myele manzanza: a love requited
Francisco Espregueira
Released last month, lights on A Love Requited. The third album from drummer/producer/composer Myele Manzanza is as much a musical journey as it is an attempt to process, work through and come to terms with the life around him. While his debut album, One, presented his ability as a producer/beatmaker, and his sophomore album, OnePointOne, showcased live performance and band leader prowess, A Love Requited puts Manzanza's skills as a composer to the fore.
Produced with award winning Australian bassist & long time musical collaborator Ross McHenry and featuring a plethora of New Zealand and Australia's finest young instrumentalists, the front-man focused on a process free of music software tools, drawing the first sketches of the album on the piano. Not being a master in music theory knowledge, Manzanza’s took the advantages from his own limitations, to create without too much consideration for formal rules and structure. We’ve seen that happening with many renowned musicians before. Playing the drums, he developed the arrangements together with the talented ensemble that joins him, refining his ideas for A Love Requited - an exquisite jazz album, released by the one and only First Word Records. Vinyl available.