Catalonian Guitarist & Composer Oscar Peñas: Almadraba ft. Legendary Bassist Ron Carter

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On May 21, 2018, Oscar Peñas was excited to enter Sear Sound Studio to record his debut suite Almadraba" arranged and composed for an eight-piece ensemble. Little did Penas know about when he asked legendary bassist Ron Carter who responded enchanted to record his composition on six tracks. The official launch date for the album is on February 25, 2022, which was produced by Jason Olaine and engineered by Grammy awardee Jeremy Loucas.

Oscar Peñas perform with a not flashy precise finger-picking technic, giving his fellow band members space shows all his creativity skills on guitar. Also featured on Almadraba are fellow Spaniard, keyboardist Marta Sanchez; bassist Pablo Aslan; (on the tracks where Ron Carter didn't play); percussionist and world rhythm expert Richie Barshay; and the Harlem Quartet, the Grammy-winning string four-some comprised by violinists Ilmar Gavilán, and Melissa White; violist Jaime Amador; and cellist Jody Redhage-Ferber.

Almadraba is the fifth album by Peñas "…whose gem-playing remains a study in restrain and depth, and whose training began with classical studies and later progressed to jazz…." by Ashley Kahn (liner notes).

Peñas' novel suite was inspired by Cadiz's unknown ancient fishing method in the South of Spain. Each of the suite's movements describes the different steps of the almadraba fishing method, all of them titled after those. Almadraba's premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival from October 3—6, 2018. Audiences experienced the stage representation of the fishing process mirrored a set of dramatic photos—some in black-and-white, others in washed-out color—projected on a gigantic screen behind the musicians in sync with the music. The multimedia effect transformed the presentation into something of a multi-sensory knowledge. Peñas' innovative composition received acceptance with endless ovations, thrilling audiences' celebrations, of great excitement.

Its second presentation in Feb. 2019 got the piece a fantastic concert review by Phillip Lutz - Downbeat Magazine; "Even when the bandleader brought out his nylon-string guitar and invoked, if obliquely, the flamenco sounds of his native land—as he did to great effect in the closing piece, "Bulería de la Almadraba, " the most animated offering of the night—he demonstrated an abundance of reserve. For all its artistry, Peñas' work retained considerable humility and remained no less impactful because of it."

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