Aleph Aguiar
Sugar On My Blackbeans
by Howard Lawes
Aleph Aguiar is an international musician and composer, originally from Venezuela. He released his first album, Dialegs in 2011, just before moving to London in 2012. Since then he has released a variety of music including jazz/rock (Conectado), compositions for contemporary dance companies (Odyssey, Whitehall 9400 and These 4 Walls) and two albums of Afro-Venezuelan jazz, Pataruco (2015) and Maku (2017). Aleph’s upcoming album, entitled Sugar On My Blackbeans (2026), continues the jazz theme and via a Zoom call Aleph described his varied life in music and the influences that have shaped the new album. Listen to the title track:
Aleph Aguiar was born in Caracas in Venezuela but lived in San Felipe in the Yaracuy region. His mother was a contemporary dancer and his father a singer, so the home was always full of music. Aleph and his brothers learned to perform at an early age, Aleph learning the double bass, and it wasn’t long before he was playing in a band doing rock music covers. By the age of 13 he was playing with a professional band called 'Luango' whose mission was to preserve the music, history and culture of the region. Aleph also played with Simon Diaz, a hugely popular artist in Venezuela who worked to preserve the musical heritage of the country.
The traditional music and dance of the Yaracuy area is called 'Joropo Jorconiao', which Aleph describes as fast and exciting and very much associated with parties and celebration. Typically, the instruments used to create the music are the cuatro venezolano (a cross between guitar and banjo), the arpa llanera (large harp of the plains) and maracas (there is a video about Joropa here). Another style of Venezuelan music is the 'Merengue Caraqueno' which has spread throughout the Caribbean region and is notable for its 5/8 time signature. Despite being drawn to heavy rock bands such as Led Zeppelin and Metallica Aleph still has great affection for Venezuelan traditional music with its origins in Africa and Spain, and as many composers know, those early influences stay with you forever. Other musical influences include recordings of Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana, such as at Woodstock in 1969, which Aleph has seen many times and the great latin-jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, who maintained a special relationship with Venezuela.
Aleph Aguiar Quintet
At the age of 19 Aleph moved to Barcelona in Spain but rather than complete an academic path at the Taller de Musics he much preferred perfoming with local bands in clubs and festivals. Despite choosing this vocational option he continued to study and work hard which he believes is essential for any musician. In Barcelona Aleph met and performed with the Brazilian bass player Munir Hossn who he much admires. Aleph began listening to, and transcribing the music of, great jazz guitarists such as Wes Montgomery, Pat Metheny and George Benson. In Spain, because of his heritage, he became interested in Basque culture but found the food more interesting than the music!
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Aleph first visited London in 2005 as a member of a Spanish band and having decided to spend a few extra days, was very much impressed with the music and venues in the city. He went to jazz jams and met trumpeter, Quentin Collins and saxophonist, Brandon Allen at what is now the Blues Kitchen in Shoreditch. Although he returned to Spain for a while, Aleph decided to move to London permanently in 2012 and has established himself as part of the vibrant jazz and latin-american music scene in the city.
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His first album project in London was called Pataruco (2015) which is a word in Venezuela that refers to a male chicken (rooster) that is unsuitable for cockfighting. This rather cruel activity would have attracted large crowds and a lot of gambling in Venezuela when Aleph lived there.
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Maku (2017) features just Aleph on guitar and Michele Montoli on double bass, and the music includes some nice arrangements of jazz standards, Preludio a Un Beso (Prelude to a kiss) and Cuando Me Enamoro (When I Fall in Love). Since arriving in London Aleph has played in bands for West End shows, accompanied and composed for contemporary dance companies and has become a member of Georgia Cecile’s band.
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Here is Cuando Me Enamoro (When I Fall in Love) from the Maku album:
With Aleph on the new album, Sugar On My Blackbeans, are Quentin Collins on trumpet, Liam Dunachie on Hammond organ, Will Fry on percussion and Shane Forbes on drums. Aleph’s relationship with Quentin Collins goes back to 2005 when they met at a jam session during Aleph’s first visit to London. The music on the album harks back to the latter part of the 20th century when the popularity of latin jazz rose and fell according to trends at the time. In the 1960s Stan Getz popularised bossa nova with his album Jazz Samba (1962) and the tunes of Antonio Carlos Jobim. In 1969, one of Aleph’s guitar heroes, Carlos Santana performed Soul Sacrifice at the Woodstock festival. The performance which involved some wonderful interplay between Santana’s guitar and Greg Rolie’s organ received worldwide acclaim. In the 1990s another of Aleph’s heroes, trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, released a series of great latin jazz albums and in 2005 included the Venezuela Waltz Chorizinho in his Latin American Suite. The music of Santana and Sandoval illustrate how guitar, trumpet and organ define latin jazz and Aleph was keen to bring a little of that to his new album. To add further authenticity and spontaneity, Aleph decided to record the album with all the musicians in one room.
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Venezuelan music, such as the joropo, is all about having fun and enjoying life and most of the tracks on Sugar On My Blackbeans have a happy feel to them. The title refers to a typical Venezuelan dish and tracks on the album include Blue Troupials, perhaps assigning a mood to the national bird of Venezuela (which is in fact orange and black); Monk Lakes, named after a beauty spot in Kent, that coincidentally shares its name with the great jazz pianist! and Mondongo, which is a popular dish in Venezuela, made with tripe and vegetables that is also good for hangovers. Another track called One for Sorrow, Two for Joy is inspired by the English nursey rhyme and superstition and is a rather more tender tune featuring a lovely solo from Quentin Collins. Throughout the album Aleph allows plenty of scope for his excellent band to spread their wings and improvise, while retaining the latin jazz or joropo feel that encourages listeners to get up, dance and have a good time. ​
For Aleph, composing music and playing jazz are the things he enjoys the most, with each album a manifestation of his skill and creativity. He is hoping to tour with his band and at live performances he also includes a few standards from his jazz heroes.
The album launch is at Pizza Express, Chelsea on 22 April (details here) although there will be an earlier concert at The Verdict in Brighton on 3 April (details here), while the album was released in conjunction with ECN Music on the 13th February - details of the album are here.
© Sandy Brown Jazz 2026.4