It is not obvious that Michael Simon is a native of Venezuela, who owes as much to that tradition as he does to the jazz one that he weaves in and out of. But then nothing is obvious about Michael Simon: not his trumpet-playing antecedents, nor his compositional ones, or who he follows—figuratively-speaking, of course. However, it is safe to say that his musical voice burns with a quiet fire, just like that of his brother, the pianist, Edward [...]