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Jazz | By dan ouellette<br />
New Twists On<br />
Latin Classics<br />
Miguel Zenón<br />
Bons Amigos (Resonance 2010; 63:50<br />
HHH) The pleasantry of Claudio Roditi’s softtoned<br />
Brazilian trumpet playing carries the day,<br />
with an easy-listening bossa bounce and gentle<br />
romantic gestures. Impressive is the range<br />
of composers Roditi covers, including Toninho<br />
Horta (the fine title track) and two by Eliane<br />
Elias, with special note to her sweet storytelling<br />
“Amandamada (Amanda Loved).” Roditi also<br />
weighs in with a couple of his own, including<br />
the vivacious “Piccolo Samba,” which features<br />
his swinging stretch on the high-pitched piccolo<br />
trumpet. Best band member is guitarist<br />
Romero Lubambo, whose acoustic and electric<br />
lines texture throughout. Roditi may please<br />
his fans by singing in concert, but on disc, his<br />
sometimes loungy vocals are a mistake.<br />
Ordering info: resonancerecords.org<br />
Afropean Affair (Chandra 8094; 61:19<br />
HHH½) Pianist Oscar Perez and his stellar<br />
band Nuevo Comienzo stretch out from<br />
the Latin jazz touchstone with an album of<br />
entertaining tunes that go to the depth of the<br />
Latin and jazz traditions—and, as the CD title<br />
implies, encompass a wide array of compositional<br />
reference points. The arrangements are<br />
fresh, and the tempo shifts are sumptuous. The<br />
spirited opener, “The Illusive Number,” melds<br />
Latin esprit with ruminative passages while the<br />
beauty of the bunch, “Paths And Streams,”<br />
has a catchy melody and a wondrous interaction<br />
of piano and band, where dialogue trumps<br />
showy solos. The three-part composition, “The<br />
Afropean Suite,” is especially appealing thanks<br />
to Charenee Wade’s wordless vocals.<br />
Ordering info: chandrarecords.com<br />
Watch Out ¡Ten Cuidao! (Zoho 201110;<br />
45:10/43:44 HHH) Mambo Legends Orchestra<br />
delivers a straight-up Latin jazz dance<br />
party, with tight ensemble work, buoyant and<br />
call-and-response vocals, and good-times<br />
percussive rhythms. Formerly known as the All<br />
Stars of the Tito Puente Orchestra, the group<br />
keeps the spirit of the timbales ace alive with<br />
two CDs worth of “Watch Out!” mambos. A<br />
special nod to Puente takes place in the exhilarating<br />
“Para Toda El Mundo Rumba,” where<br />
Jose Madera shines in the timbales spotlight<br />
shared by bongo player John “Dandy” Rodriguez.<br />
Most of the tunes have solo breaks, but<br />
they’re incidental to the sizzle at work when<br />
the whole band swings. A great ending: a hip,<br />
Latin-charged rendition of “Birdland.” Two<br />
short interludes feature slightly out playing and<br />
a scratchy-sonics introduction to the band.<br />
More breaks like these out of the dance zone<br />
would have been welcomed.<br />
Ordering info: zohomusic.com<br />
Mongorama (Saungu 003; 70:26<br />
HHH½) Despite a few smooth-ish missteps,<br />
this full-tilt Latin jazz collection excites<br />
by tapping into the spirit of iconic conguero<br />
Mongo Santamaria thanks to the all-star cast<br />
assembled by bandleader and Latin jazz DJ<br />
José Rizo. The music is raucous and lovingly<br />
inspired, with several star guests sitting in with<br />
the ensembles, some of them former Mongo<br />
sidemen, including Hubert Laws, who opens<br />
the proceedings with a flute solo that floats<br />
above the descarga rhythm on “Bacoso.”<br />
Conga ace Poncho Sanchez also joins the<br />
dancing fray with lively solos on “Asi Es La<br />
Vida” and “Guajira At The Blackhawk.”<br />
Ordering info: jazzonthelatinsideallstars.com<br />
Alma Adentro: The Puerto Rican Songbook<br />
(Marsalis Music 0016; 71:09 HHHH)<br />
Beyond the MacArthur Foundation recognition<br />
saxophonist Miguel Zenón received in 2008,<br />
he’s one of the busiest and most plugged in<br />
musicians of the day, with a keen instinct for<br />
digging deep into his cultural heritage. After<br />
journeys into exploring Puerto Rican traditional<br />
music (jibaro and plena), Zenón brings<br />
to straightahead jazz life a collection of standard<br />
songs from the island. This is top-notch<br />
jazz improvisation territory. With the talented<br />
arranger/pianist Guillermo Klein conducting<br />
the large ensemble numbers, the saxophonist<br />
delivers rousing tunes like Bobby Capó’s<br />
“Juguete” and slow lyrical gems such as Sylvia<br />
Rexach’s “Alma Adentro.”<br />
Ordering info: marsalismusic.com<br />
Jerry Gonzalez Y El Comando De La<br />
Clave (Sunnyside 1228; 67:59 HHHH) Trumpeter<br />
Jerry Gonzalez has not lost his knack for<br />
wonderfully and playfully breaking rules. Case<br />
in point: The Fort Apache renegade opens his<br />
new CD with a take on a classic, renamed<br />
“Some Day My Prints Will Come (Back From<br />
The F.B.I.)” which he opens quietly and slowly<br />
on his horn, then morphs it into an exciting<br />
cooker with rhythmic rushes, vocals chants<br />
and bass runs. There’s a rowdy take on “Love<br />
For Sale,” a hushed-with-brushes rendering of<br />
“Tenderly” and the exuberant close, “Avisale A<br />
Mi Contrario,” featuring the great Romani flamenco<br />
singer Diego “El Cigala.” DB<br />
Ordering info: sunnysiderecords.com<br />
DECEMBER 2011 DOWNBEAT 83