More Noteworthy Recordings of 2011
By Raul da Gama, Janine Santana, Wilbert Sostre
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Claudio Roditi – Bons Amigos (Resonance Records) Most fans, even aficionados of contemporary music, still only vaguely know the great trumpeter Claudio Roditi as the “Brazilian who joined Arturo Sandoval in Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra”. It is a pity that Roditi’s musical reputation rests on so narrow a spectrum in his enormous musical career. Few know, for instance, that Roditi was one of the first Brazilian musicians to relocate in the United States of America: in 1970 as a matter of fact. Since then he has criss-crossed America playing with the likes of Tito Puente, Mario Bauzá, Ray Barretto and Dizzy Gillespie… Read full review by Raul da Gama. |
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Silvano Monasterios – Unconditional (Savant Records) Silvano Monasterios reaped the benefit of a valuable education. Born in Caracas, Monasterios studied classical piano at José Lamas Conservatory, learned the traditional rhythms associated with sambas of South America, and studied jazz at home with his father. This combination has integrated and developed Monasterios into a superb composer and performer. After winning a scholarship award for best soloist at the Miami Jazz Festival, he moved to the United States to attend Miami-Dade College. He has several jazz honors both here and in Venezuela… Read full review by Janine Santana (jazzhistoryonline). |
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Jane Bunnett & Hilario Durán – Cuban Rhapsody (Alma Rec) Saxophonist and flutist Jane Bunnett exploration of cuban music started back in the 1990′s and she is a frequent visitor to Cuba. So Bunnett is not a newcomer to the world of latin music. In fact Bunnett received the 2002 Smithsonian Institute Award for her contributions and dedication to the development of latin jazz. On her new release Cuban Rhapsody, Bunnett recorded with her long time musical friend pianist virtuoso Hilario Duran. Their music partnership goes back to 1990 when Bunnett went to Cuba to record her album Spirits of Havana. Bunnett and her husband… Read full review by Wilbert Sostre. |
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Diego Urcola Quartet – Appreciation (CAM Jazz/Sunnyside) Diego Urcola’s is a voice that remained somewhat hidden—certainly tucked away—for two decades in Paquito D’Rivera’s quintet. And then there was the subdued role he played in Los Guachos, the fabulous larger ensemble. However the graceful candour of his voice is irrepressible and it was only a matter of time when he would be heard for what he really is and plays. Urcola is distinct and a singular artist in the manner of his more famous countryman Leandro “Gato” Barbieri. The trumpeter plays with sensuous swagger and digs deep into his own soul for… Read full review by Raul da Gama. |
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Antonio Adolfo – Chora Baião (AAM Music) Antonio Adolfo is not very well-known outside of Brazil—yet! His beautiful new recording "Chora Baião" (Cry Baião) is a successful marriage of traditional northern Brazilian musical forms (which meld African, European and indigenous cultures) and jazz. Adolfo has taken the music of two beloved Brazilian artists, Guinga and Chico Buarque, whose fortes are choro and baião and arranged it with his own elegant flavor. He respectfully maintains the integrity of these two masters while infusing his own mastery of composition and arrangement. The album opens with “Dá O Pé … Read full review by Janine Santana (jazzhistoryonline). |
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Wayne Wallace – To Hear from There (Patois Records) Wayne Wallace continues to explore the infectious Afro-Cuban rhythms on To Here From There, the follow-up to his 2010 Grammy-nominated album, Bien Bien! (Patois Record, 2009). Wallace is a trombonist with vast experience that includes collaborations with artists such as Count Basie, Joe Henderson, Lionel Hampton, Sonny Rollins and Tito Puente. Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet plays like they were born in Cuba. The danceable “La Escuela” with its piano montuno and the distinctive clave of the Cuban son is dedicated to La Escuela Nacional de las Artes… Read full review by Wilbert Sostre. |
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Hendrik Meurkens – Live at Bird’s Eye (Zoho Music) Hendrik Meurkens is, most certainly, one of the greatest musical adventurers from Europe. The harmonica wunderkind who also happens to be a fine vibraphone player seems to have almost singlehandedly rediscovered Brazil decades after Stan Getz and Joe Henderson did almost five decades ago. In doing so Meurkens along with the grandmaster of the harmonica, Toots Thielemans, has cast a refreshing light on Brazilian music, focussing on the angularity and aching beauty longing of its beloved choro. Not only has he brought a new instrument (the harmonica) to… Read full review by Raul da Gama. |
