Santos, John & The Machete Ensemble / 20th Anniversary
Album: 20th Anniversary   Collection:World
Artist:Santos, John & The Machete Ensemble   Added:Aug 2005
Label:Machete Records  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2005-08-22 Pull Date: 2005-10-24 Charts: Reggae/World
Week Ending: Oct 16 Oct 9 Oct 2 Sep 25 Sep 18 Sep 11 Sep 4 Aug 28
Airplays: 1 1 1 2 1 4 2 2

Recent Airplay
1. Dec 26, 2013: World Tour
La Maraquera
4. Mar 27, 2008: World Beat
Commitment
2. Apr 17, 2009: No Cover, No Minimum
Searchin' [Ron Stallings, lead vocal & tenor sax]
5. Feb 22, 2008: No Cover, No Minimum
Cambia El Canal
3. Apr 22, 2008: At the Cafe Bohemian
Searchin'
6. Oct 17, 2006: At the Cafe Bohemian
Circle

Album Review
Fo
Reviewed 2005-08-19
JOHN SANTOS & MACHETE ENSEMBLE – “20th Anniversary”
Machete, 2005

USA – The Bay Area’s premier Latin jazz ensemble celebrates 20 years with this 2-disc set. Disc 1 is all unreleased material from 1989-1996, and Disc 2 is new stuff. The band, which has always been more about musicianship and style than just hot blowing, features a great cast of local talent. Listen for Wayne Wallace’s trombone, Melecio Magdaluyo’s sax work, Orestes Vilató’s timbales, Orlando Torriente’s fine vocals, etc. Disc 2 has some great guests: Jerry Medina (trumpet/voc), Armando Peraza (bongo), and more! Good stuff.

FO’S PICKS: Disc I – 3, 4, 6, 7 … Disc II – 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11

DISC ONE:

1. 6:39 – piano intro, then upbeat, light & airy with busy perc., good sax
2. 6:23 – Coltrane: twisty intro, then straight-up & breezy. strong piano & sax
3. 6:48 – a light mambo built on gentle piano & nice flutes.
4. 6:25 – cuban charanga: sweet and happy, with fine vocals. violin break.
5. 5:04 – mambo, big band feel with light breaks. good piano.
6. 5:49 – beautiful! flute percolation, trombone leads, hot middle section.
7. 4:07 – upbeat carnaval feel: group vocal, rich percussion, horn dialogues
8. 7:04 – song for ripped-off musicians, solid with good vocals, piano, conga
9. 4:51 – catchy “mambo-Kongo” medley, group horns and short breaks
10. 6:03 – light midtempo salsa: rather nasal vocal, gets loose near end
11. 3:17 – afro-cuban: nice percussion bed, baritone sax doesn’t quite fit
12. 6:18 – sweet descarga: nice piano & flute, big percussion dialogue

DISC TWO:

1. 5:44 – happy rumba glides along, nice vocal, drums/timables, hot trumpet!
2. 4:46 – mysterious, with shifting rhythms. cool trumpet, then breaks down
3. 6:38 – oakland funk-rumba, soulful duo vocal (in English)
4. 6:17 – flowing puerto rican bomba/plena: rapped poetry + great 2nd vocal
5. 6:21 – gentle danzón, flute & clarinet in front, sweet piano & vocal chorus
6. 6:15 – relaxed salsa, really nice vocal work, soulful sax break midway
7. 9:17 – oh my! smoky jazz ballad: fem vocal, muted trumpet, sexy piano… then speeds up with good percussion & trumpet in second half
8. 5:56 – call for political action: rolling rhythm & strong vox + spoken word
9. 5:43 – midtempo Cuban; Armando Peraza’s bongos are front and center
10. 5:40 – a romantic Cuban sunset: trombone lead, liquid piano
11. 7:22 – rapped poetry intro, then a mellow son with great trumpet & vocals

[Fo] 8/19/05

Track Listing
1. Commitment   12. Hearsay
2. Giant Steps   13. Hacia La Luz
3. Perseverance   14. All Relative
4. Oye Mis Consejos   15. Searchin'
5. Tumbando   16. Pequena Amaly
6. Circle   17. La Maraquera
7. Hacia El Amor   18. No Entiendo La Palabra Tener
8. Devuelveme Lo Mio   19. You Don't Know What Love Is
9. Kongo   20. Cambia El Canal
10. A Los Bailadores   21. El Changui De Peraza
11. Omode   22. Atardecer Matancero
  23. La Juventud