ProgBlog
DISCovery
The original aim of the blog was to promote discussion about all and any facet of progressive rock but from time to time, bands and musicians contact ProgBlog with new prog-related material that they want to expose to a wider audience; ProgBlog's album of 2017 An Invitation by Amber Foil was one such approach.
The range of styles ProgBlog has been exposed to through this route has helped to expand and challenge my listening habits but time constraints have meant that not all submissions have received the attention that they deserve.
The DISCovery section has been introduced to better serve the requirements of musicians who contact ProgBlog with the aim of increasing the audience for their music; without music there can be no discussion of music.
Contacts
Bandcamp: https://jonatanpinaduluc.bandcamp.com/album/substancia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonatanpinadulucmusic/
Web: https://jonatanpinaduluc.com/
Twitter: @pinaduluc
Substancia
Jonatan Piña Duluc has recently released his second solo album Substancia, a thematic collection of avant-garde, psychedelic Afro-Dominican jazz pieces.
Piña Duluc is a composer and multi-instrumentalist who was born in the Dominican Republic in 1976. He heads various musical projects like rock band El Trio and jazz quartet Proyecto Piña Duluc, and has won his country's most prestigious composition competition, the Premio Nacional de Música on six occasions and in three different categories: Symphonic/Choral, Chamber music and Latin Dance music.
Citing a wide range of influences from Frank Zappa to György Ligeti, John Zorn, Luis Dias, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Living Colour, John Coltrane, Slayer, Juan Luis Guerra and many artists that you're unlikely to find on the same shelf of a record store, Substancia represents a distillation of his eclectic musical tastes.
More experimental and less reliant on melody than his first solo outing Drip/Culebra from 2017, there are nevertheless some beautiful tenor saxophone motifs amongst the effect-laden guitars and bass, and the Dominican percussion adds a subtle Caribbean flavour. It's unique, challenging musical territory yet ultimately successful and satisfying.
The cover art was specially commissioned from Dominican artist Auriluz Vila, who used the album's concept as inspiration and guideline with striking results, producing a beautiful, vibrant image
Substancia has been featured on many international radio shows and podcasts such as La Villa Strangiato (CHUO 89.1 FM, Canada), The Rikter Scale (Delicious Agony Progressive Rock Radio, USA), Progressive Tracks (Progzilla, UK), Gigantes Gentiles (FM AZ 92.7, Argentina), The Prog and Rock Show (Beat Route Radio UK), Prog Univers (France), Kiss That Prog (Listen Lanarkshire, Scotland), and Sesión Lai (Live session on Dominican alternative page Disco Lai)
Reviews
"It’s a sweet, slightly unsettling, bright, very smart trail he’s set for us. And yes, well worth the trip." Stephen Conrad, Progressive Rock Fanatics, Nov. 2018
"Jonatan le saca el jugo a su experiencia musical y nos brinda en este disco una esplendida continuidad de su obra, que ya es sustancial." "Jonatan brings out the juice of his musical experience and gives us on this album a splendid continuity of his work, which is already substantial" Rossy Díaz, Música Dominicana, Nov. 2018
"Jonatan Pina Duluc se ha lucido a lo grande con este disco, superándose a sí mismo y dejando al oyente empático con ganas de más. Tenemos aquí una de las ofertas más inspiradas de la producción musical vanguardista latinoamericana en el presente año 2018." "Jonatan Pina Duluc has played great with this album, surpassing himself and leaving the empathic listener wanting more. We have here one of the most inspired offers of avant-garde Latin American musical production of 2018." César Inca de Mendoza, Auto-poietican, Nov. 2018
Photo credits: (L) Jonatan Piña Duluc by Pedro J; (R) Jonatan Piña Duluc by Víctor Grullón
