Niebla (fog) is the fifth album by Puerto Rican-born, New York-based guitarist, composer, and visual artist Gabriel Vicéns, which expands Vicéns’ aesthetics by blending the sensual, traditional rhythms of Afro-Puerto Rican folklore – bomba and plena – with the complex and intricate harmonic richness of modern jazz. The album is Vicéns’ sonic journey through his ancestral and cultural roots, exploring diasporic identity, tradition, and creative innovation.
Vicéns is accompanied by a New York-based sextet who played on his third studio album, The Way We Are Created (Inner Circle Music, 2021) – Cuban alto sax player Roman Filiú, Brazilian pianist Vitor Gonçalves (who replaced Glenn Zaleski), Canadian double bass player Rick Rosato, Puerto Rican percussionist Victor Pablo, and American drummer E.J. Strickland. In this album, Vicéns also celebrates his handmade classical guitar, built in 1987 by esteemed Puerto Rican luthier Fidencio Díaz. The album was recorded at Sear Sound in New York in May 2025, and released by Vicéns’ newly-founded label, Clepsydra Records.
Niebla plays on the tension between immediate, uplifting, and infectious traditional rhythmic patterns, rooted in resistance and celebration, and a deeper need for introspection and contemplation that often gravitates toward moments of silence, slowness, quietude, and repetition. Vicéns claims that his aesthetics offers «a much-needed space in a world that is increasingly fast-paced and perpetually seeking instant gratification». He insists that embracing silence and slowness can be a powerful response to our fast-paced, capitalist world, and let us imagine a better future. Thoughtful compositions like «Vejigante», «900-50-80» (titled after a painting by Puerto Rican abstract expressionist Olga Albizu), «…tu anhelo…», and the closing «…y la Lluvia» evoke not only Vicéns’ rich cultural heritage but also his hopes for the ongoing process of decolonization, supporting his highly personal, captivating musical and most humane vision.
Eyal Hareuveni
Gabriel Vicéns (guitar), Roman Filiú (alto saxophone), Vitor Gonçalves (piano), Rick Rosato (double bass), E.J. Strickland (drums), Victor Pablo (percussion)
