“Edsel Gómez’s Road to Udaipur is a sumptuously laid out album. Not only is the package bursting with myriad colors, but so is the music. Mr....
Drums. They were not quite the first instrument, but even so much as a scatological suggestion of sound can quicken the blood; and their thunder and...
With great skill Mark Weinstein answers the question: how to turn traditional Hasidim from all over the Jewish world into a bewildering unutterably beautiful array of...
Nothing should surprise you about music by Edsel Gómez, except that the music is always a surprise. His music jumps at you in a way that...
This has to be the most hip album since “Low Ridin’” was first invented in the 50’s hydraulics and all. The fact that it has a...
Not all interpreters have proved to be distinguished interpreters of other composers’ works, but Duduka Da Fonseca has managed to maintain...
The album Descarga for Monk is a rapturous flamenco record. Yes, it is Thelonious Monk. But it is also Alex Conde. The quintessential Alex Conde… an...
Alex Conde was born into a family of artists indigenous to Spain. His father, Alejandro Conde, is a superstar singer in the style of “Cancion Española.”
Dave Liebman can convey the often hidden virility of music no matter what wind instrument he is playing. His ability to make this possible...
While no one was watching the bass chair Phil Bowler slipped back in and fired up his old ensemble back to life. After some preparation the...
Vanessa Perea might have a particular flair for the theatrical. This is suggested by the manner of her phrasing. Ms. Perea is able to pace herself...
Hendrik Meurkens and Gabriel Espinosa have established a relationship that seems to allow them to make recordings as if they have known each other for years....
The joi de vivre is palpable, though not unexpected, from the opening notes of Afro Bop Alliance’s Angel Eyes. But something is different now. Realization comes...
The long-held view that Florencia González is a woman of substance—a magnificent composer and arranger—were proven combined by startling conducting and leadership, when she released her...
Mark Weinstein’s Tales from the Earth (Otá Records, 2009) was his finest album until now. This recording, Latin Jazz Underground, also seemingly an oblique doffing of...