Arts Edinburgh “Leo Blanco and Laura MacDonald: Reinvention Quartet”

By Rob Adams, Music Critic

“Blanco is a massive talent. His compositions teem with melodies, rhythms and counter-rhythms and his piano playing just explodes with creative impulses. .And when Blanco jangled the venue’s piano on his rhapsodic reworking of Venezuelan composer Aldemaro Romero’s El Nego Jose, we knew were witnessing something truly special”.

The Glasgow Herald, Scotland, UK

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Selected on  Best Jazz/Worl Music Albums l2009 ist by All about Jazz online magazine.

Pianist, composer, and arranger Leo Blanco emphatically proves the point on "Africa Latina", a mesmerizing recording that explores the unique connection between African and Venezuelan music. Enthralling and enlightening,  "Africa Latina"  succeeds on many levels with music that breathes and moves with new persuasions.

Mark Turner, "All about Jazz"

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Leo Blanco Wins “The Bank of Scotland Herald Angel” Award at the Edinburgh Festival:

“One man’s astonishing virtuosity marks the end of the festival receiving the Herald Angel Award…”

By Keith Bruce, Editor

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Leo Blanco, the internationally acclaimed Venezuelan pianist, appeared last Saturday at Centro Cultural Corp Group, provided music lovers with a concert that showed jazz at its finest. Blanco presented songs from his latest album, Roots & Effect, as well as new compositions. Leo Blanco and his band held the stage for nearly two hours, with virtuosic solos and improvisation. The new songs evidenced the influence of Peruvian music, African rhythms and Venezuelan folklore elements. One of highlights of the evening was when Blanco moved to the back of the piano to play its strings, producing Middle Eastern-influenced melodies, that later evolved into Flamenco.

El Nuevo Pais, “Concerto: Empathy and Leo Blanco”

By Roberto Carlos Palmitesta

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“Roots & Effect” (2004): A second record has recently been produced by Leo Blanco, the Venezuelan pianist currently residing in Boston. His World Jazz Ensemble presents Roots & Effect, a suggestive title: at first listen, Venezuelan music lovers feel a true sensation of “roots”, and are able to grasp what Blanco refers to by choosing this word.

El Universal