A short while ago I saw the Arturo O'Farrill band, Wow, their daring, full bore, take no prisoners, risk taking performance was so refreshing in these days of the often typical homoginized, unimaginitive, rehashed, predictable crap. Even classic tunes were fresh and alive. While they were willing to take on challanges, they also avoided the unprepaired, unprofessional, practice doodling that sometimes takes place in some jazz venues. Bravo!
Who likes LATIN JAZZ?
NOT ME, at least not for a long time now (other than JOBIM- i am referring more to cuban, afro-cuban, etc. material) but rather suddenly (within the last month or so) i started to enjoy the upbeat nature of alot of the tunes as well as the sophisticated rhythms and the exceptionally talented players. plus it so happens that a bass player named CACHAO just passed away (last week), and there were numerous musical tributes on the radio (miami). the more tracks they played, the more i appreciated the musicianship of this extremely talented player, allegedly the composer of 3000 songs. in addition, Cal Cjader, Tito Puente, Paquito D'Rivera, even Mongo Santamaria, and many others got my anglo foot tapping. i don't dance particularly well, and am not going to take mambo lessions; but the music is interesting enough even when seated. the only thing that sometimes turns me off is if the percussion, particularly too many bongos doing a "how fast and loud can you play" segment, dominates a particular song. but it doesn't happen all that often (thank goodness!), and i can go back to listening to alot of other instruments interpreting the music such as fiddles, marimbas, bari saxes, etc. SO, who shares my new-found interests in this medium, and does anybody here have any recommendations if i wanted to put together a collection of cd's representing "the best of the best"? for starters, i would have to say
CACHAO'S master sessions #1 and #2 would definitely be on my list, along with Cjader... can anyone name some cd titles for me? thanks!
CACHAO'S master sessions #1 and #2 would definitely be on my list, along with Cjader... can anyone name some cd titles for me? thanks!
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- 27 posts total
- 27 posts total