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"Editor’s Pick ... Album of the Month ... attests to the young pianist’s remarkable technical polish and command, as well as his cultivated, highly creative interpretations of music ... (López-Nussa) manipulates his gorgeously-tuned concert to magical effect. Treating the keyboard with utmost respect he luxuriates in the stylish timbre and tonally rich resources of an instrument that seems to have been prepared for his lithe fingers ... this album is now in pianophile heaven." - Latin Jazz Network Cuban pianist Harold López-Nussa studied classical music throughout his teen years and now he moves effortlessly between the worlds of classical, jazz and even pop. The songs on El Viaje ("The Journey") seem to sway gently like a boat in the water, as if readying for a voyage or returning to port after arrival, with trumpet and voices whispering memories. This aptly describes López-Nussa’s experiences travelling the world, yet always finding his way back to his hometown of Havana. His journey of body and spirit has led simultaneously to an exploration where he visits various genres and ideas while staying true to his foundational roots. The release of López-Nussa’s recordings in the US is a significant postscript to President Obama’s historic trip to Havana: the pianist is the first Cuba-based musician to issue an album internationally since the lifting of many of the restrictions associated with the longstanding trade embargo. In the process, López-Nussa follows in the modern day tradition of exemplary Cuban pianists who have recorded and toured internationally. "Jazz was scary. Improvisation was scary. That idea of not knowing what you are going to play ... at school I learned the works of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven and then it was all very clear. That permanent risk in which jazz musicians find themselves in all the time was terrifying ... of course, now I find myself in that risk all the time." - Harold López-Nussa