Jerry González y el Comando de la Clave (Sunnyside Records – 2011)

When considering living modern masters of the trumpet, ubiquitous in the world of brass, Wynton Marsalis comes to mind first; and Terence Blanchard perhaps, but certainly not Jerry González. This is a travesty, because in the warmth and bronzed glow of González’s sound there is a singular mystical majesty that deserves infinitely wider recognition than the trumpeter gets. Before the reason was that he played in an idiom that was more insular than [...]

Gonzalo Rubalcaba – Fé/Faith (5Passion – 2011)

The thin line between theology and art was blurred in ancient times and this was manifested in the Psalms and in the Song of Solomon—both forms of poetry set to music and completely absorbed by devotion, praise and worship. What characterized this form of poetry and music was the complete surrender of the intellect to the soul. Thus the utter beauty of this art was able to shine with sheer passion and soaring spirituality. This is what characterizes [...]

Yamandú Costa e Hamilton de Holanda – Live (Adventure Music)

When Brazil laughs, the world laughs with her. When she cries the world cries with her. No more is there greater evidence of this when the music of that majestic country is played, especially when musicians with the ingenuity of Heitor Villa Lobos, Pixinguinha, Guinga, Chico Buarque, Hermeto Pascoal, and Egberto Gismonti among others sing of her beauty and grand design. In that magnificent musical geometry and in the edifice of her epic tradition [...]

Daniel Smith – Bassoon Goes Latin Jazz (Summit Records – 2011)

The bassoon, that ubiquitous double-reed instrument, which featured prominently in the Baroque, Romantic and Classical eras of music, has been a relatively sparingly played—especially in solo settings—in the modern era. In jazz, which is all but synonymous with experimentalism, the bassoon has been very sparingly used. There are so few exponents of this odd, but beautiful instrument that wide gaps exist between Illinois Jacquet, Yusef Lateef and [...]

André Vasconcellos – 2 (Adventure Music -2011)

There is nothing predictable about the music of André Vasconcellos. To begin with, he is one of a crop of fresh Brazilian musicians that include guitarists Daniel Santiago and Yamandú Costa, mandolin-player, Hamilton de Holanda and, chief among them, pianist André Mehmari who are re-evaluating their native milieu and the idiom in which they write. They are doing this in relation to the Romantic Era of 17th and 18th Century music [...]

Jane Bunnett & Hilario Durán – Cuban Rhapsody

Both reeds and woodwinds maestro Jane Bunnett and piano virtuoso Hilario Durán have released enormously successful albums lately. Bunnett made Embracing Voices (EMI, 2009) with the celebrated Cuban a capela choir, Grupo Vocal Desandann. Durán recorded a masterful trio record, Motion (Alma Records, 2010)with bassist, Roberto Occhipinti and drummer Mark Kelso. The two musicians had not worked together in several years [...]

Patty Ascher – Bossa, Jazz ‘n’ Samba (Zoho Music – 2011)

Patty Ascher’s exquisitely floating soprano literally takes flight on her ever so memorable English album, Bossa, Jazz ‘n’ Samba, a collection of mostly original songs from her pen. With a voice that sounds as if she were so beautifully vulnerable, Ascher navigates a myriad of emotions from longing and sadness to wonder and joy. Although she is exacting in her interpretation of emotions, her voice, almost devoid of any vibrato is so fey and delicate [...]

Charito – Heal The World (Zoho Music – 2011)

The question that must have been uppermost in the minds of many of those involved in this project, Heal The World a tribute to Michael Jackson, must surely have been: “How do you top the King of Pop…?” Or, at least: “How do we pull this one off without fawning?” As it happens, producer and drummer Harvey Mason need never have worried too much as he could not have picked a finer musician to front the project than the vocalist extraordinaire Charito [...]

Presenting José Rizo’s Mongorama

José Rizo’s Mongorama picks up where the Jazz on the Latin Side All Stars left off. After a decade of fruitful existence, performing and recording four terrific CDs (Jazz on the Latin Side All Stars 1 and 2, The Last Bullfighter and Tambolero), the veteran KJazz radio host, producer, composer and bandleader takes a new direction and moves on to a new project, which is actually a continuation of the original Latin jazz all stars band concept [...]

Danilo Pérez – Providencia (Mack Avenue Records – 2010)

Danilo Pérez’s extraordinary album, Providencia is more than a delightful suite. It is a love story… a love story between a father and his daughters, between a native son and his country. Above all, it is a love story between an artist and his music. And this latter facet of the album means that conceptually, it transcends borders. The music bears out this thought: It is bold, global and almost galactic. It is always in motion as it traverses many continents [...]