Miguel De Armas Latin Jazz Quartet

OTTAWA — In his modest downtown Ottawa apartment, Miguel De Armas is seated where he’s most comfortable, behind his portable keyboard, fingers striking hard at the keys. The 52-year-old Havana-raised pianist is thoroughly immersed in making music, even if he’s only performing for a visitor. His hands race without hesitation, his right foot rocks heel-to-toe to keep the beat.

He’s playing one of his most recent compositions, written this summer while the recent immigrant likely looked out at the Ottawa River and Gatineau Hills for inspiration.

“It’s sounds a bit different (from De Armas’ other compositions),” says his wife, Yasmina Proveyer. She came up with the title for the tightly crafted work filled with dovetailing parts — “Getting Serious.”

It’s an appropriate title for the piece, and for the veteran musician’s latest ambitions.

Before he came to Canada, De Armas was a founding member of NG La Banda, an eclectic Cuban group that created its own style of popular, dance-oriented music called timba and toured the world playing it. He worked steadily in his homeland, playing on 50 CDs as an accompanist or in a co-operatively led group.

But after De Armas moved to Ottawa two years ago to be with Proveyer, he, like so many newcomers, has started from little more than scratch to build a based-in-Canada career.

He’s also taking English classes, and during an interview, it’s Proveyer who does much of the talking and a little bit of interpreting.

“Now he’s doing his own thing,” says Proveyer, who directs a program for newcomers at the YMCA and says that she’s “100-per-cent” behind her husband’s musical pursuits.

“He is more in control of what he wants to do and where he wants to go.”

De Armas’ next milestone is to take place this Friday at the Shenkman Centre, when he is to give a Latin jazz concert with his quartet and special guests including guitarist Roddy Ellias, vocalists Caridad Cruz and Angelique Francis, and trumpeter Kelly Craig.

“Our main goal,” Proveyer says, “is to keep expanding the audience for his music, reaching beyond the Latin community.”

Another goal, she adds, is for De Armas to at last record a CD under his own name.

While De Armas did not grow up in a family of musicians — his father was an anesthesiologist and his mother was a dentist — he was drawn to music early in life.

He trained as a classical percussionist — “He’s still a percussionist in his soul,” his wife says — and graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte with a Bachelor in Cuban Percussion.

But piano studies were mandatory, and De Armas gravitated toward that instrument. Among the few music books that he has near his keyboard is a folio of Carl Czerny’s famous technical exercises for piano.

But even as he was receiving classical piano training, De Armas was being captivated by the sound of jazz from beyond Cuba’s borders, played on the radio in the 1970s.

He thrilled to the sounds of such jazz piano greats as Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea. But the music was so scarce for De Armas at the time that he speaks of having just 10 cassettes, which he had to erase and copy over.

Since he came to Canada, De Armas bought a book of Corea’s transcribed piano solos. “For him to find those books is like a dream,” his wife says.

NG La Banda hit it big in the 1990s, combining classic Cuban sounds with Afro-Cuban folkloric rhythms. The band played at jazz festivals in Montreal, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The band broke up about a decade ago, and De Armas remained in Cuba, working steadily until 2011, when he moved to Ottawa to be with Proveyer.

Says his wife: “Ottawa is not the best city to be an artist, but we are still dreamers and we think everything can be possible.”

On one level, De Armas has taken plenty of gigs at venues such as Brookstreet Hotel’s Options Lounge and the Rare Restaurant and Bar, both in Kanata. He has accompanied musicians far less experienced than himself, stopped by jam sessions and joined in with novices getting a taste of performing in public.

But at a higher level, De Armas was on the bill with his quartet during this year’s Ottawa Winter Jazz Festival, giving an especially rousing show in the NAC Fourth Stage. “For him, it’s more about the intensity... it’s more about creating a rapport, how he engages with audiences, the connection he establishes,” Proveyer says.

From his years on the Cuban music scene, De Armas has some high-level connections of his own. For example, Last summer, he provided the Ottawa Jazz Festival’s jam session with one of its you-had-to-be-there moments when he and some visiting Cuban musicians practically tore the roof off of AlphaSoul Cafe with their supercharged playing.

