Bassist and composer Timothy Norton doesn’t stint on ambition for his first album as a leader: Visions of Phaedrus is inspired by Plato’s Phaedrus, a series of imagined dialogues between the philosopher and the eponymous Athenian aristocrat. Taking his cues from the book’s informal tone, Norton follows the format, with he and his musicians having wordless conversations, casual or deep, about a variety of topics.
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Eddie Palmieri presenta un proyecto musical extraordinario donde sobresale el talento de los hermanos Luques y Zaccai Curtis, Jonthan Powell y Louis Fouché entre otros.
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NEA Jazz Master, 85-year-old Eddie Palmieri, dubbed “The Sun of Latin Music” has figuratively passed the torch to many but is doing so directly on this recording, Sonido Solar. While Palmieri’s spirit and guiding light brightens the whole album, he plays just on two tracks while handing the piano chair to his mentee Zaccai Curtis on the other tracks. This is not the big band salsa outing we associate with the great Palmieri but is instead a nonet effort, which actually does capture a big band sound on some tracks. Zaccai’s brother, bassist Luques Curtis, altoist Louis Fouché and trumpeter Jonathan Powell join. Fellow members of various Palmieri-led groups join these four co-leaders, including tenor saxophonist Jeremy Powell, trombonist Joe Fiedler and timbalero/trap drummer Camilo Molina, who is joined in the percussion section by Curtis Brothers band conguero Reinaldo De Jesus and Marcos López on bongos and cowbell.
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By Matt Collar
The debut from bassist Timothy Norton, 2022’s Visions of Phaedrus is a smoky and enveloping acoustic post-bop session that benefits from his skilled sextet. A Brooklyn-based artist with connections to Jazz at Lincoln Center, Norton is both an impressive soloist and a composer. Blessed with a big warm tone and knack for laying down nuanced harmonic lines, his playing works as a nice bridge between the exuberant style of Christian McBride and the melodicism of Larry Grenadier. Joining him in his sextet are several close associates, including trumpeter Josh Evans, saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh, guitarist Leandro Pellegrino, pianist Randy Ingram, and drummer Kush Abadey. Together, they dive into Norton’s songs with an in-the-moment sound that has the crackling energy of a live small club date. While the opening “Couple of Plebs” is an easygoing, tango-inspired piece, things heat up quickly. “Saba Saba Bachu Bachu” opens with a bluesy unaccompanied solo from Norton in the Charles Mingus tradition that nicely sets up the tune’s roiling Latin modal groove. Trumpeter Evans soon takes over, moaning into long spirals of notes with a Freddie Hubbard-esque intensity. Equally compelling is the shimmering “Baccari Rambo,” another modal piece that evokes Maiden Voyage-era Herbie Hancock. It features guitarist Pellegrino, whose edgy, electric fusion textures rub against Norton’s woody bass, bringing to mind the work of Pat Martino. We also get the languidly meditative “Rafe’s Windmill,” a kind of inspired update of the Miles Davis/Bill Evans classic “Blue and Green,” where wave-like trumpet and sax harmonies give way to Norton’s earthy solo. That track, as with much of Visions of Phaedrus, has an intoxicating aura that resonates long after the album is over.
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Lejos de descansar sobre las glorias del pasado, Palmieri continúa creando música con la misma energía infatigable de siempre. Su próximo disco, dedicado al jazz latino, verá la luz este año, mientras los reconocimientos a su trayectoria no paran de llegar. Eddie Palmieri presenta la próxima generación de artistas de jazz y jazz latino de vanguardia en este lanzamiento debut de Sonido Solar!!.
Nacido en el barrio de Spanish Harlem en 1936, cursó estudios de música en The Juilliard School. Empezó como percusionista, pero se cansó de acarrear sus timbales y se dedicó al piano. Eran los años 50, época de oro para la música latina en Nueva York. Palmieri comenzó su carrera acompañando a las orquestas de Vicentico Valdés y Tito Rodríguez. En 1961, empezaron las innovaciones. Creó su propia orquesta, La Perfecta, basándose en una combinación inaudita: dos trombones y flauta de madera, un formato aguerrido y lleno de swing, que de ahí en más sería conocido como “trombanga”. Palmieri promueve este trabajo con pasión: “Es el mejor CD grabado en el ámbito del Latin jazz”, dice entusiasmado. “Bajo las estructuras del mambo instrumental y el son montuno, lo que quiere decir que es bailable.
Músicos: Louis Fouché- Saxofón alto; Jonathan Powell- Trompeta; Zaccai Curtis- Piano; Luques Curtis- Bajo; Invitado especial- Eddie Palmieri
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By Jim Hynes
Bámbula isthe debut album from New York-based bassist and composer Alex “Apolo” Ayala. It celebrates his Afro-Puerto Rican culture, comments on his identity, and pays tribute to his late mother and grandmother. Over the course of seven original compositions and one interpretation, Ayala blends Afro-Caribbean styles with jazz traditions in a small combo that teems with percolating rhythms.
Ayala had obviously been thinking about his debut as a leader, determined to express his passions. His thoughts coalesced during the social unrest during the summer of 2020. George Floyd’s murder triggered reflections on Ayala’s Afro-Puerto Rican identity and heritage. The title Bámbula means “the memory of a forgotten place.” Ayala shares that the Kikongo (Bantu language) word is “the act of re-remembering who you are as a person, tapping into the collective unconscious. The Bámbula is the oldest known rhythm of the Bomba complex.” Bomba is Puerto Rico’s oldest and purest musical art form.
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