Hilario Durán is considered one of the greatest jazz pianists in the world.
The internationally acclaimed Cuban musician’s latest album is a duo project with protégé David Virelles. Front Street Duets features the virtuosic playing of the two musicians in peak form.
Durán and Virelles have a musical and personal relationship dating back more than two decades, but this is their most extensive project to date.
Stay tuned:
Hilario Durán and David Virelles’ Front Street Duets will be featured on JAZZ.FM91’s Sound of Jazz program on Sunday, Oct. 30, along with additional interview material not included on the record.
Based in Toronto, Durán has won three Juno Awards and earned a Grammy nomination. His extensive discography includes work as a solo artist and in duo, small group and big band settings, and he has also achieved distinction in the worlds of classical and chamber music.
Now based in New York after a stint in Toronto, Virelles records as a solo artist for such labels as ECM and Pi Recordings. He has collaborated extensively with noted musicians such as Andrew Cyrille, Bill Frisell, Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman and Ravi Coltrane, and last year he won the prestigious Herb Alpert Awards in the Arts.
Front Street Duets is a carefully curated collection that includes new arrangements of traditional Cuban material, original compositions written by Durán specifically for the project, and a fresh take on a much-loved standard, Body and Soul.
The album came together over just two days at the renowned Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto last November, with the recording helmed by the experienced tandem of producer Peter Cardinali and Grammy-winning engineer John “Beetle” Bailey.
We recently sat down with Durán to talk about the new project.