HILARIO DURAN:
"Hilario Durán is an unparalleled pianist, as well as being a composer and arranger of the first order... one of the greatest Stone and Spin Cuban pianists of this 20th Century.”
Chucho Valdés, Pianist
“Last night, there was another of the great pianists performing, for a free concert on the Hydro Quebec Stage. Maybe still unknown to the average jazz fan. Hilario Durán would have to be considered one of the great pianists living in Canada…this undisputable virtuoso now lives in Toronto…”
La Presse, Alain Brunet, Montreal, Canada
« Hier soir, un autre grand pianiste se produisait gratuitement sur la scène du parc Hydro Québec. Encore peu connu du jazzophile moyen, Hilario Durán doit être considéré comme un des meilleurs pianistes résidant au Canada….cet incontestable virtuose vit maintenant à Toronto. »
La Presse, Alain Brunet, Montreal, Canada
“Durán is a genuine virtuoso, attacking the keyboard with an arsenal of devices that includes runs executed in octaves, block chords at fast tempos, and that method so characteristic of Cuban pianists, sudden dance figures executed in two hand unison. While these can sometimes feel like habits, the energy that they create is a virtue in itself. Durán's creativity is heightened when he finds ways to challenge that vast technique."
Stuart Broomer, The Globe and Mail, Canada
“...Virtuosity in Cuba is also often matched of necessity to versatility. Durán is a case in point. His last band in Havana, Perspectiva, employed synthesizers and played fusion-jazz, while his Canadian recordings are replete with traditional jazz references -that's a quote from the classic 'Stormy Weather', for example, in 'Autumn Nocturne' on Habana Nocturna'- and contemporary jazz harmonies."
Mark Miller, The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Canada
“With what old-time barrelhouse and boogie players used to call 'a left hand like God', and a fertile harmonic and melodic imagination, Durán shines..."
Robert Palmer, Writer & Critic
"Beginning the session with a bubbling, hyperactive solo medley dubbed 'Homage To Chano Pozo', Durán showed how adept he is at making the fusion of Latin rhythms, African roots and North American jazz a musical event that's refreshing, a jumping-off point for innovative experiment."
Geoff Chapman, The Toronto Star – Toronto, Canada
"Durán's signature showed itself. It is a lightning-fast right hand that darts out and ignites bursts of aural fireworks. Contrasted against jagged rhythm patterns played in the middle register, these explosions are like joyous shrieks heard at carnival time"
James Hale, The Ottawa Citizen – Ottawa, Canada
“Hilario Durán is the latest virtuoso jazz pianist to emerge from Havana... these were bravura performances, in which Durán made abundantly clear his comfort with all of the extremes that a piano holds, and spanned the distances between them - between the most heavily percussive and the most lightly lyrical - with a roll of the wrists - some roll, some wrists."
Mark Miller, The Globe and Mail - Canada
Press Highlights & Comments - HILARIO DURAN