Aleph Aguiar on Sugar on my Blackbeans

Born in Venezuela and now living in the UK, Aleph Aguiar is a guitarist determined to get you up out of your chair and on to the dancefloor. Inspired by the sounds of his childhood and the sounds of 60s Latin jazz, his music is brimming with dynamic rhythms and catchy grooves, as well as the essence of guitarists Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino. 

I was joined by Aleph a few weeks ago, to discuss the details of his third release, Sugar On My Blackbeans, the influence of Latin music in his sound, and the importance of capturing music live in the moment…

Sugar on my Blackbeans is your third release. Where has the inspiration for this album come from?

Well, it's kind of a mixture of a lot of influences. I'm from Venezuela, so I have this influence of Latin music; I grew up with that. And Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino – those are my heroes. I love the jazz from the 1960s where you had all this percussion and blend of Latin music, which was so exciting. It had this energy where it makes you want to dance; it’s not just intellectual jazz. So it creates a great place to mix the two things together: improvisation with a lot of exploration, and at the same time it's groovy and fun. That’s the kind of place I want to be in, and that’s why I did this. 

Do you think that might mean listeners that are new to the genre will enjoy it, as well as seasoned jazz listeners? 

Possibly! It’s not on purpose; I’m not trying to do something deliberately to attract a different audience. I’m just trying to make music that's fun, and music that I want to put out into the world. 

You describe the album as ‘nostalgic yet modern’. How did you balance honoring tradition while keeping the music firmly in the present?

I think it’s very hard not to be modern, because music has evolved so much, and we’ve heard so many new, exciting guitarists and musicians that have developed the music further. So it’s very hard – unless you focus on one time period – because there’s so many influences, and you can’t help not being modern. But one thing that we did with the album was to try and capture a certain sound through the recording process by doing it live. I'm not afraid of mistakes or of things that aren’t perfect. I think mistakes are the best ways to learn, and there is a certain type of freedom when you’re not thinking ‘Oh, this has to be perfect’. It has to be real – that’s the point. Not something that feels far away from reality, but a real moment, imprinted in an album. 

It’s interesting you mention that. A lot of other jazz artists in the industry also seem to find this challenge with perfection, and the idea that striving for it takes the soul out of the music… 

Exactly. When you go into a studio, you can record parts and can start getting into a cycle of ‘that’s not perfect, let’s do it again, and again, and again’. Even when playing jazz you can get into that space, even when you don’t want to. You have to have that awareness, so you can avoid falling into that trap.

Can you tell me where the album title comes from?

Sometimes when I tell people the album title, they do laugh, because it feels a bit funny! But I’m Venezuelan, and Venezuelans will understand perfectly what I'm talking about. Our traditional dish is made up of rice, black beans, plantain, and beef – but in an area of the country, people like to eat black beans with sugar; it’s a real thing. And I just loved the idea of something so specific and so traditional, but for those who don’t know the specific meaning behind it, it still seems like a fun thing!

All nine tracks are original compositions, but did you approach writing this album with a unifying concept, or did it come together more intuitively?

You know, I didn’t really have an idea that was pre-set. I just started writing the music, and of course I have a tendency to hear these rhythms that I grew up with. So in the background of my mind when I’m writing, I am hearing music in this kind of way. After I had around twelve to fifteen tracks, I chose the best ones I had, and then I thought about creating the band. 

I wanted to work with specific sounds, like the Nord and the trumpet, and I just love the trumpet and the guitar – I think the frequencies match really well, and the trumpet is an instrument that I’ve heard consistently since my childhood. The saxophone is great, like the jazz instrument, but it doesn’t speak to where I come from, because the sax is not an instrument that we’d hear anywhere. Whereas the trumpet is in all Latin music – in South America, it's the main instrument out in front. Then there’s the organ of course. My favourite albums are from Wes Montgomery and Pat Martino, and I just love that organ sound. It gives the guitar so much space to be free in that setting, so I had this idea to put the band together that would give that kind of sound to the tracks I had in mind. 

Were your ensemble heavily involved in curating that specific sound, and the recording process?

Absolutely, they’re all fantastic musicians. I really love them all, and they’re good friends. I’ve known Quentin Collins for so many years, he’s just an amazing player, and so involved. All of them made it incredible because they went in and gave their views, which made it a wonderful experience. 

Would you say that this record is the first time that your background is coming into the music so directly? Or has it been very much present in all of your music-making? 

Well, even the title, Sugar on My Black Beans, is putting my background at the front, without being too forward about it. I’m trying not to make a big statement, but at the same time I’m being who I am, and just putting this music out there because they’re the sounds I grew up with. It’s a collection based on all the experience I‘ve had in my life. At this stage, I think my style now is the most mature it’s been, but my first album still very much was based on a similar idea. It was Afro-Venezuelan, but in that album I was much more traditional with the Venezuelan influence, through the traditional rhythms and things. This album is less traditional in that sense – it’s more open, but all that influence is still there, and it feels comfortable and more free, I think. 

The album was recorded live to tape in just two days. How did that timeframe affect the final result?

I think we only did three takes of each track, and that was it. My way of selecting the final take was to choose which melody was the best delivered. Sometimes it was the first one – the third take might've been technically ‘better’ but the energy was clearly on the first. So I chose the ones where the melody was best executed, and then the rest is just a story. It’s just us playing, not really overly-concerned on solos and things like that. 

I understand that you have some links to the dance world within your family. Does that connection to movement influence the way you write music?

I guess there is some influence there. My mum was a contemporary dancer, and she’d be moving around the house doing all sorts of movement, telling me to join in. My dad was an actor and a singer, so I was very free with the arts in such a creative environment. I remember getting a guitar when I was nine, and I just knew it was what I wanted to do. From there I started learning traditional Venezuelan instruments and the bass, and when I was seventeen I went to Spain. I was exposed to flamenco, fusion, rock – and then discovering jazz improvisation was just this amazing experience when I realised it was a place where you can just express it all. 

The funny thing is, my wife is also a contemporary dancer, and so is her mum, too! I guess it has something to do with being from South America; we grow up differently in the sense that we’re very physical. We move, we hug, and if you’re a teenager and you want to meet girls at a party, you take them to dance. There’s an expectation that you better dance well – and it’s part of the culture and having fun. 

What’s next for you?

At the moment, I’m trying to get a tour together, and the album launch is on the 22nd April at Pizza Express in Chelsea. The band members are really busy, so putting a tour together is hard! But I am trying to sort out a few dates, and also exploring some festivals. I can’t wait to see the music make people stand up and have a good time. I definitely want to play this album for a bit longer, but I’m also playing as the guitarist for Georgia Cecil who is also releasing new music that we've recorded.

Sugar On My Blackbeans is available now on Aleph Aguiar Records in association with ECN Music.