Hanlon giddy over "Encanto"

Irish American pianist reconnects with Latin roots, old friends

By Fernando Ruano Jr.

His head and right foot moving simultaneously as he watches himself on a flat screen inside a posh South Beach hotel, Arthur Hanlon appears mesmerized by his own music during a screening of Encanto del Caribe: Arthur Hanlon & Friends, Hanlon’s exquisite churning of his trademark blue piano accompanied by the distinct vocals of guest artists including Marc Anthony and Natalia Jimenez.

“It does it to me even though I’ve probably watched it a few times,” says Hanlon about taking over the 500-year-old San Cristal Castle amid fortress walls in Puerto Rico and dusting off the Latin roots he discovered in mid-80’s New York. “I don’t think I’m done discovering them, searching for them, but (El) Gran Combo, (Grupo) Niche and Oscar D’ Leon definitely helped bring it out of me back in the day.”

He drops a prolonged rap about that brainy rat over Bernie Williams’ blistering guitar in the intro to Cheo Feliciano’s 70’s New York swing classic “El Raton”, performed with precision as the legendary Puerto Rican singer cuts in with short, poignant lyrics. And while its simplistic and an easy listen, Hanlon’s lightning-quick precision and dramatizing touch – traits he’s perfected as a leading exponent of Latin instrumental music and sole pianist to hit No.1 on the Billboard Latin charts – lends a punch. “Being up there with Cheo definitely took me back (in time), kind of traveling back through those streets again.”

Hanlon, the Irish-American pianist/composer with the schooled feel and hardened melody, discovered his classical side as a youngster in Detroit, but it was true love once he stepped on the streets of Spanish Harlem and was seduced by the Latin music washing over the city on a nightly basis. “It was a bit overwhelming, but enticing – (Jairo) Varela one night, Willie Colon the next, Eddie Palmieri,” says Hanlon, at the time completing postgraduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music.

“It was kind of weird, in a good way. I arrived as a classical pianist and was slowing becoming a Latin (one). Each night was different, a melting pot of (Latin) cultures.”

The only pianist to land the No. 1 on the Billboard Latin charts in over a decade, Hanlon, characterized for his blend of classic and Latin rhythms throughout a 20-year career, encountered little difficulty in walking with “people from all Latin America.” “A lot of the people I knew were musicians I came across with time,” says Hanlon, who started playing gigs around the city that led to his first album, “Encuentros” .

In 2005, Hanlon recorded “La Gorda Linda”, a mainstream score featuring Tito Nieves and Arturo Sandoval. “I was making friends from all over: Puerto Rico, Colombia, you name it.”

Living amongst such a “melting pot”, Hanlon drew closer to those influences while developing a stylish piano form of his own. While he doesn’t utter anything vocally, Hanlon uses melodramatic timeliness in adding a splash of freshness to the most classic of songs.

He reaches the apex in “Encanto”, with the aid of Anthony’s stirring tenor in “Mi Viejo San Juan”, and the versatile capacity of Jimenez in “Historia de Un Amor”. “Jimenez, the former lead for La Quinta Estacion, takes her voice in all different directions as she pours an emotive rendition over Hanlon’s sharpness, even carrying high notes and breaking into dance as the song transforms from tender ballad to full-fledged salsa.

The CD/DVD, which also includes piano-duet “Prendo Te” and “Bienvenido” with Laura Pasini, who Hanlon met backstage at a show at Madison Square Garden. We met backstage at a show at Madison Square Garden,” says Hanlon, recalling he had to share a dressing room with Pasini. “I think you can say we hit it off quite nicely.”

The concert commences with a full orchestra performing “Encanto” against the picturesque backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean and the walls of the historic castle – a picture Hanlon hopes stays in focus for years to come.

“It’s indicative that we have no barriers (in music),’ said Hanlon. “No matter where you’re from we can all come together to make music from any part of the world.”