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The next cut,
the title track, proves that the band can also swing as hard as
necessary, blazing through the Afro-Cuban rhythms at the core of
Marlon’s inventive arrangement. There are virtuoso performances
throughout, on tunes of any tempo and coloration, from the funky
line of “Home Cooking” (written by the late pianist Hilton Ruiz)
to the gentle “Huele a Peligro (with a gorgeous solo by
saxophonist Peter Brainin), to the intricate, snaking lines of “Manicero.”
This is a great recording.
3. Mark
Weinstein, Con Alma (Jazzheads Records) The trombonist and
arranger Mark Weinstein has been drawn to Latin jazz since the
1960s. After forty years, it seems he wanted to explore the form
without the familiar staples of strong brass and layered
percussion.
In this
striking recording, Weinstein abandons his trombone, opting for
flutes – soprano, alto, and bass. And to aid his journey, he
recruits the great Latin bassist Santi Debriano, the
drummer Maurcio Herrera, the conga master Pedrito
Martínez, and the pianist Mark Levine. The opening
track, “Santi’s Africaleidescope,” is a stunner, weaving
Debriano’s bass, the leader’s nearly atonal flute work, and
Levine’s powerful piano. Herrera and Martínez bring amazing
rhythmic skill and diversity to Wayne Shorter’s “Fee Fi Fo Fum.”
The whole band gives Coltrane’s late masterpiece, “Crescent,”
a marvelous facelift.
4.
John Santos Quintet, Papa Mambo (Machete Records).
The percussionist Santos led the
great Machete Ensemble for twenty years. When it dissolved last
year, Santos chose to replace his big band with a quintet. And
what a band this is: Santos is joined in percussion duties by the
great Orestes Vilato, who focuses on timables and
bongos. John Calloway is on flute, Marco Díaz on
piano, and Saul Sierra on bass. Trumpeter Ray Vega
guests on a couple of tunes, including the title track, a tribute
to the late Cuban bassist Cachao. A variety of guest
vocalists and musicians enrich the proceedings.
5. Pacquito
D’Rivera Quintet?, Funk Tango (Sunnyside Records) Nearly
thirty years ago, D’Rivera won his first Grammy, for “Irakere.”
Ever since, the Cuban multi-reed great has been working on the
forefront of music, unconstrained by genre. His newest release is
characteristically eclectic, full of international flavors,
shifting poly-rhythms, and brilliant soloists. Notable here is
the Latin-inflected version of Coltrane’s classic “Giant Steps,”
Hector Del Curto’s
bandoneon on “Revirado,” and the leader’s jaw-dropping work
on the title track.
6.
Roswell Rudd
and Yomo Toro, El Espiritu Jibaro (Soundscape). The
trombonist Roswell Rudd has been on the front line of the
jazz avant-garde for his entire career, and he has displayed a
life-long fascination with ethnology and world music. In this
far-out recording, Rudd brings his vast skill and his penchant for
free playing to Latin music, in the company of the Puerto Rican
guitarist Yomo Toro (known here and there as “the Puerto
Rican Jimi Hendrix,” a moniker that, if nothing else, conveys his
astonishing facility on all manner of string instruments,
including the various types of the cuatro, the national
instrument of Puerto Rico.) This recording brings these two
whirlwinds together, and places them in a wide variety of diverse
settings. The highlight of this exceptional date is “Preludio,”
in which the pair displays a supernatural empathy.
Author’s Note:
We
are strong and resilient. We endure difficult times of war,
poverty, and loss, and we emerge from these times with our spirits
intact – older, possibly wiser, and hopeful. When we reach the end
of a trying year, we take a longing look backwards to find the
things that helped us through. Always for me these things include
the soundtrack of the year, a blend of familiar old favorites and
the new releases that have joined the list of indispensable music
that I’ll take to the New Year. ¡Prospero Año Nuevo, 2008!
Editor’s Note:
Fritz Byers
is a practicing attorney who also shares his love of jazz with
readers and radio listeners in his weekly radio show, Jazz
Spectrum, which airs every Saturday evening on WGTE 91.3FM.
According to Mr. Byers, “I have been hosting Jazz Spectrum 91
continuously since
April 1, 1989.
“Jazz Spectrum 91 is designed as an anthology, a loose and flowing
tour through the history of the music, showcasing the wondrous
diversity of jazz and the virtuosity of the musicians who play it.
The notion of jazz history, in any formal sense, is problematic,
since the best recordings are timeless, tied not so much to time
and place as to personal and collective inspiration, which, like
all thunderclaps of genius, defy tidy explanation. Jazz is marked,
at once, both by limitless innovation and enormous discipline, and
it is this tension—between the individual and the group, between
form and invention—that makes jazz such a source of boundless
fascination. And joy.”
Latin Colors: Latin Jazz Review of the Grammys
http://www.laprensatoledo.com/Stories/2008/020808/Fritz.htm
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