O menino é considerado pelos músicos que o admiram como um verdadeiro "gênio". Na maioria das faixas ele é acompanhado pelo
seu trio atual. Para que se possa acompanhar sua evolução, incluí 4 faixas em que Tony toca piano solo: aos 10 anos, "Ain´t Misbehavin" e "Summertime"; aos 13 anos "From within´ (de Michel Camilo) e "Capullito de Aleli". Dá pra notar a evolução do menino de 10 anos para o músico "maduro" aos 14 anos. Em Perdido, gravado em NY no Ritz, ele toca com um quarteto. É claro que Tony ainda não tem um estilo próprio, definido, o que é muito natural. Mas com sua técnica assombrosa e seu talento incomensurável, em pouco tempo, sem dúvida, já terá forjado sua própria personalidade. Quem viver, verá essa pepita, ainda bruta, ser lapidada e se transformar em uma jóia rara.

(*) A qualidade da gravação é discutível. Mas o propósito é registrar a arte de Tony, em suas diversas fases.
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TONY MADRUGA: Compilation by CB

PERSONNEL (*)
Tony Madruga - piano
Gaby Vivas - bass
Goetz Kujacks - drums

(+)Special Guest: Jose Valentino, flute.

TRACKS/FAIXAS
1) Blue Bossa (*)
2) That´s all (*)
3) Perdido (+)
4) Take the "A" train(*)
5) Antonio´s groove (*)
6) From within´ (piano solo)
7)Summertime (piano solo)
8) Georgia(*)
9) Capullito de Aleli (piano solo)


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