MIAMI, June 6, 2022 – Miami Dade College’s (MDC) Koubek Center will host the exceptional C4 Trio, masters and innovators of the cuatro, the small, four-string guitar-like instrument typical in Venezuelan music, at at 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 12. The group will present its new album Back to 4.
C4 Trio features an unusual format: three cuatros and an electric bass. It was founded in 2005 by cuatro players Jorge Glem, Edward Ramirez, and Hector Molina, who later added bassists Rodner Padilla and Gustavo Marquez. They recorded their debut album the following year under the name C4 Trio, a play on words on the cuatro.
Back to 4 is the group’s seventh album, and it’s the first by the C4 Trio without any guest artists. Previous collaborations included Tiempo al Tiempo (2019) with Nicaraguan singer Luis Enrique, which earned them a Latin Grammy, and also Ruben Blades, Gualberto Ibarreto, and the Venezuelan Ska band Desorden Público.
“This is an album that we owed ourselves,” Glem said. “There have always been guests on all the albums, and we have recorded with some great singers, but we wanted to make an instrumental album, which was also a challenge because these are nine original songs.”
The pieces draw from traditional Venezuelan genres, as well as pop, jazz, and world music. It was recorded in North Miami Beach and co-produced by the group and Michael League for the Ground Up Music label.
League, the leader and mastermind of the jazz-world ensemble Snarky Puppy and its artist-managed label, Ground Up, heard a recording of the group and invited C4 Trio to perform at the GroundUp Music Festival in Miami Beach in 2018.
“The C4 Trio is a group that maybe a lot of people don’t know about, outside of their kind of niche in the music world,” said League. “But it is impossible to see them play and not remember them for the rest of your life.”
Glem, Ramirez, and Molina were solo performers when they first met at a cuatro festival, and quickly discovered an interest in traditional Venezuelan genres and new, contemporary fusions.
“We try to stay close to traditional rhythms, but complement them with non-traditional harmonies, improvisations, and by mixing genres and rhythms that do not usually go together. “There is a phrase I love that says, ‘Music lives in the air, and the air has no borders,’ said Glem, whose various interests have led him to work with multi-Grammy winner Jon Baptiste and perform with renowned Cuban jazz pianist Alfredo Rodriguez.
WHAT: MDC Koubek Center Presents New Album Release by C4 Trio
WHEN: Sunday, June 12, at 5 p.m.
WHERE: Koubek Center Theatre,
2705 SW 3rd St.
INDOOR EVENT – Free Parking
TICKETS: Tickets – $15 presale / $20 at the door
https://www.squadup.com/events/back-to-4-c4-trio-at-koubek-center?legacy=0
About the Koubek Center
A South Florida landmark with a long and rich history as a cultural hub, The Koubek Center is dedicated to building community through the arts. Over the past several decades, the Center has offered a variety of activities, including workshops, art exhibitions, theater performances, literary readings, and concerts. It is a place for artists and local arts organizations to explore and experiment, engage in collaborations and share their work with the community. The Koubek Center includes a 200-seat theater, an expansive garden, classrooms, rehearsal, and multi-use spaces. Built in 1929 by Austrian trader John J. Koubek as a gift to his wife, it was later donated to the University of Miami and acquired by Miami Dade College in 2011. For more information, visit www.koubekcenter.org.
Miami Dade College is an equal access/equal opportunity institution that does not discriminate based on sex, race, color, marital status, age, religion, national origin, disability, veteran’s status, ethnicity, pregnancy, sexual orientation, or genetic information. Additional information may be obtained by contacting the College’s Equity Officer: Dr. Joy C. Ruff, at (305) 237-2577 (Voice) or 711 (Relay Service). jruff@mdc.edu