The beat of change: Harold López-Nussa brings his Cuban piano style to Outpost on Nov. 19

Harold López-Nussa is learning the art of embracing change.

The world-class pianist made the big leap and moved from his home in Cuba to France, where he began a new life.

“It’s a lot different,” López-Nussa says. “What’s great about the situation I’m in now is that I get to experience everything for the first time. It’s about getting out and performing around France. Meeting new musicians and learning more about where I call home now.”

López-Nussa is currently on tour in support of his most recent album, “Timba a la Americana.” The tour makes a stop at the Outpost Performance Space at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19.

The album contains 10 new songs which López-Nussa composed.

“We recorded 11 songs,” he says. “The last song didn’t quite fit in, so we cut it.”

López-Nussa began working with producer Michael League on July 22, 2022, when he first showed League his ideas.

From there, he started sharing music for a few months.

“I was chatting with Michael very often,” he says. “We made time to spend five days in the studio, which was luxurious. We had two days to rehearse and three days recording. Almost every other time recording, I’ve had less time in the studio. This turned out to be a very nice journey.”

The pair grabbed elements of danzón, the foundational dance that began in Matanzas in the late 1800s, and the stately son tumbao riffs that frame the songs of Benny Moré and so many others.

They worked with ancient bata drum rhythms used to summon the deities, then incorporated them into the choppy polyrhythmic agitations of modern improvising collectives.

The beat of change: Harold López-Nussa brings his Cuban piano style to Outpost on Nov. 19

They linked the catcalling mambos of Dizzy Gillespie and Machito to modern ideas about song structure.

López-Nussa relied on League to help cut through the noise and get the compositions to their best.

“Michael is very tough in the studio,” he says with a laugh. “Those five days were full of long days.”

The track, “Mamá,” wasn’t supposed to make the album, López-Nussa says.

“I showed Michael the melody and we found a way to make it work,” he says. “The ideas come to me when I’m doing something else. I always have my phone with me and will record the notes. I must have thousands of notes.”

The composition “Hope” is the 10th track on the album, and it represents where López-Nussa was in his life.

“I wrote this about the transition of my life when I moved from Cuba to France,” he says. “It was during the pandemic and I wasn’t playing live music. I was depressed. I began to play this groove of a melody and somehow it made me happy. The feeling gave me hope that I would be back making music and touring.”

López-Nussa’s stop at the Outpost will be his first performance in New Mexico.

He’s looking forward to making his introduction to a new audience.

“We’re playing a lot from the new album,” he says. “If I have the chance, I’ll get to look around Albuquerque and see what kind of food and culture I can take in. I’m bringing a chill Cuban vibe to the show.”