Lopez

More than many, more-fêted stars, Jennifer Lopez seems emblematic of 00s pop: slick, blinged-up, powerful and ambitious enough to overcome such peasantish problems as a lack of innate aptitude for the form. And, for a while, her attitude worked to superb effect: she's the quintessential "more great songs than you initially assume" artist, with Love Don't Cost a Thing, Whatever You Wanna Do, If You Had My Love and – best of all – the Murder remixes of Ain't It Funny and I'm Real all high-water marks. But even her most passionate defenders couldn't have expected her to be relevant in 2011, with her most recent material seeming to indicate a decline of interest on both the public's part and her own…

Trinidad López III was born in Dallas, TX on May 15, 1937 and at the tender age of 15, he formed his first band, The Big Beats. Trini played guitar and his repertoire consisted of Mexican folk songs, rhythm and blues hits and rock ’n roll favorites. The Big Beats played the local clubs in Texas where he met Buddy Holly. Holly referred him to his producer Norman Petty and Petty helped The Big Beats and Trini get their first record deal with Columbia Records. Unfortunately, Petty wanted the band to be an instrumental outfit. Trini was not interested in that style of music and soon left the band. He then did some solo sides for Volk and King Records but by 1962 he was without a label and started playing clubs in Los Angeles.

Prodigious pianist Harold López-Nussa has come full circle. With numerous acclaimed recordings, and acknowledged as a seasoned performer on international stages, he returns home and records El Viaje in Havana, Cuba, offering musical insights on the world through his piano. Continuing with his established trio format, which includes his brother Ruy Adrián López-Nussa on drums and Senegalese bassist Alune Wade, he improvises upon vast classical influences while adhering to his Cuban roots, concocting an exceptional style of global jazz.

Verdi’s Requiem is a work of white-hot dramatic intensity, infused with his lifetime of composing opera. His approach to religion is explosive, emotional, and full of temperament and fear, the latter being wonderfully conveyed by López-Cobos in this concert performance.