2010 Bonaire Heineken Jazz Festival

Marco Di Gianvito is an italian freelance photographer based on Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean. He is a self-taught photographer who started his own activity as a Travel & Outdoor photographer and a photojournalist, 17 years ago. After experiencing Italy and many of the european countries, in 2007, he moved to the Caribbean. Now he travels around the islands. His main photographic fields are cultural, music, social and sport events as long as commercial shootings [...]

Jovino Santos Neto – Veja o Som/See the Sound (Adventure Music)

There comes a time in the life of a pianist, when the lure of a solo project is strong and he or she inevitably gives in. Having thus satisfied the yearning the musician is struck by an even more daunting task: the thought of a duo program, made even more alluring when there is an opportunity to duet with more than one musician and instrumentalist. Such an extravagance is rarely passed up so it is no surprise to find the wonderful world of pianist Jovino [...]

Paquito D’Rivera with the Pablo Aslan Ensemble – Tango Jazz: Live at the Lincoln Center (Sunnyside Records – 2010)

One of the greatest love affairs in music is the one between folk music and dance. This extremely covert relationship has spilled over into contemporary music as well—more so in musical excursions in Europe (where even Igor Stravinsky sang its praises with compositions of his own) and in Latin America. One of the most beloved of all these affairs is the storied one of the tango, a voluptuous one between characters born in countries as far removed as [...]

Chico Pinheiro – There’s a Storm Inside (Sunnyside Records – 2010)

The near falsetto vocals of Chico Pinheiro perfectly offset the voluptuous music that he has created on There’s a Storm Inside. However narrow his vocal range, Pinheiro is a master storyteller and he weaves his lines like an elaborate tapestry, a sort of patchwork quilt that tells the story his way. Pinheiro has a softness that seems to accelerate and retard his very breath. This increases the dramaturgy of his vocalastics in both English and Portuguese [...]

Mike Marshall – An Adventure 1999—2009 (Adventure Music – 2010)

Few musicians deserve a retrospective more richly than the mandolin player, Mike Marshall. The ground-breaking, genre defying instrumentalist and composer has melded his prodigious skills with musicians as far removed as David Grisman and Darol Anger, Bela Fleck and Caterina Lichtenberg… to where his heart lies most comfortably and gracefully, with Brasilian musicians such as Hamilton de Holanda and Hermeto Pascoal. Marshall’s career has spanned [...]

Nelson Riveros – Camino al Barrio (Self Produced – 2010)

Nelson Riveros is one of the most proficient melodic guitarists inhabiting the world of music today. On top of that he is artful rhythmically. He puts both to use playing largely in the middle and lower registers of his instrument—unusual among guitarists, who, for some reason, prefer the wail of the upper register almost all the time. Riveros also seems in no rush to play a phrase or lick. Consequently his lines are longish and dally deliciously as they navigate [...]

Chucho Valdés & the Afro Cuban Messengers Live at Lincoln Center

Maestro Chucho Valdés and the Afro Cuban Messengers performed to a full-house at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Allen Room. The show was part of the institution’s Afro-Cuban celebration, which served to promote cultural and artistic exchange between American and Cuban jazz musicians and culminated in a series of events in Havana, Cuba and New York City [...]

The Black Butterflies – 1 de Mayo

Latin Jazz Network and Mercedes Figueras are giving away two copies of “1 de Mayo”, the recent release of The Black Butterflies. All you have to do to participate in this contest is subscribe to our mailing list. Sign up to receive news and updates from Latin Jazz Network. Enter your email address in the field at the right top corner of our posts and it’s done. If you already signed up, you don’t need to do it again, you will be automatically entered [...]

Gabriel Palatchi Band – Diario de Viaje (Self Produced – 2010)

It is highly unlikely that when Gabriel Palatchi set off on his travels, out of Argentina, he thought he would be undertaking a musical excursion so vast and exciting. But the fact is that it ended up that way. Palatchi, now living in Canada—at least for now—has produced a fine album marking his musical sojourn entitled, Diario de Viaje. Leading a fine ensemble of musicians from various parts of South America, Palatchi works the idioms and metaphors of [...]

Benjamim Taubkin – Piano Masters Vol. 1 (Adventure Music – 2010)

Any musician with the daring to attempt a solo project has to be on his game from the moment his fingers touch the keys. However few pianists—since the great Bill Evans—have shown unrivalled touch and expression as Paul Bley, Keith Jarrett, Michel Pilc and now the majestic Brazilian pianist, Benjamim Taubkin. Fortuitously, Adventure Music selected him to inaugurate their forthcoming series with Piano Masters Vol. 1. Here he plays mostly [...]