John Coltrane's "Naima" is one of the most revered compositions in jazz, a ballad of extraordinary harmonic beauty written for and named after the saxophonist's first wife. On her 2018 album First Voyage, Arcoiris Sandoval reimagines this sacred jazz text in a Latin feel at approximately 100 beats per minute in the key of A-flat. The rhythmic reinterpretation is a bold creative choice that transforms the piece from its original still, contemplative character into something more rhythmically active while preserving its essential emotional depth. Sandoval delivers three choruses over the tune's 20-bar AABA form, using the pedal-point bass notes and shimmering upper-register harmonies that are central to the composition's identity. Her piano solo navigates the tune's distinctive harmonic architecture, which features static bass notes beneath shifting chord colors, with sensitivity and imagination. The Latin feel adds a layer of warmth and motion that brings new energy to the familiar harmonies without losing the reverential quality the tune demands. By closing her debut album with this Coltrane masterpiece, Sandoval makes a statement about her artistic aspirations and her reverence for the jazz tradition that informs her own original music.
