Customer Reviews:
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  Introspective and mature August 29, 2000
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As the title of this album implies, this is introspective, thoughtful music, reflecting a high degree of musical maturity. Its textures and moods are varied, and the trio locks in together beautifully. Check out "Caravan" and the originals dedicated to Gonzalo Rubalcaba's children.
A must for Cuban jazz lovers! December 27, 1999
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I saw the Gonzalo Rubalcaba Trio at the '99 SF Jazz festival. They were incredible live. To my relief, this trio translates very well to CD. Inner Voyage is a great recording. The recording is technically wonderful, it'll make any audiophile happy. There's a wonderful, but difficult to describe energy in this trio's style. The latin influence is a strong theme through out the CD, and it makes for a flavor of jazz that any jazz enthusiast would love to taste. The trio's drummer is a master of delivering rythmic wit. Just as you think you follow him, he throws in a colorful spash of latin beat. This albumn has convinced me to look into the other recordings that these guys have done.
Rubalcaba is extraordinary. November 13, 1999
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I attended the same concert the gentleman previous referred to (and he didn't exaggerate as to the quality of that evening) and this is a wonderful document of that band. The group deserves to be recorded live but until that happens (or rather, if) 'Inner Voyage' will do nicely . This is an astonishing band and this is a wonderful cd. Music making at a very high level. The inclusion of Michael Brecker on a couple of tunes is a bit puzzling and adds little to the mix. I have other recordings featuring Rubalcaba but this one is by far the best I've heard. Get it.
The best cuban jazz ....... October 31, 1999
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is the most personal production of gonzalo that I hear; he created introspective lines who describe in beatiful notes his impressions about his childrens personality, his own concept about the importance of the elegance in every human action and the sence of melancholy ("Here's that rainy day"). But there isn't abstract music("Flying Colors" ). Like the "Mi gran Pasion" disc, he add a perfect harmony bring of the bass and a hard rhytm expression of the drum (Ignacio Berroa), especially in caravan's "tumbao". It's very good.
Masterful beauty October 26, 1999
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you have a chance to see Gonzalo on tour with this trio (Ignacio Berroa, drums; Jeff Chambers, bass) you must do so. It was the most stunning musical event I have ever attended (10/14/99 in Seattle). The trio surged from a whisper to a frenzied intensity many times during the evening, each time bringing the audience to ecstatic bliss.Gonzalo's technique is far ahead of all other jazz pianists, especially in the incredibly precise use of the pedals to modulate tone, and the overall sound he achieves from his touch. For example, with the pedal Rubalcaba can brush the felts over a string or strings gently to produce subtle harmonics. This is not easy. Such a unique, distinctive sound/touch begs comparisons with Bill Evans, though I have to say that Rubalcaba even gets the nod here. This studio album is considerably more "cold and calculated" than the live performances, as Rubalcaba notes in the liner notes. Also, although I think Michael Brecker is a great player, I thought that the addition of his somewhat more commercial sound on two of the tracks (The Hard One and Blues Lundvall) detracted from those tracks. I wish there were more recordings of this trio, especially perhaps a live one.
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