Assimilation

Reviewed - 2017-09-21
Genre: Jazz
FCCs: none

Review: Assimilation is a perfect title: this is modern Latin jazz beautifully played. There are nods to history but the music is fresh and vibrant in its own right. There are many guest artists and they come to contribute, not to stand out. All originals.
if You Like: Arturo Sandoval, Roy Hargrove
Track Review (favorites denoted by *): 1/ La Llave (Zambiando) (6:41) - keyboards start> midtempo jam swings uptempo> trumpet solo> male vocals chanting in Spanish> midtempo jam> quick fade *2/ Mr. Bond/ Half & Half (6:35) - keyboards start> slow tempo jam swings uptempo> trumpet solo> uptempo jam> percussion jam to quick stop *3/ Northern Lights (6:14) - drums start> midtempo jam> beautiful interplay between electric keyboards with band> trumpet solo. midtempo jam> slow fade 4/ With Deductions (For Davey Torres) (5:00) - percussion start> uptempo jam> false stop> uptempo jam> trumpet solo> flute solo> false stop> uptempo jam. quick stop *5/ Night Dream (5:58) - percussion starts> uptempo jam> snappy trumpet solo> uptempo jam> wailing sax solo> uptempo jam> slow fade *6/ Saura de Nazareth (3:52) - beautiful guitar solo opens> peppy uptempo trumpet & jam> guitar solo> uptempo jam> false stop> guitar solo & stop 7/ You and Me Bess (5:34) - trumpet starts> slow tempo jam> sax solo> trumpet solo> slow fade