| Mela, Francisco / Cuban Safari / Tree Of Life |
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| Album: | Tree Of Life | Collection: | Jazz | |
| Artist: | Mela, Francisco / Cuban Safari | Added: | Oct 2011 | |
| Label: | Half Note | |||
| A-File Activity |
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| Add Date: | 2012-02-05 | Pull Date: | 2012-04-08 | Charts: | Jazz |
| Week Ending: | Apr 8 | Apr 1 | Mar 18 | Mar 11 | Mar 4 | Feb 26 | Feb 19 | Feb 12 |
| Airplays: | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Recent Airplay
| 1. | Sep 26, 2022: | Rebop Yo Me | 4. | Oct 27, 2016: | No Cover, No Minimum Yadan Mela | |
| 2. | Aug 22, 2022: | Rebop Africa En Mis Venas | 5. | Jan 22, 2016: | Rebop Yadan Mela | |
| 3. | Jul 11, 2022: | Rebop Yo Me | 6. | Aug 21, 2015: | Rebop Classico Mela, Yadan Mela |
| Album Review |
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| Be Sharp Reviewed 2012-01-29 | ||
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Oh my, this is good. Modern (but not avant-garde) jazz with Afro-Caribbean influences. Combines terrific drumming (by Mela), solid horns, Hancock-ish electric piano, and occasional vocals. Instrumental (save # 4, 6, 10). No FCC issues. 1 ** Fast, high energy. Mostly led by strong sax. Good piano break in middle. (3:55) 2 *** Mid, then fast. Hot guitar and piano solos. Somewhat dissonant and adventurous. (5:48) 3 ** Mid tempo. Piano intro, then horns. Funky synth. Syncopated drums. (3:36) 4 **** Wooden flute begins, piano takes over. World-music feel (Latin American and Amer-Indian). Male and female (Esperanza Spalding) non-verbal singing (la la lay lo). Great! (4:48) 5 **** Awesome jazz-rock fusion. Wild drumming. Tenor sax and electric guitar lead. (5:14) 6 Very slow. Hoagy Carmichael classic. High male vox with Latin accent. Singing is sweet but not particularly good. For fun, compare to The Stones’ version. (5:32) 7 **** Mid fast. Soulful, funky, jazzy. Manic drumming and very cool electric piano back long improv solos from various saxophones. Reminded me of Weather Report. (6:03) 8 * Slow. Mellow improv on guitar. Gentle drumming. (2:10) 9 *** Afro-Latin percussion extravaganza plus strange modal, electric sounds. Olé! (4:04) 10 *** Slow ballad to start. Male singing in Spanish is better than #6. Shift up to fast, modern improv on piano and tenor sax. Wind down with slow piano. Restate the vocal theme. (8:16) | ||
| Track Listing |
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| 1. | Retrograde | 6. | The Nearness Of You | |||
| 2. | Africa En Mis Venas | 7. | Yo Me | |||
| 3. | Toma Del Poder | 8. | Just Now | |||
| 4. | Yadan Mela | 9. | Fiesta Conga | |||
| 5. | Classico Mela | 10. | Gracias A La Vida |