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Oscar Pérez Nuevo Comienzo – Afropean Affair (Chandra Rec) Originally from Queens, pianist Oscar Perez studied both classical music and jazz. He focused on jazz because he was able to acquire more work in nightclubs than concert halls. Yet his classical music training comes through in his original compositions. The title work of the present recording, “Afropean Affair” is a commissioned suite from Chamber Music America which combines themes of the past, present and future of music from African, European and jazz sources. While some of the press material claims that Perez is creating a new musical form, I hear this… Read full review by Janine Santana (jazzhistoryonline). |
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Sánchez, Harris, Scott – Ninety Miles (Concord Picante) Three young music virtuosos join forces in the Ninety Miles Project, one of the best albums of 2011. Grammy nominated vibraphonist Stefon Harris, New Orleans native, and also Grammy nominated trumpetist Christian Scott and Grammy winner saoxophone master David Sanchez. Ninety Miles is the distance between the USA and Cuba, two countries with great political differences but with a greater love for good music. Recorded in Cuba with cuban pianists Rember Duharte and Harold Lopez Nussa, Ninety Miles is also the result of the visit and exploration of Cuban music… Read full review by Wilbert Sostre. |
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Afrodisian Orchestra – Satierismos (Youkali Music) And now comes Satierismos a superb homage from the large Spanish ensemble, Afrodisian Orchestra. These are extraordinary musicians who have—to a man—a wild sense of creativity. Each of the members of the orchestra show outstanding technique especially pianist Marta Sánchez and under the majestic musical direction of Miguel Blanco, the ensemble displays a tremendous genius for tonal color and command of instrumental timbre. But their greatest asset could well be their monumental sense of rhythm, particularly how to take control of this aspect of the… Read full review by Raul da Gama. |
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Sammy Figueroa – Urban Nature (Senator Records) For years he has been heard as the driving percussion force behind many disparate legends in a variety of music genres. Involved in multiple Grammy-winning projects, and well versed as a multi percussionist in a variety of world rhythms, he is firmly established as a first call recording and touring musician. Yet this is not where Sammy Figueroa will stay. He has stepped away from being a sideman to shine as a leader. Figueroa’s skills, mature savvy and humor are revealed with perfect timing in his new CD, “Urban Nature”. While the groove of this recording is Latin… Read full review by Janine Santana (jazzhistoryonline). |
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Magos Herrera – Mexico Azul (Sunnyside Records) Magos Herrera is the Cassandra Wilson of latin america. There are similarities in their warm, sultry tone, their bluesy feeling and strong command of the jazz language. What makes Magos Herrera different and certainly a unique voice in the jazz world today is her latin heritage that she proudly displays in all of her music. The CD notes describes México Azul as a celebration of México’s golden age of cinema and television. That was back in the 30′s and 40′s. A lot of good music came out of that era, and Magos did a good job in the song selection for this album… Read full review by Wilbert Sostre. |
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Duduka da Fonseca Trio Plays Toninho Horta (Zoho Music) Plays Toninho Horta marks the arrival of Da Fonseca as a masterful interpreter of fine repertoire and inasmuch, as he has made Horta’s music his own, something of a “composer” as well. Da Fonseca is clearly one of the finest rhythm colorists around. He is one of several musicians who followed in the footsteps of fellow-Brazilians, Santos, Claudio Roditi and Nilson Matta in locating themselves in the United States. In bringing their artistry abroad, these musicians have become virtual ambassadors for Brazilian musical culture in that country. As is the case with… Read full review by Raul da Gama. |
