Jibaro

Not as "Latin" as it looks, this is a set of polished contemporary jazz, straightforward stuff with relaxing piano and Zenon's cushioned, airy alto sax. That it's on the Marsalis label should tell you what to expect. The band is a quartet with three Latinos and a guy named Hans Glawischnig. (Sing along: "One of these things is not like the others...")

Themes carry some overt Latin influence (8, also 1 and 5) but couch them in the style of gentle nightclub jazz, frequently starting off soft and picking up speed/volume/intensity later (2,3,4,7). No big surprises but lots of interesting little ones, particularly in the halting rhythms that crop up in the writing and in the solos.

1- Vaguely Latin stomp with staggery but pleasant theme
2- Mellow and mid/fast. Sax solo builds some nice intensity.
3- Gentle rolling theme; some Caribbean/Latin elements. Faster pace later on.
4- Slowish and a bit sweet; energetic sax burst near the end
5- Fast and bursty. Lots of drums, tangly chords/melody
6- Romantic, slow, dramatic
7- Laid-back, mostly mid/fast. Squirelly sax solo later on
8- Pointillistic, chamber-like opening, into Latin chords
9- Soft
10- Pleasant contempo bop, upbeat. Nice piano soloing.