I, too, feel lukewarm about Chano's flamenco/jazz marriage; interesting, but it doesn't grab me. Extremely accomplished player, but aside from the heavier dose of flamenco, I don't hear anything in his piano playing that Chick Corea wasn't doing thirty+ years ago; and it is, well, not quite as good. He has clearly studied Chick Corea's playing. I have a soft spot for flamenco and always appreciate an honest attempt to bring the music of various cultures together, but in this case......
A couple of things don't work for me: in the "jazzier" tunes there is a rhythmic conflict when the flamenco hand claps are part of the musical picture. In jazz, the emphasis on beats two and four is key and an important part of what gives it it's swagger; in flamenco, there is an emphasis on beat one that creates an odd rhythmic feeling in jazz and makes it sound a little messy to my ears. In addition to that, and at the risk of making politically incorrect generalizations, many (if not most) Latin jazz musicians bring a particular rhythmic feeling to jazz that is unique. This should not be surprising and is as it should be; the same can probably be said, to some degree, about any nationality. If you have ever ordered spaghetti and meatballs while visiting Mexico you know that it tends to taste a little, well, Mexican :-).
In the Monk tune Chano plays great, but it doesn't have that unique and kind of quirky rhythmic feeling that Monk's music likes: more emphasis on two and four and further behind the beat as if each beat is being stretched. Chano plays it with that typical Latin feel that is more on top of the beat, and sometimes has a "ball rolling down the stairs" sensation; probably an exaggeration, but gives an idea (I hope).
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7cR-nHNPROU
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl8jSzwvtsw
This one is for you Rok. You can skip to 23:00; very nice playing by Wynton with that impossibly beautiful trumpet tone of his:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ILJmn0041dg
A couple of things don't work for me: in the "jazzier" tunes there is a rhythmic conflict when the flamenco hand claps are part of the musical picture. In jazz, the emphasis on beats two and four is key and an important part of what gives it it's swagger; in flamenco, there is an emphasis on beat one that creates an odd rhythmic feeling in jazz and makes it sound a little messy to my ears. In addition to that, and at the risk of making politically incorrect generalizations, many (if not most) Latin jazz musicians bring a particular rhythmic feeling to jazz that is unique. This should not be surprising and is as it should be; the same can probably be said, to some degree, about any nationality. If you have ever ordered spaghetti and meatballs while visiting Mexico you know that it tends to taste a little, well, Mexican :-).
In the Monk tune Chano plays great, but it doesn't have that unique and kind of quirky rhythmic feeling that Monk's music likes: more emphasis on two and four and further behind the beat as if each beat is being stretched. Chano plays it with that typical Latin feel that is more on top of the beat, and sometimes has a "ball rolling down the stairs" sensation; probably an exaggeration, but gives an idea (I hope).
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7cR-nHNPROU
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl8jSzwvtsw
This one is for you Rok. You can skip to 23:00; very nice playing by Wynton with that impossibly beautiful trumpet tone of his:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ILJmn0041dg