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Francisco Mela and Cuban Safari – Tree of Life (Half Note) Francisco Mela is a man who lives to drum. He studied in his native Cuba and at Berklee College in Boston. He has been known to rehearse twelve hours a day. He caught the attention of Joe Lovano, and the saxophonist hired him for his band Us 5, and strongly encouraged Mela to compose and perform his own music. “Tree of Life” is Mela’s third CD as a leader and it features his band Cuban Safari, which, in addition to Mela’s drums, includes Elio Villafranca and Leo Genovese on piano, Uri Gurvich on sax, Ben Monder on guitar, Luques Curtis on bass, and Mauricio… Read full review by Janine Santana (jazzhistoryonline). |
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Kalani Trinidad – Crossing Bridges (Self produced) Flutist Kalani Trinidad is one of the brightest young stars in the Puerto Rico jazz scene today and the first Puerto Rican to win a Presidential Scholarship from Berklee School of Music in Boston. In his style Trinidad echoes the best of the great Puerto Rican flutist that came before him. One may hear on his music the finesse and sensitivity of a Nestor Torres and the inventiveness and intensity of a Dave Valentín. The music on Trinidad debut album Crossing Bridges has elements of smooth jazz on compositions like “Ubiquitous Being”, fusion jazz on “Noche en Madrid”… Read full review by Wilbert Sostre. |
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Afrodisian Orchestra – Satierismos (Youkali Music – 2011)
It is hardly surprising that Erik Satie has become the darling of modern composers and musicians alike. The reputedly eccentric French composer who lived between the late-19th and the early 20th Century was very much a musician far ahead of his time. Breaking away from the late-Romantics, Satie predated many movements in various artistic disciplines, from Dadaism and Surrealism in painting; and muzak or elevator music, by fifty years. More seriously, his marvellous compositions, “Trois Gymnopédies” (1888) and the “Gnossiennes” (1890), both composed for piano, placed great emphasis on modal techniques and “white key” harmonies and predated the explorations that Debussy made in similar resources by some fifteen years. His “Vexations” utilised a short piano sequence and demanded that it be played identically over 840 measures. In doing so, Satie seemed to foretell the advent of minimalism too.
That Satie heard and was might have taken a fancy to early jazz makes a moot point. However that he has fascinated musicians from the Blood, Sweat and Tears to the multi-reeds master, Dan Willis who fabulously re-imagined his most famous work (mentioned earlier) as well as his “Nocturnes,” “Idylle” and the “Aubade” on the album Dan Willis and Velvet Gentlemen: The Satie Project (Daywood Drive Music, 2009). And now comes Satierismos a superb homage from the large Spanish ensemble, Afrodisian Orchestra. These are extraordinary musicians who have—to a man—a wild sense of creativity. Each of the members of the orchestra show outstanding technique especially pianist Marta Sánchez and under the majestic musical direction of Miguel Blanco, the ensemble displays a tremendous genius for tonal color and command of instrumental timbre. But their greatest asset could well be their monumental sense of rhythm, particularly how to take control of this aspect of the music when European idioms collide with African, Mediterranean and South American ones.
Using arch musicality and great daring the Orchestra turns its skills towards a composer who held nothing sacred throughout his life as a musician and pianist. Its re-creation in the Latin-American idiom, with thunderous African polyrhythms and spectacular European polyphony brings a refreshing new focus to Satie’s mysterious harmonies. The dissonant knocks about with linear melodic lines with characteristic Satie simplicity. The weird meets the absolutely normal as the music traverses a wide musical topography from the vast landscape of Afro-Brazilian baião and samba to the delightful looseness of the Afro-Cuban descarga.
All this brings attention to the outstanding percussion colorations of Jorge Pérez and Rodrigo Díaz. But the album is more than the sum of the musicality of Jaime Muela’s Middle Eastern inflections on flutes, on “Gnossienne 3” and “Gnossienne 4” or the sublime colors of “Nocturne No. 3”. Miguel Blanco’s musical vision and the Afrodisian Orchestra’s exquisite sense of Satie and his irreverence truly comes to a head on the energetic rap on “Le Fils des Etoiles” defines the Orchestra’s musical expedition into the heart and soul of the music of Erik Satie. Not only does it put Satie in the contemporary context, but it also brings recognition to the wildly irreverent streak in Erik Satie. The chart also takes the album from good to great.
