Latin Bird

Jazz | Mar 2011

Reviews

Fo
Reviewed 2011-03-19
T.K. BLUE: Latin Bird
Motéma, 2011

LATIN/BOP – Blue, a veteran saxophonist and longtime associate of Randy Weston, offers up a tribute to Charlie Parker that takes Bird’s blues repertoire and fuses it with an array of Latin/Caribbean rhythms. Good-time mainstream jazz with a solid cast of musicians, very likeable stuff.

T.K. Blue : alto sax & flute
Theo Hill : piano
Essiet Okon Essiet : bass
Willie Martinez, Lewis Nash : drums
Roland Guerrero : percussion
Steve Turre : shells, trombone (1,2,4)

Fo’s Picks: 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10

1. 5:02 – perky intro, shifts to upbeat clave; solos for shells, flute, timbales
2. 4:40 – happy Cuban groove with twisty melody and swinging solos
3. 4:29 – New Orleans strut, lots of snare drum: fun rhythm interplay in the middle
4. 6:18 – nice lounging tempo, sultry atmosphere, very cool trombone solo
5. 7:58 – duo/quartet really nails this standard: an expressive, rich after-hours feel
6. 4:04 – calypso march: sax, piano, bass take turns over percussion groove
7. 4:02 – snappy cool-cat slide through a slinky tune, some unexpected harmonies
8. 4:43 – sweet intro, then a lazy blues crawl… nice
9. 4:48 – bouncy samba, shifts to a lilting waltz during the solos, returns to samba
10. 2:38 – solo saxophone: free-roaming and very expressive
11. 3:39 – upbeat clave groove with brief solos all around; long, slow fade-out

[ Fo ] 03/19/11

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Charting

2011-03-20 — 2011-05-22 Jazz
Week EndingAirplays
May 22 1
May 15 2
May 8 2
May 1 1
Apr 24 3
Apr 17 1
Apr 10 2
Apr 3 1

Track listing

1. Chi Chi
2. Si Si
3. Visa
4. Blue Bird
5. Round Midnight
6. Barbados
7. Steeplechase
8. Moods Of Parker
9. Donna Lee
10. He Flew Away Too Soon
11. Buzzy