Descarga Boricua

Various Artists - The Complete Cuban Jam Sessions (2018) {5CD Set Craft Recordings CR00100 rec 1956-1965}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 889 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 414 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 93 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1956-65, 2018 Panart / Craft Recordings / Concord Music | CR00100
Jazz / Latin Jazz / Cuban / Charanga / Salsa / Cha-Cha / Descarga / Mambo

Five legendary Cuban jam sessions originally released over a span of almost a decade (1956-1965) by Cuba's first independent record label Panart. Reissued together as a set in their entirety and original format here for the first time, The Complete Cuban Jam Sessions albums encapsulate a stylistic and historic panorama of Cuban music, from big band son montuno to Afro-Cuban rumba, mambo, cha-cha-cha and country acoustic guajira music.

The third CD for this band has a change in personnel, with Paquito D'Rivera and Andy Narell gone but Dave Valentin (flute) and Steve Khan (guitars) joining. It has changed the entire dynamic structure of the band, for the better. Valentin's otherworldly sound and Khan's acoustic and electric abilities open fresh vistas for Samuels' pan-Caribbean notions on vibes and marimba. They have worked together before; see Valentin's Sunshower (GRP) or Samuels' excellent Tjaderized (Verve) for further examples. The threesome are complemented by Eddie Palmieri band members John Benitez (bass) and Richie Flores (congas/bongos), with timbalist/percussionist Robert Vilera and background singer Caridad Canelon. The combination has great potential, fully realized on several of the ten selections.

Right There is primarily a straight-ahead set featuring Steve Turre on trombone and shells in a sextet with violinist John Blake, cellist Akua Dixon Turre, pianist Benny Green, bassist Buster Williams, and drummer Billy Higgins. Wynton Marslis pops up on two of the seven selections, and tenor saxophonist Benny Golson is on one. Highlights include "Woody & Bu," Duke Ellington's "Echoes of Harlem," "Duke's Mountain," and "Descarga De Turre," which has the leader at the helm of a Latin band that includes flutist Dave Valentin and several percussionists. Excellent and spirited music.

Cuban jazz legend Bebo Valdés is in charge of this wonderful soundtrack for Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal's animated film about the romance between a singer and a pianist, set in La Havana and New York of the '40s and '50s. In addition to Valdés, the main performers include Freddy Cole, Jimmy Heath, Idania Valdés, Germán Velasco, and Amadito Valdés, in a collection of both originals and jazz and bolero standards arranged by Michael Philip Mossman. Estrella Morente sings the main title song, "Lily."