Guillermo Marigliano Releases Red Hot EP

Easy-going Latin jazz tends to pair well with the summer, and in his all-new, three-part EP Inner Path, guitarist and songwriter Guillermo Marigliano presents us with the cool n’ simple solution to the fresh rays of the hottest season. Inner Path is a red hot record built upon its carefree swing, both balladic and sterling in nature, and although it occasionally feels like an experimental effort on the part of its composer, it never comes across as distant from his heart. For a player finding another layer of his sound in this record, Marigliano translates as a formidable wrecking ball with his play, and someone who knows a thing or two about old-school melodicism. 

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There is no overarching concept to the tracklist in Inner Path, but instead an awesome lust for melodies that extends itself from the powered string play of “LA Samba (Los Angeles Samba)” to the balladic undertow of “Tango Blues” without missing a beat. To me, Marigliano’s love of this medium ends up taking a lot more of our attention than the material does on its own, which compensates for the undisputable simplicity of the arrangements here. This guy just doesn’t need the fireworks – he’s already packing a lot of heat with the organic harmonies he forms in “Bonita” or “LA Samba (Los Angeles Samba)” the same. 

Tempo is Guillermo Marigliano’s greatest tool in “Tango Blues” and “Bonita,” the latter of which is a bit more progressively structured, and I like that he doesn’t invest too much of the narrative in the flow of the beat itself. These songs feature a sound that is much more collective than it is singular in style, which is rather surprising given that this is, in fact, a solo outing. This player doesn’t mind sharing the spotlight with his band when it facilitates a strong story, and that’s more than obvious in Inner Path. 

The smoky harmonies in “LA Samba (Los Angeles Samba)” would have been enough to win me over in this EP, but partnered with the structural wit that Marigliano brings to the table, this particular selection feels like the cornerstone of something so much bigger than what this record is. There’s no denying the album potential in the momentum here, and with just a little more polishing and filling out some loose ends, this is an artist who will likely have as much appeal in the mainstream as he presently does the underground. 

I love the tone of Inner Path, and if it’s something that Guillermo Marigliano can sustain in a future release he’s going to find himself getting a lot of positive feedback from critics and fans alike this summer. There’s no debating the hype around this emerging generation of jazz players, and when listening to an artist like Marigliano lay into this material, it makes me wonder how big a movement we’re going to see come together in the next few years. Inner Path lives up to its title, and it advertises a player I want to hear more from. 

Nicole Killian