While the elasticity of the Orchestra’s rhythm means that it forfeits the pervasive minimalism of Satie’s music in the end the album triumphs because it takes the essence of Satie’s soul and glorifies it in yet another way. It is very likely that the odd Frenchman would have right royally pleased even if his “Trois Gymnopédies” has been relocated to the altogether garrulous musical realms of South America.
Track Listing:
1. Gnossienne 4 (Tanguillos)
2. Intro Tientos
3. Gnossienne 3 (Tientos)
4. Gnossienne 1 (Baião)
5. Nocturne No. 3
6. Le Fils des Etoiles
7. Gymnopédie 1 (Samba)
8. Gymnopédie 3 (Balada)
9. Gymnopédie 2 (Descarga)
10. Airs À Faire Fuir
Personnel:
Antonio Lizana: cante, alto and soprano saxophones, concert flute (1 – 4, 6 – 10), solos (7, 8); Jaime Muela: soprano saxophone, concert flute, alto flute, nay flute, Tibetan chants, solos (1, 3, 4, 10); Ariel Bringuez: tenor saxophone (1 – 4, 6, 9, 10), solos (3, 4, 5); Miguel Malla: alto saxophone, clarinet, solo (9); Sergio Bienzobas: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet; Fernando Hurtado: trumpet, flugelhorn, solo (9); Carlos Rossi: trumpet, flugelhorn, Tibetan chants, solos (7, 10); Roberto Pacheco: trombone, solo (9); Roberto Bazán: trombone; Israel Sandoval: electric and Spanish guitars (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 19), solos (1, 5, 7, 10); Marta Sánchez: piano, keyboards, solos (5, 8); Jorge Pérez: cajón, congas, timbales, campana, chékere, darbouka, karkabas, udu drum, ambient percussion (1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10); Rodrigo Díaz “El Niño”: drums, timbales (1 – 4, 6, 7, 9, 10); Miguel Blanco: electric bass (1 – 4, 6, 7, 9, 10), handclaps, keyboards, musical direction; Dani Juarez: tenor saxophone (5); Charley Rose: alto saxophone, voice (5); Andres Litwin: drums (5, 8); Reinier Elizade “El Negrón”: acoustic bass (5, 8); Jaime Vasquez: congas, chékere (5); Rubén López: Tibetan chants (1); Thomas Schindowski: Tibetan chants (1); Pedro Baseiga: hand claps (1, 3).
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Afrodisian Orchestra on the web: www.afrodisianorchestra.com
Review written by: Raul da Gama
New CDs – October 2011 – Part 1
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CD: Filosofia Caribeña, Vol. 1 Track: El Esqueleto Rumbero Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. On this new release (the 11th under John’s Machete Records label) entitled Filosofía Caribeña Vol. 1, The John Santos Sextet is in fine form, creating compelling and socially engaged music. According to John “Filosofía Caribeña is a cross-disciplinary project (original music/spoken word, dance) that aims to illuminate Afro-Latino presence, identity, and the marvelous, undeniable, and unheralded historical connections between Black and Latino communities.” A work in progress, Vol. 2 will come out in 2012. |
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CD: Parting Shot Track: Los Gaiteros Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Considered one the greatest jazz guitarists, Steve Khan’s body of work spans more than 30 years. In Parting Shot, he’s joined by longtime musical partners Anthony Jackson, Dennis Chambers, Manolo Badrena, and a dream Latin percussion team conformed by Bobby Allende and Marc Quiñonez. This new recording showcases seven outstanding compositions penned by Mr. Khan, plus great takes on Thelonius Monk’s Bye-Ya, and Ornette Coleman’s Chronology and Blues Connotation. |
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CD: Latin Bird Track: Moods of Parker Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Also known as Talib Kibwe, T.K. Blue is a multi-talented artist and educator in total command of his instruments of choice: saxophones and flutes. A member of Randy Weston’s band since 1980 (currently serving as its musical director), T.K. Blue is joined on this CD by pianist Theo Hill, bassist Essiet Essiet, drummer, master timbalero Willie Martinez and percussionist Roland Guerrero. Special guests are Steve Turre on trombone and shells, and Lewis Nash on drums. Latin Bird is a terrific recording that deserves airplay and wider recognition. |
