Latin Jazz / Latin Funk - CD Reviews (316)
Having performed in Paquito D'Rivera's group since 2007, Alex Brown (The Pianist, as his album title declares) appropriately records his first album under the aegis of The Clarinetist/The Saxophonist. Indeed, Brown records on D'Rivera's label, Paquito Records, thereby receiving a no-doubt much appreciated boost from his mentor. Though top-notch jazz…
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The music on Chico & Rita is absolutely superb. The soundtrack is captured in a perfect way and performed by Cuban pianist, bandleader and composer Bebo Valdes. It features music by Thelonious Monk, Cole Porter, Dizzy Gillespie and Freddy Cole. Chico & Rita was nominated for a 2012 academy award…
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Wow! This is a really great CD with which to set a mood. You might want to put it on as as background music for an intimate meal, when you are giving or receiving a massage, or when you've had a hard day and are soaking in a steaming tub.
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I was concerned when I saw the front of the CD, "Paquito D'Rivera Presents Alex Brown, Pianist." It's nice for a big-name musician to help out the new kid, but does he really need an endorsement? Is he that bad? Fortunately, I was dead wrong. Brown is one of the…
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Toronto-based Laura Fernandez writes music from the heart, a natural expression of her highly artistic nature and obvious compassionate feeling for music that emanates through each of her songs. As a singer, songwriter and pianist, Laura paints her emotions with colorful notes, lyrical hues and artful dimensions, a medium that…
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Nine years ago, I coined him as “The Impeccable Michel Camilo.” Impeccable still holds true today, but with the release of his 2011 Decca/EmArcy (Universal Music Group) CD, Mano a Mano, I hear so much more. There is a maturity of a road well-traveled, an elegance of soul, and majesty…
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Drummer/percussionist/composer/arranger and musical director Fidel Morales re-releasing of his 2005 masterpiece album Salsa Son Timba is a good news for all salsa and cuban music fans. Fidel recorded this album in Cuba with some of the best musicians from this caribbean island, including timbal player legend Amadito Valdes.Besides being a…
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Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Pedro Bermudez is a pianist with lot of experience playing with salsa legends like Willie Rosario, Roberto Roena and the Puerto Rican Latin Jazz group Batacumbele.The opening track "Yuba a Santurce" is an homage to Pedro's town, Santurce. This is a piece with Bomba and…
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This album, by Issac Delgado, is the recreation of the sounds of Nat King Cole in Spanish. The majority of the songs are also on Latin albums of Nat King Cole. The rest are “Cole classics” mixed with Delgado’s own style and elements of Latin Jazz. For the first time…
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Born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, Pedro Bermudez is a pianist with lot of experience playing with salsa legends like Willie Rosario, Roberto Roena and the Puerto Rican Lati…
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Harvie S is a master bass player, composer, arranger, producer and educator. His experience includes recordings with jazz greats like Chick Corea, Anat Cohen, Mike Stern…
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Harvie S is a master bass player, composer, arranger, producer and educator. His experience includes recordings with jazz greats like Chick Corea, Anat Cohen, Mike Stern an…
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There is no greater challenge for an established artist than to keep growing and exploring. At the height of his powers, Harvie S, is doing just that.An ambassado…
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The vibrant fresh release from composer/arranger/keyboard artist Klay Dumas-Copas (Klay D-C) is entitled Ritmo, and contains a vastly entertaining fusion of Latin…
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Mega-talented, Columbia reared percussionist Samuel Torres extends his superior percussion faculties by transmitting an impressive compositional pen on his second outing…
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I recently reviewed an outstanding album of boleros sung by Raquel Bitton. Irene Nachreiner reminds me of Bitton because she takes an entirely opposite approach vibratol…
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Raquel Bitton's voice immediately brings Edith Piaf to mind, and that's no coincidence. Henri Contet, who wrote many of Piaf's most popular songs, has said, ".... your t…
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This album is a mixture of influences: Columbian, Latin American, and the United States (mainly New York City where Castaneda now resides). The rhythmic sounds on the CD…
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If you are going to give Bobby Sanabria’s Kenya Revisited "Live" a listen, be prepared to move your body because the tracks are suffused in high-energy rhythms st…
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Hailing from Cuba, and touted as the "first authentic all-Cuban timba band in the United States," the players have since relocated to Miami, Fla. Recently signing with S…
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