Daniel García: The Hero's Journey (180g Black Vinyl) (LP)

Spain's leading daily newspaper El País calls Daniel García Diego "one of the most exciting personalities to have emerged from the world of contemporary jazz in the last ten years". The pianist is by no means someone who makes a big fuss about himself - it simply doesn't suit his modest, reserved nature. But there are things that make García stand out as a musician: his knowledge of jazz and flamenco, his respect for both traditions and his ability to combine the emotions of these two worlds to create his very own music. This uniqueness makes him a key figure in Spanish jazz. At the end of 2024, talks began with ACT about what Daniel García's fourth album project might look like. "When Andreas Brandis and Michael Gottfried approached me with the idea of a solo album, I immediately liked it," García recalls. The pianist immediately set to work on the composition - but fate soon intervened: At the beginning of 2025, Daniel García's father was unexpectedly diagnosed with incurable cancer. His condition continued to deteriorate, especially in the final months, until he died in December 2025. The preparations and recordings for the album therefore took place at a time when García and his family were anxiously awaiting the inevitable. Against this backdrop, it is not surprising that The Hero's Journey is characterized by particularly great emotional depth. And yet it is not a dark album. García explains: "I have long been fascinated by the figure of the hero. I'm not thinking of an invincible superhero from the movies. I'm more interested in the idea of a person who has to constantly face new trials and overcome them." This idea determines the structure of The Hero's Journey: a person encounters challenge after challenge and grows through them. "I wrote music for each of these stages, each with its own character," says García. "These stations are also a reflection of my own journey." This approach suits a musician who draws inspiration from many worlds. "I find it difficult to categorize my music. It's like trying to put the sea in a box - it just overflows! I love classical music, I love music from the Middle East, I love rock, I love singer-songwriters. Inspiration can come from anywhere." In 13 sections, The Hero's Journey tells a coherent story. The opener, Life in a Crystal Bottle, describes a simple, innocent world where nothing extraordinary has happened yet. Meeting the Mentor is a loving portrait of a gentle father figure. Delicate inner voices create the image of a safe place and tell of the joy of the piano. The toccata-like The Ordeal is the only fully composed piece in the cycle. It is about inner strength, motivation and the energy that arises from a powerful inner drive. Finally, the concluding The Resurrection tells of a circle being closed - and of being ready for new, unexpected challenges. In addition to the piano, you can hear sparingly used samples: pre-recorded clapping and vocals, processed loops of a violin and electronic sounds from a Moog synthesizer. The piano always remains the main protagonist. García makes particularly impressive use of these timbres in Crossing the Threshold. Here you get the feeling of suddenly finding yourself in a completely alien world. The Hero's Journey was created against a serious background. But in the end there is a deeply optimistic statement about human resilience.