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CD: Simplicidade: Live at Yoshi’s Track: Feira Livre Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Grupo Falso Baiano teams up with Brazilian master Jovino Santos Neto on this delightful Live in concert new release. A great follow-up to Viajando Choro e Jazz (their first recording), Simplicidade: Live at Yoshi’s showcases Grupo Falso Baiano’s original take on the classical Brazilian style, incorporating three compositions by special guest, Santos Neto. They have carved themselves a niche in an increasingly competitive musical environment with extraordinary results. Percussionist Brian Rice is also featured as a special guest. |
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CD: Satierismos Track: Gnossienne 1 Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. The Afrodisian Orchestra is a Big Band based in Madrid, Spain. His founder and director, Miguel Blanco, assembled a fantastic team, creating (along with Nuyorican trumpeter and conguero Jerry González) an ensemble that projects a distinct sound and style. This band fuses a wide variety of rhythms: flamenco, latin, funk, jazz, you name it. Now releasing their second CD entitled Satierismos, Blanco and his Afrodisian Orchestra delve deep into the avant-garde world of French pianist and composer Éric Alfred Leslie Satie (known as Erik Satie). The result is refreshing and innovative, to say the least. A great follow-up to Mediterraciones. |
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Latin Jazz Network Radio – Jukebox – August 2011 Playlist
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Latin Jazz Network Radio – Jukebox – October 2009 Playlist
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Afrodisian Orchestra – Mediterraciones (BarCo 2009)
Few records in 2009 are going to have such an impact on the world of music as the Afrodisian Orchestra’s Mediterraciones. This is because there are few, just a few musicians – even native Spanish ones – who have come to imbibe completely the incredible ethos of Spain. The myriad influences – from religious (Jewish, Christian, Muslim…) to ethnic (Western Gothic, Moorish, Arabic, Indian, Romany…) – have collided and created a rare cultural combustion in Spain, more than anywhere else in Europe. The fire burns most fiercely and bright in poetry, music and dance. No one can quite pinpoint why these Spanish arts are so captivating. Theories abound but because these are so academic, they only sound pedantic and serve to make appreciation of the arts tedious.
Mystery and magic lie at the heart and soul of artistic creation… It is better to leave it at that, or better still to put it all down to “duende”… This is one of those mystical, indefinable words that pierce deep in the heart of Spanish culture. The great Spanish poet, Federico García Lorca wrote that “duende” could only be in the depths of abandonment – in the “final blood-filled room of the soul.” Its power is likened to a moment which transcends time… a moment of immortality. Among musicians alive today, guitarist Paco de Lucía captures this… So does pianist Chano Domínguez, the bassist Renaud García-Fons. And now, it seems that Miguel Blanco has brought together a group of musicians who display a remarkable ability to radiate this magical quality.
The music on Mediterraciones from the Afrodisian Orchestra brings alive all traditional musics from Spain in a molten mix of volcanic lava. The energy generated by this record palpitates throughout. Miguel Blanco, bassist and musical director winds up the musical tension to such an extent that there is no let up until the final notes of the eighth track resonate in the inner ear and finally die down. “Desarraigo” sets the pace. This is a fiery flamenco sketch carved out and applied to the big band juerga setting. It has all the makings of a traditional flamenco – cante, baile (suggested by the cracking handclaps and superbly resonant cajón by percussion colorist, Jorge Pérez) and guitarra from Israel Sandoval. The glue that binds it all together is memorable glissandos that slide form the mouthpiece of the soprano saxophone of Jaime Muela.
