Israel Tanenbaum & The Latinbaum Jazz Ensemble: Impressions

On his maiden voyage as a bandleader, playing wonderful repertoire [all] written and arranged by himself, Israel Tanenbaum has emerged as a consummate storyteller. It’s no wonder; the composer and pianist has spent decades writing music for film [large and small screen], theatre and even advertising jingles and video games. Anyone with even a modicum of success in each of the formats becomes a sonic storyteller who weaves in and out of narratives and – in the case of jingles and video games – must master a form that demands a whole story fit into an extraordinarily short span of time from introduction to dénouement – sub-plots and all. On his debut album Impressions, with The Latinbaum Jazz Ensemble, Mr Tanenbaum not only shows why he has been so much in-demand over scores of projects, but just how he wields his craftsmanship into a singular artform.

On paper many musicians who have learned to write can create wondrous musical works – songs in the rhythm dance forms [the cha-cha-chá, for instance], but few can give the song and dance wing in a narrative that literally takes flight [Prime Flight], or can take a simple danzón and make it an elegiac ‘till we meet again’ fadeout to end the album with a melody in which notes lift off the page and pirouette gracefully in the air, while harmonies create a smoky fragrance that all-but fills the air in which the lines dance in arcs and parabolas, as Mr Tanenbaum does with Vaya.

In between all of this is music that ebbs and flows, jumps, and breaks like cinematic, oceanic waves beating upon a proverbial shore. All the while the musicians navigate the music idiomatically as they introduce us to stories and the characters that bring them to life in a songbook created by the uncommon expertise of a composer and musician who certainly knows how to make music into a celluloid experience. The three vocalists – Diana Serna, Gustavo Rodriguez, and Daniel Silva – add dreamy, atmospheric vocalise on Strange Destiny, which, in a way, sets this up for the uncommonly eloquent music to follow.

Moreover, this music unravels is if by the magic a painterly canvas. Tone-textures melt into elegance as if the movie is made of a series of [painterly] episodes dripping down an imaginary canvas; musical notes melting on staved paper as melodies and harmonies melt into one another. Only, the brushes in this instance, are the horns – trumpets, a flugelhorn, and trombones, flutes and saxophones coming together in whimsical scherzos – such as in Hot Bridge and [especially in] Prelude, and delightfully boisterous Afro-Cuban descargas such as on Mambo Raro and on Steamy Patricia.

I would be remiss if I did not sing praises for how wonderfully Afro-Caribbean percussion is used. Time and virtuosity seem inseparable – not only in the work of Roberto Quintero and Richie Flores, but also on instruments not known to be given solo roles to play at all – such as the güiro, played by Mr Quintero as well as Luis Pacheco. Flutists Andrea Brachfeld and Oriente López rub celebrity shoulders with the redoubtable Jonathan Powell, Felipe Lamoglia – to name just a few. The drumming – by Francis Benítez and Tony Escapa. Meanwhile pallet percussionists Daniel Neville and Cristos Rafalides create radiant whorls of music, alternating on vibraphones. John Benítez literally [and figuratively] towers above all – and is – with Mr Tanenbaum – the chief architect of this masterful rhythmically intricate musical edifice.

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_{YouTube Playlist – Israel Tanenbaum: Impressions}

Music – 1: Strange Destiny; 2: Hot Bridge; 3: Prime Flight; 4: Another Life; 5: Mambo Raro; 6: Cuando te Asomas; 7: Prelude; 8: Steamy Patricia; 9: Vaya.

Musicians –Israel Tanenbaum: piano, keyboards and synthensizer; Tanenbaum Jazz Ensemble – John Benítez: bass and contrabass; Richie Flores: congasand bongos [2, 3, 5, 7]; Roberto Quintero: congas [8, 9], bongo [6, 8] and güiro [3, 6, 9]; Joel “Pibo” Marquez: congas [1]; Luis Pacheco: bongos [1] and güiro [5]; Jessy “Timbalón” Pérez: bongos [9];  [1 – 6]; Roberto Piñeiro Jr: campana [5]; Wilson Viveros: timbales [1}; Tito De Gracia: timbales [2-9]; Tony Escapa: drums [3,7,9]; Francis Benítez: drums [2, 6]; Oriente López: flute [2, 3, 6, 7, 9]; Andrea Brachfeld: flute [8]; Jonathan Powell: trumpet [2, 3, 6, 7, 9] and flugelhorn [8]; Orlando “Batanga” Berrera: trumpet [1]; Felipe Lamoglia: tenor saxophone [2, 3, 6, 7, 9]; Julio Flores: alto and soprano saxophones [1, 5]; Angel Subero: trombone [2, 3, 6, 7]; Willie Álvarez: trombone [5]; Xito Lovell: trombone [6, 9]; Edilberto Liévano: trombone [1, 5]; Daniel Neville: vibraphone [3, 5, 6]; Cristos Rafalides: vibraphone [2, 7, 8]; Diana Serna: background vocals [1]; Gustavo Rodríguez: background vocals [1]; Daniel Silva: background vocals [1].

Released – 2023
Label – ZOHO Music [202 304]
Runtime – 49:16