Guitarist Ellias fondly recalls how he joined in with the tumultuously rhythmic, impromptu music-making. “I have limited experience playing Cuban music but the feeling was so strong from Miguel - Ottawa Citizen

OTTAWA — In his modest downtown Ottawa apartment, Miguel De Armas is seated where he’s most comfortable, behind his portable keyboard, fingers striking hard at the keys. The 52-year-old Havana-raised pianist is thoroughly immersed in making music, even if he’s only performing for a visitor. His hands race without hesitation, his right foot rocks heel-to-toe to keep the beat.

He’s playing one of his most recent compositions, written this summer while the recent immigrant likely looked out at the Ottawa River and Gatineau Hills for inspiration.

“It’s sounds a bit different (from De Armas’ other compositions),” says his wife, Yasmina Proveyer. She came up with the title for the tightly crafted work filled with dovetailing parts — “Getting Serious.”

It’s an appropriate title for the piece, and for the veteran musician’s latest ambitions.

Before he came to Canada, De Armas was a founding member of NG La Banda, an eclectic Cuban group that created its own style of popular, dance-oriented music called timba and toured the world playing it. He worked steadily in his homeland, playing on 50 CDs as an accompanist or in a co-operatively led group.

But after De Armas moved to Ottawa two years ago to be with Proveyer, he, like so many newcomers, has started from little more than scratch to build a based-in-Canada career.

He’s also taking English classes, and during an interview, it’s Proveyer who does much of the talking and a little bit of interpreting.

“Now he’s doing his own thing,” says Proveyer, who directs a program for newcomers at the YMCA and says that she’s “100-per-cent” behind her husband’s musical pursuits.

“He is more in control of what he wants to do and where he wants to go.”

De Armas’ next milestone is to take place this Friday at the Shenkman Centre, when he is to give a Latin jazz concert with his quartet and special guests including guitarist Roddy Ellias, vocalists Caridad Cruz and Angelique Francis, and trumpeter Kelly Craig.

“Our main goal,” Proveyer says, “is to keep expanding the audience for his music, reaching beyond the Latin community.”

Another goal, she adds, is for De Armas to at last record a CD under his own name.

While De Armas did not grow up in a family of musicians — his father was an anesthesiologist and his mother was a dentist — he was drawn to music early in life.

He trained as a classical percussionist — “He’s still a percussionist in his soul,” his wife says — and graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte with a Bachelor in Cuban Percussion.

But piano studies were mandatory, and De Armas gravitated toward that instrument. Among the few music books that he has near his keyboard is a folio of Carl Czerny’s famous technical exercises for piano.

But even as he was receiving classical piano training, De Armas was being captivated by the sound of jazz from beyond Cuba’s borders, played on the radio in the 1970s.

He thrilled to the sounds of such jazz piano greats as Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett and Chick Corea. But the music was so scarce for De Armas at the time that he speaks of having just 10 cassettes, which he had to erase and copy over.

Since he came to Canada, De Armas bought a book of Corea’s transcribed piano solos. “For him to find those books is like a dream,” his wife says.

NG La Banda hit it big in the 1990s, combining classic Cuban sounds with Afro-Cuban folkloric rhythms. The band played at jazz festivals in Montreal, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The band broke up about a decade ago, and De Armas remained in Cuba, working steadily until 2011, when he moved to Ottawa to be with Proveyer.

Says his wife: “Ottawa is not the best city to be an artist, but we are still dreamers and we think everything can be possible.”

On one level, De Armas has taken plenty of gigs at venues such as Brookstreet Hotel’s Options Lounge and the Rare Restaurant and Bar, both in Kanata. He has accompanied musicians far less experienced than himself, stopped by jam sessions and joined in with novices getting a taste of performing in public.

But at a higher level, De Armas was on the bill with his quartet during this year’s Ottawa Winter Jazz Festival, giving an especially rousing show in the NAC Fourth Stage. “For him, it’s more about the intensity... it’s more about creating a rapport, how he engages with audiences, the connection he establishes,” Proveyer says.

From his years on the Cuban music scene, De Armas has some high-level connections of his own. For example, Last summer, he provided the Ottawa Jazz Festival’s jam session with one of its you-had-to-be-there moments when he and some visiting Cuban musicians practically tore the roof off of AlphaSoul Cafe with their supercharged playing.

Guitarist Ellias fondly recalls how he joined in with the tumultuously rhythmic, impromptu music-making. “I have limited experience playing Cuban music but the feeling was so strong from Miguel - Ottawa Citizen