“Retumba,” explodes in thunderclaps and is more sinister, which goes miles in winding up the tension of the music. Muela plays the fabled Turkish flute, the ney, here and the aching sound creates a glacial character for the composition before Raul Marques’ trumpet moans his solo in a slow-drag manner, with the emotional intensity of a cante jondo. Then Israel Sandoval’s guitar solo, like an outpouring of the soul, almost conjuring up ancient soleares that twists down to a Jimi Hendrix-like conclusion. There is only a brief respite during “Nonna I Nil,” its beguiling title belies the softness of its balladry. Both keyboardist, Marta Sánchez and in a rare turn, Miguel Blanco excite and agitate the music delightfully. The ensemble has a warm glow burning throughout and Jorge Pérez taps his udu drum as José San Martín creates bright cymbal splashes.
“Boletus Obsoletus” is a quirky arabesque of a song that inhabits a kind of electric fog. Its mystery deepens toward the middle of the piece where Roberto Pacheco’s trombone solos in dissonant fashion, while Blanco and the percussionists provide veritable bedrock under the solo. “Habanera Excentrica” has a rough-timbre vocal-like harmonic progression to release an almost ravaged core of the song. The incisive rhythm is coupled with a white-hot near violent emotional intensity. Once again, Jaime Muela – this time on tenor saxophone – drives up the heat and Rubén Salvador keeps the fire alive with his trumpet.
“La Brisa” and the title track “Mediterraciones” co-exist and twist the music from a light fluttering of “La Brisa” to a deeper more moody “Mediterraciones”. In the former track Marta Sanchez plays off Juan Ramos Callejas’ mighty wail on his alto saxophone. The title tune features Miguel Blanco’s ability to write for dense harmonies. This is a sinister tune, capturing the historic elements of Mediterranean art history, accented by Pérez on congas. Carlos Rossi on flugelhorn shines in the middle eight. “Te Llamé y No Estabas” is another beguiling title and is a perfect bookend for “Desarraigo”. It unfolds in rapid silky movements accented by the handclap, cajón and other percussion that melds into the brass and woodwinds to create the openings for soloists – Sánchez on keyboards, Ramón Callejas on soprano saxophone and Inaki Araquistain on tenor saxophone.
This is a quintessential record that is bursting not only with energy, but also with the ingenuity of melding Spanish song with modern American music. Miguel Blanco excels as he creates arrangements for his own charts in masterful fashion. The leader has an innate feel for musical instruments and expresses his voice with candor and classic audacity. In doing so he has produced a record that will rank with those path-breaking ones made by Chano Domínguez.
Track listing:
Desarraigo; Retumba; Nonna I Nil; Boletus Obsoletus; Habanera Excentrica; La Brisa; Mediterraciones; Te Llamé y No Estabas.
Personnel:
Fernando Hurtado: trumpet and flugelhorn; Paul Gil: trumpet and flugelhorn; Carlos Rossi: trumpet and flugelhorn; Raul Marques: trumpet and flugelhorn; Roberto Pacheco: trombone; Roberto Bazán: trombone; Santi Canada,: trombone; Guillermo Baez: trombone; Juan Ramón Callejas: alto and soprano saxophones; Miguel Malla: alto saxophone and clarinet; Jaime Muela: flutes, soprano and tenor saxophones; Iñaki Araquistain: tenor saxophone and flute; Sergio Bienzobas: baritone saxophone and bass clarinet; Marta Sánchez: piano and keyboards; Israel Sandoval: guitar; José San Martín: drums and triangles; Jorge Pérez: cajón, darbouka, shékere, djembe, udu; Miguel Blanco: electric and acoustic bass, and musical direction; Guests: Saul Quiros: handclaps (1, 4, 6, 8); Rubén Salvador: trumpet (5); Pepe Prat: congas and bells (4), bongos (6).
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Afrodisian Orchestra on the web: www.myspace.com/afrodisianorchestra
Review written by: Raul da Gama
