Manel Fortia

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Review:

This is the sixty-first in a series of special Jazz on the Tube reviews of live stream performances.

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On their LiveStream of June 26, 2020, guitarist Oscar Peñas and bassist Manel Fortia play exquisite and lightly swinging duets that are a little reminiscent of Jim Hall and Ron Carter.

Bassist Manel Fortia is from Catalan and based in both Barcelona and New York.

Fortia has worked with such notables as Dave Liebman, Chris Cheek, Bill McHenry, Eliot Zigmund, Ari Hoenig, Arturo O’Farrill, Chano Dominguez, and many others in addition to leading his own projects.

Oscar Peñas, who was born in Barcelona, has blended together jazz, classical and folk music from several cultures in his playing.

He has led four albums thus far, working with Esperanza Spalding, Paquito D’Rivera, and Ron Carter.

Their LiveStream has the guitar-bass duo performing straight-ahead jazz including “Alone Together,” an original that uses the chord changes of “I Got Rhythm,” an attractive ballad, “All The Things You Are,” “Get Out Of Town,” and the medium-tempo blues “Walkin’.”

The subtle interplay between Manel Fortia and Oscar Peñas results in a relaxed yet swinging set of boppish jazz.

-Scott Yanow