Danilo Pérez Across The Crystal Sea

Twenty years after The Crystal Method’s debut album, Vegas, blazed a trail across the American desert, imagining sparkling breakbeat architectures where the early ’90s rave scene had largely crumbled, Scott Kirkland’s pioneering electronic project continues to thrill. On opener “The Raze,” the breakbeats sound bigger than ever, the guitars are practically heavy metal, and the synths have a widescreen grandeur. Electronic textures aglow, atmospheric instrumentals like “Turbulence” and “Let’s Go Home” reflect Kirkland’s parallel career scoring Hollywood films, while vocal standouts like “Ghost in the City” condense his unusual range of influences—breaks, trip-hop, and even hard-charging alt-rock—into potent hybrids.

Second album from American trio Dawn Chorus and the Infallible Sea, consisting of zakè, Marc Ertel and Damien Duque. Together they're creating soft-textured and slowly unfolding sonic landscapes, somewhere between guitar-oriented drone music and modern classical. Liberamente is the kind of album that demands attention and patience from the listener, yet it's ultimately a very rewarding one.

Universally known as the King of the Mambo, Pérez Prado was the single most important musician involved in the hugely popular Latin dance craze. Whether he actually created the rhythm is somewhat disputed, but it's abundantly clear that Prado developed it into a bright, swinging style with massive appeal for dancers of all backgrounds and classes. Prado's mambo was filled with piercing high-register trumpets, undulating saxophone counterpoint, atmospheric organ (later on), and harmonic ideas borrowed from jazz. While his tight percussion arrangements allowed for little improvisation, they were dense and sharply focused, keeping the underlying syncopations easy for dancers to follow…

This album was released on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the North Sea Jazz Festival. It contains live recordings of John Patitucci, Spyro Gyra, Russ Freeman & The Rippingtons, B.B. King, Chick Corea, Robben Ford and Gary Burton. All songs were recorded live during various editions of this festival.

2007 digitally remastered reissue of this 1972 album from the band featuring future Stiff Records artist Jona Lewie. Blues rockers Brett Marvin & the Thunderbolts reached #2 in the UK with 'Sea Side Shuffle' in 1972, under the one-off jokey name Terry Dactyl & the Dinosaurs. There followed two more singles and an album using the name. Seaside Shuffle had originally been released by the production company Sonet in 1971. When the UK label took a license and promoted the single the following year, the single became an international hit. Differing to their parent group Terry Dactyl & the Dinosaurs served up an interesting blend of jug band and acoustic blues shuffle style sounds, not a long way from contemporaries Bronx Cheer and Mungo Jerry…

The Rosenberg Trio continues the tradition of the Gypsy swing of the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, though in a stripped-down format consisting of lead guitar (Stochelo Rosenberg), rhythm guitar (Nous'che Rosenberg), and bass (Nonnie Rosenberg). While the trio successfully delves into the 1930s repertoire of Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt, including a vigorous workout of their "Minor Swing" and a lyrical setting of "Nuages," along with swing tunes from the era, they are very open to other styles. Their rapid-fire take of Sonny Rollins' "Pent-Up House" (a favorite of Grappelli during the 1970s) and an engaging take of Kenny Dorham's "Blue Bossa" demonstrate their ability to convert bop vehicles into Gypsy swing, something they accomplish equally well with the music of Chick Corea…

Danilo Perez is one of our finest contemporary jazz pianists and educators. Most recently, he has recorded and toured extensively with the ground-breaking Wayne Shorter Quartet. Residing in the Boston area, Perez maintains close ties with his native Panama and has initiated jazz education and festival programs there. In this album, devoted to his cultural origins, he becomes the creator of a multi-dimensional musical suite in celebration of the 500th anniversary of Spanish explorer Balboa crossing the Isthmus of Panama. Perez combines Panamanian, European, Latin-Hispanic, and Native Central American styles into a beautifully coherent musical feast, using two iconic jazz trios, strings, percussion, and native instruments, chants, and narratives to convey images and stories of Panamanian mythology, folklore, and personal memory.

Danilo Perez' debut on Mack Ave Records is deeply anticipated by the critical community and while that level of near-academic excitement exists, it is vital to remember that this music is truly moving on visceral, physical and emotional planes. In a nutshell - and from the artist himself - Providencia crosses streams of jazz, classical and Latin American folk music, which Perez refers to as 'hearing music in three dimensions.' The title track itself is buoyed by pulsating Latin rhythms and an enticing vocalizes foray. While there is no doubt that talent and technique abound on this record - in Danilo's facile fingers and players - a great heart also resides in the compositions and performances.