OMAR SOSA’S 88 WELL-TUNED DRUMS (Ota 1035) As a rule, I am not fond of compilations, but Omar Sosa’s 88 Well-Tuned Drums is a captivating musical...
Following two intriguing albums with his group Nu Sanga [and as featured trumpeter on numerous albums by leading lights of Latin Jazz – Eddie Palmieri and...
The Latin Side of Jazz is a curated playlist that showcases selected tracks from the best Jazz, Latin jazz, Cuban, Brasilian, Flamenco, Ibero-American, Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latin jazz...
Jonathan Powell’s Mambo Jazz Party showcases his 20-year career as a trumpeter in NYC’s salsa and Latin jazz scene. As a former member of Eddie Palmieri’s...
The cuatro Cubano of Kiki Valera ripples over the opening phrase of Este Vacilón on this ever so magical music of Vacilón Santiaguero. We are plunged...
When musicians with strong personalities and voices collide, it is often the case that the communal importance of music is forgotten. But not with these fine...
Featured Album · Editor’s Pick In the nearly two decades of its existence, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra has come to be regarded as one of the...
To say that the art of Arturo O’Farrill is “fascinating” would be telling only part of his story, for Mr O’Farrill’s music is quite profound. It...
Reviewing music can be a vexing experience. Often, recordings that bode well on paper disappoint somewhat in reality. And then there are those where exquisite performances...
Although the release of Crossing Borders by Eva Cortés comes just two years after In Bloom appeared on Truth Revolution Records, it feels like a much...
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 writing by...
That Ralph Irizarry’s percussion has found numerous champions attests to the timbalero’s ability to play in a well-crafted, idiomatic manner in wide-ranging, accessible and passionate settings...
Live in Concert at the Kaiser Permanente Main Stage – #SJZSummerFest I’ve been listening and dancing to Eddie Palmieri’s music for more years than I care...
There is something very special about sharing a moment in time and space with a legend, an artist –a consummate musician- who has transcended the natural...
Pedro Giraudo’s purposeful, imaginative and inventive music has rightly gained its own following, which his Big Band’s performance of "Cuentos", an album revolving around a four-part...