Bagel on the Malecon

My favorite paradox of Cuban music is that the bass is never "on the beat", while everything else feels groovy and relaxed. In "Bagel on the Malecon", I tried to lift the Cuban "son" grooves from their solid grounding, beyond dancing steps, to a place where the melody and the bass take flight - and memorably, at that. The title is a flight in itself - a utopian fantasy that one day soon, I will be able to enjoy a Bagel - a favorite New York bread creation - on the Malecon, the main boardwalk in Havana, Cuba.

Original instrumentation: multitrack violas.
Arrangements available:
-- string quartet (plus bass)
-- string trio
-- three violas and bass
-- four cellos.

Also available as a jazz "lead sheet", which includes a separate sheet for the bass line. Arrangements for other combinations may be commissioned upon request.

Also available as part of the Vjola Suite set.

Om Factory Yoga, New York; June 16 2006

Ljova and the Kontraband: Ljova, viola; Patrick Farrell, accordion; Mike Savino, bass; Mathias Kunzli, percussion

Enso String Quartet, at the Library of Congress, and at venues throughout the US. [see video];
Ljova and the Kontraband at Joe's Pub [see video]

Recorded on Ljova's debut CD, "Vjola: World on Four Strings" [album details]
Recorded on the debut CD by Ljova and the Kontraband, "Mnemosyne" - [album details]