The Madrid trio captures its wildest and most virtuosic essence in a legendary recording.
There are live performances that are not recorded: they are immortalized.
Gilipojazz knows this well, and his new release, “Erzuín (Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival)”, not only documents a concert, but encapsulates a way of understanding music without labels or brakes.
The Madrid trio formed by Ángel Cáceres (bass and vocals), Iker García (guitar and vocals) and Pablo Levin (drums and vocals) presented this song -already known from their first album- on the most emblematic stage of international jazz, and the result is pure live electricity: a mixture of precision, wildness and sense of humor.
Montreux is the stage where everything vibrates differently
Performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival is not just any old thing: it is playing in the shadow of the giants.
There, in front of a demanding and diverse audience, Gilipojazz deployed its usual cocktail of genres – from the most academic jazz to rock, from funk to prog, from surrealism to the most unrestrained -, proving that its irreverence is also excellence.
“Erzuín” live is a controlled outburst: technique without pretension, humor without frivolity.
The result: a sound as unpredictable as it is precise, as fun as it is virtuosic.
From Madrid to the world: a story of perseverance and explosion
Formed in 2020, Gilipojazz have staged a meteoric rise that few instrumental groups can boast.
In just four years:
- More than 180 sold out concerts in venues and festivals.
- A growing fan community that fills every date and turns their live shows into musical parties.
- And a reputation as a “unique” band, capable of mixing virtuosity, satire and groove with equal solvency.
Its unofficial slogan – already repeated as a mantra in networks – sums up its phenomenon well:
“Good thing we have Gilipojazz left.”
“Progresa Adequately” and the international leap
Prior to this recording in Montreux, the band had already marked territory with their second album, “Progresa Adecuadamente”, mixed by the legendary Roy Hendrickson (Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney) and mastered by Gonzalo Lasheras.
The album consolidated them as one of the most innovative proposals of Spanish jazz and fusion, and obtained two nominations at the Spanish Academy of Music Awards:
- Best Jazz Album
- Best Fusion Song
A trajectory that proves that virtuosity can also have a sense of humor – and groove.
“Erzuín”, where chaos has a method.
This new live release does not seek to recreate the studio, but to dynamite it.
The trio indulges in a fierce improvisation where each instrument occupies its space with surgical precision:
- Caceres‘ bass sustains the pulse with melodic aggressiveness.
- Iker García’s guitar builds layers of irony and texture.
- Levin’s drumming, pure rhythmic muscle, is a driving force and emotional metronome.
Everything sounds measured, but free; fun, but serious.
A vindication that current Spanish jazz does not need complexes to dialogue with the greats.
A trial by fire very well passed
“Erzuín (Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival)” is not only a milestone in Gilipojazz’s career, but also a reaffirmation of his proposal:
breaking forms to reinvent them.
If his music were a thesis, the title would be clear:
👉 “Virtuosity without solemnity”.
And if their future were a promise, one sentence would suffice:
Thank goodness we still have Gilipojazz.
