Arturo O’Farrill and ALJO: The Offense of the Drum
It has been authoritatively stated that Chico O’Farrill was one of the most important composers and big band arrangers and conductors in the idioms...
Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet: Intercambio
Wayne Wallace has accomplished more than most musicians do in a lifetime. He has done so not merely because as a musician he is...
Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet: 10
A decade ago Gabriel Alegría called upon his drummer-friend, Hugo Alcázar, to make a record where the music of the coastal part of Perú...
Omar Sosa Quarteto AfroCubano &…: Ilé
"Ilé" couldn’t be more appropriate a name for pianist Omar Sosa’s collection of compositions that oftentimes mine the more celestial aspects of...
Carlos Martín Presents: The Journey
There is a visceral ecstasy that runs through the music of The Journey, a veritable musical odyssey by the trombonist, occasional trumpeter and magnificent conguero, Carlos Martín. This is duende of a different kind, largely due to the fact that the music...
Rafael Zaldivar: Consecration
This album from the Quebec-based Rafael Zaldivar entitled Consecration is completely sonically apposite to almost anything Afro-Cuban you might be used to listening to....
Ray Mantilla – The Connection
Ray Mantilla may be better remembered for his being one of the founding members of Max Roach’s legendary drum ensemble, M’Boom, but in reality...
Yolanda Duke: Te Llevo Bajo la Piel
This recording Te Llevo Bajo le Piel brings together the last orchestra of the great Tito Puente waxing eloquent behind one of the El...
Gastón Joya: Mama Ina
A fierce energy leaps out of the opening notes of Mama Ina, the exquisitely-crafted debut album by the prodigiously-gifted bassist Gastón Joya. It is...
Donald Vega: With Respect to Monty
Now this is something really special and it marks not simply a second disc for an iconic label, Resonance Records, which under the inspired...
Bobby Valentin & The LJs: Mind of a Master
One of the most iconic images of the Tropical/Salsa genre has been the fiery fingers of Bobby Valentin attacking the fret board of his...
Anat Cohen & Marcello Gonçalves · Outra Coisa
You cannot call yourself Brasilian if you don’t know your Moacir Santos. The clarinetist turned soprano, alto, tenor and (when the music demanded it)...
Pablo Ablanedo – Recontradoble
The beauty of ReContraDoble lies in its exquisite counterpoint that pits the brass against the woodwinds; the guitar against the piano with the drums...
Mike Eckroth: Piano and Rhythm
Pianists who embark on Cuban music projects usually present them as traditional or modern, but rarely both. Mike Eckroth does both on his extraordinary...
Rebel Tumbao: Rebel Tumbao
If good musical art is meant to find the listener catching his or her breath at its beauty, it is also meant to pierce...
The Black Butterflies – Rainbows for Ramon
There is something quite exquisite in a deeply primordial and seductive manner about Mercedes Figueras and The Black Butterflies’ Rainbows for Ramon. This comes...
TjaderAid – Cal Tjader Tribute: ¡Viva Cal!
This extraordinary recording by a group, ostensibly put together by the conguero Frankie Piñeiro, was meant to celebrate the music of the legendary Latin-Jazz...
Gregorio Uribe Big Band: Cumbia Universal
Listeners might never get over the emotion of listening to the Gregorio Uribe Big Band’s Cumbia Universal. It features some of the most spectacular...
Amália Baraona: Menescantando
Though born in Vitoria, Espírito Santo, Brasil, Roberto Menescal is essentially a Carioca—and a famous one, at that. He is often credited with being...
Carlos Henriquez: The Bronx Pyramid
There is topographical significance in the musical architecture of Carlos Henriquez’s record, The Bronx Pyramid and it is a bold thesis, one that has...
