Montuno

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
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© 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.

Tito Puente was never one for half measures, and even in death there's no modesty involved, as the label calls him King of Kings. It might be an exaggeration, but only a slight one, and it gets the attention. Still, as the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and there's a hearty meal here, albeit one missing one or two choice dishes, like Puente's original version of "Oye Como Va," a song that indirectly brought him a whole new audience. However, "Honk Kong Mambo" is here, "Dance Mania," and "Dance of the Headhunters," so it's hard to find too much fault with the disc's 21-track selection. While the man wasn't shy about having his timbales, or himself, front and center, he truly was a driving force in his music - and, as this CD shows, he knew how to write more than his share of good tunes, too…

Simon Bolzinger’s pianistic voyage of discovery derived from his encounters with the South American Tambor y Canto company at the Cité de la Musique in his native Marseille. A jazz pianist, Bolzinger worked on the indigenous rhythms of South America he discovered until he felt ready to bring in his colleagues – Willy Quiko on (double) bass and Luca Scalambrino on drums – and record the nine different numbers that constitute these Ritmos Queridas. He chose them as being emblematic of “a region, a country, a people or a music”: a waltz and a joropo from Venezuela, a huayno from Peru, a zamba from Argentina, a Cuban danzón, a Mexican bolero, a Uruguyan candombe, a Brazilian ijexá and a côco con salsa. Among them are a rather lovely mash-up of Debussy’s “Beau Soir” and Jobim’s “Dindi”, and a fiery self-composed “Montuno en Olinda”, which shows just what Bolzinger is capable of on the “eighty-eights”. Played by turns with delicacy and brio, they add up to a fine straight-ahead piano-trio jazz, with an engaging theme and a nice new rhythmic twist.

The billing (Irakere "featuring Chucho Valdés") illustrates what a draw the leader-pianist Valdés has become in his own right, and Yemayá does indeed showcase his prodigious talents as a keyboardist, albeit on an electro-acoustic instrument and with a set designed as much for the American jazz audience as for his Cuban roots. The opening title cut with Valdés's sister Mayra Caridad on vocals is a killer Latin-soul-jazz workout, while track 2, with blistering solo work from Valdés over a crisp, percussion-led rhythm, sets the tone for the remaining seven extended cuts. This is not so much Cuban music as jazz with a Latin base–complex, disciplined, but swinging hard. Yemayá represents a new phase for Irakere and is Latin Jazz of the highest caliber, full of virtuosity and passion.

Venezuelan percussionist Luisito Quintero might not be a household name, but in the small world of New York's Latin music fraternity he's regarded as one of the hottest timbaleros in town. Luisito Combining Afro-Latin rhythms with jazz and bossa nova sounds Elements of Life quickly became one of the hottest albums to hit dance floors from sea to sea. As well as being an inspirational influence Luisito is also a member of the Elements of Life band which has been touring for the past three years. The band has shared stages with some of the top artist in the business, such as Robert Plant, Lauryn Hill and Alicia Keys.

Although reeds, brass, and even guitars are tossed in here and there to help create what the liner notes describe as "an exotic picture of tropical wildlife," the main focus is on percussion and some of the best tracks are the ones where the other orchestra members probably stepped out for a cup of Joe. One hesitates at the thought of pumping further caffeine into the timbale-pummelling Puente or his cohorts on congas, guiros, bongos, and assorted other percussion. Listeners who think a computer is necessary to play as fast as the beats would get in 90's jungle music had better check this man's hands out. Highlight track is, hands down, the unforgettable "Witchdoctor's Nightmare," a great way to start off the sounds at any party.