{"id":8691,"date":"2024-06-17T22:58:45","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T03:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=8691"},"modified":"2024-06-18T15:13:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T20:13:36","slug":"alfredo-colon-blood-burden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/alfredo-colon-blood-burden\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving the Duck: A Conversation with Alfredo Col\u00f3n on ‘Blood Burden’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Self-expression lies at the heart of all art. Creation that fails to reflect the artist’s spirit will never be able to connect with an audience perceiving it. As a result, dreams, hopes, and fears are all poured into the best art. But while every person has their own ideas and preferences, they do not exist in a vacuum. Instead, true understanding requires an appreciation of that person’s upbringing, background, and life experiences. Often, with a debut recording, musicians fall into the trap of trying to prove their capability rather than using it as an opportunity to dig deep into themselves. Not so with Alfredo Col\u00f3n’s Blood Burden<\/em> (Out of Your Head, 2024), where the saxophonist presents a richer picture of himself by building off of the foundation laid by his parents and the culture of their homeland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Col\u00f3n’s parents place great weight on the faith and folklore of their ancestral home. For his mother, Gloria, it is her Catholic religion and learning the messages of the saints that are central to properly experiencing life. One can hear her wish that the saints protect her child in his journeys on the slow Blues progression of “Santo”, where hopefulness is never diminished even in its otherwise melancholic surroundings. Two versions of a song dedicated to St. Lucy – a woman who so strongly adhered to her faith that it resulted in her loss of sight and, ultimately, her life – tap into this as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One can also witness the experiences of Col\u00f3n’s father, Hilario, in straddling shifting concepts of masculinity and what it means to be brave. “Doomknocker” comes from his refusal to adhere to older norms when he knew they violated his internal ethics. To some degree, he was denounced for stepping outside the status quo but ultimately recognized for his bravery in doing so. The experience metaphorically reflects how man interacts with the Dominican folklore figure, the ciguapa. A succubus in human female form, the ciguapa relies on people to sacrifice their standards and ethics in exchange for immediate pleasure. In a way, by refusing to kill, Hilario rejected such comfort so he could survive on his own terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving family and friends, Gloria and Hilario came to America to find a better life. While the children of immigrants to the US typically have better opportunities than in their homeland, there is often also a guilt factor. Well aware of their parents’ sacrifices, they feel the burden (hence, “Blood Burden”) to succeed. Failure, they worry, may minimize their parents’ sacrifices. However, the irony of the cultural melting pot is that, too often, success requires the adoption of American pop and homogenized culture. Pressed between honoring the values that guided their parents and the pressure to excel, such children must forge their own path that carefully balances both. Mirroring this experience through music, Blood Burden<\/em> uniquely marries the common with the foreign to present both in a cohesive and coherent whole. It is a fascinating debut that is as much a sonic sociological treatise as it is an exercise in free expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PostGenre: Blood Burden<\/em> is your debut as a leader. Why did you feel that now was the right time to  come out with your first album? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Alfredo Col\u00f3n: I had been playing with this band since around 2019 but didn’t have the funds or resources to put together a full studio recording. Around the time of the recording, the group had settled into a lineup that felt right. It features Lex Korten on piano, Steve Williams on bass and Connor Parks on drums. I felt that the band had always sounded great but around the time of the recording, we were finding our stride and had found our own way to navigate harmony and rhythm as a group that felt worthy of documenting. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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PG: To ask you about a particular song on the album,  \u201cOur Simplest Office Clerk\u201d gets its title from an  apparently horrible video game.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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AC: [laughing] yeah.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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PG: Given its origins, were you ever inclined to play Electronic Wind Instrument (EWI) on the song?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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AC: No. That song actually came from the very first show I played with the idea of this music. I was pretty bad at the saxophone. But I was good on EWI. So, I had months – years actually – where I would play EWI at a gig then go home and practice saxophone endlessly. But I wanted people to know that I play saxophone too, so I booked a gig at the Jazz Gallery, which has been my home base for years. I hit up [Jazz Gallery Artistic Director] Rio [Sakairi] and told her I wanted to do a gig on sax. \u201cOur Simplest Office Clerk\u201d opened the set. So, I always had saxophone in mind for the song.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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