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Missives from Distant Fronts
Bio RitmoLa Verdad
Electric Cowbell Records
2011
In September 2011, Bio Ritmo, the ten-piece salsa band from Richmond (Virginia), celebrated twenty years together, no small accomplishment for a band originally formed (says its official company bio) "as a percussion ensemble brought together by two misplaced Puerto Ricans who met at art school, combined with a local punk rock drummer."
Communally led by Tobias Whitaker (trombone and composer), Marlysse Simmons (pianist and composer), multi-instrumentalist and arranger Guistino Riccio (who's been onboard for eighteen of those twenty years) and lead singer and original founding member Rei Alvarez, Bio Ritmo celebrates this anniversary with the lively and colorful selection of salsa, mambo, and cha-cha on La Verdad, all played (again from the bio) "with the mindset of a rock 'n' roll band who happens to play 'in clave'" and whose roots and inspirations not only include salsa masters but
The Who
band / ensemble / orchestraA remarkable accomplishment, La Verdad simultaneously honors and updates the tradition of salsa. "We've always considered us students of salsa music and aimed at having a 'classic salsa' sound through our compositions," Alvarez explains, "but always incorporating an experimental approach to our method." This title track explains it even better: Chanted vocals buoyed by bouncing percussion sound quite classic, but the clavinet and other electronic sounds polish the music into a sleek modern shine while the bassist's solid metronome deeply grounds its rhythm. It's nothing less than perfectly blended salsa.
Horns blow strong and mighty in "Verguenza" but the rest of its musical magic—hot and liquid flowing rhythms, swirling pools of piano, the horn/percussion conversation that erupts into every horn soloing at once, and then a crackling timbales fireworks display—defies analysis and description. It would be no surprise to learn that "Verguenza" is an honored salsa traditional, but it wouldn't be a surprise to learn that it is a new Bio Ritmo original, either. It sounds that authentic, and contemporary.
Bassist Edward Prendergast in "Majadero" and Riccio on drums in "Lola's Dilemma" (an update of one of the group's first recordings, a cha-cha from 1997) even lay down reggae, introducing one more strain to the Bio Ritmo's south of the border salsa. "Caravana Del Vejigante" dances through a more elaborate, Latin orchestral setting as genuine and incendiary as any classic Machito big band workout, polished in an arrangement that shines as bright as any
Nat Adderley
trumpet1931 - 2000
Benny Golson
saxophone, tenor1929 - 2024
Oliver Nelson
saxophone1932 - 1975
La Verdad is also the first full-length album released by the boutique vinyl label Electric Cowbell Records, owned by James Thomson, the aforementioned punk rock drummer and a founding Bio Ritmo member.
Deep Blue Organ TrioWonderful!
Origin Records
2011
Wonderful! presents the Deep Blue Organ Trio's jazz take on nine
Stevie Wonder
vocalsb.1950
Chaka Khan
vocalsGuitarist
Bobby Broom
guitarb.1961
Greg Rockingham
drums
Chris Foreman
organ, Hammond B3
Charles Earland
organ, Hammond B31941 - 1999
Jimmy McGriff
organ, Hammond B31936 - 2008
Dr. Lonnie Smith
organ, Hammond B31942 - 2021
Johnny "Hammond" Smith
organ, Hammond B31933 - 1997
Wonder's music provides tasty sustenance for this Trio's prodigious chops. Rockingham's second-line drum rhythm makes "Tell Me Something Good" dance and hop, while Foreman and Broom swap improvisations in blue tones sharp yet warm. Foreman slows down the verses to "gospel-ize" "If You Really Love Me" while its chorus relaxes into a limber blues strut, then extinguishes the blue embers of "My Cheri Amour" by quoting the melody to Wonder's "Ribbon in the Sky." Foreman chases "You Haven't Done Nothin'" down a different path: It opens with his testifying, solo and soulful, then strolls through a solidly funky shuffle that sounds like
John Medeski
organ, Hammond B3b.1965
Broom's Wonderful! sound is a seamless blend of jazz and blues, playing soul that consistently and insistently wants comparison with master
Wes Montgomery
guitar1923 - 1968
"Stevie Wonder provided the highlights for the soundtrack of our teen years," Broom reflects. "Without a doubt, Stevie was most influential to our core musical value system. I can speak for the group in saying that we are grateful to finally be able to render his music with some accuracy, honesty, feeling, reverence, and the special touch of the Deep Blue Organ Trio."
Rhett Frazier, Inc.Every Day is Saturday
Double Inc. Recordings
2012
Rhett Frazier, Inc. might be based in East Los Angeles, but its music was first baked in the working class breadbasket of the American Midwest: Songwriter and vocalist Rhett Frazier grew up in Oklahoma, less than half an hour's distance from the home or birthplace of legendary soulmen
Roy Milton
b.1907
Lowell Fulson
guitar, electric1921 - 1999
Drummer, synthesizer player and producer Donny Gruendler (a/k/a "Inc.") was born and raised in Detroit. "For me, the styles I absorbed in Detroit became second nature after awhile. They are part of my DNA. Since this music comes naturally to both Rhett and I, when we set out to make this album, we really wanted to let those raw and grooving impulses loose. To get out of our own way, so to speak," Gruendler says. "I like to create tension with modern sounds and traditional ones. I like mixing analog and digital textures. What does the song cry out for? That's my question. I do what it says. Sometimes it says 'distorted synth' and sometimes it says 'old organ from a yard sale.'"
This tension makes the band's sophomore release Every Day is Saturday both electric and eclectic—in its liner notes, Frazier and Gruendler's collective thanks include
Burt Bacharach
composer / conductor1928 - 2023
Frank Sinatra
vocals1915 - 1998
Wardell Gray
saxophone, tenor1921 - 1955
When he slides into his slippery falsetto, Frazier often sounds like Prince, another artist who earned his keep by blurring the line between soul, funk, and rock. "Workin'" retells "Crumbs Off the Table" more famously addressed by The Supremes and by Dusty Springfield. It's sassy and sensuous and dead in the pocket, and while it's not the same song, Frazier's floating falsetto sure seems to echo brother Ronnie's star turn in The Isley Brothers' classic "Work to Do."
But there's a surprising amount of blues on Saturday, too, most of which come screaming from electric guitarists " data-original-title="" title="">Jesse Stern, " data-original-title="" title="">The Kirk Fletcher Band and
Rick Holmstrom
b.1965"Hard Man" is more weirdly compelling. Frazier's vocal recalls different episodes in his life when he had his ass kicked (in different ways) for the purpose of toughening him up; but it's sung in a vocal so deeply hurt, almost tortured, as if strangled from his throat through clenched jaws, so it sounds more like the pain stripped him of his spirit and his soul and left no feeling behind. Sadly beautiful (synthetic) horns and strings that Bacharach would have been pleased to arranged provide "Hard Man"'s crowning glory.
Dennis Rollins Velocity TrioThe 11th Gate
Motéma Music
2011
For more than two decades, British trombonist Dennis Rollins has played alongside
Maceo Parker
saxophone, altob.1943
Courtney Pine
saxophoneb.1964
It's no wonder that Pine wondered: You don't hear too many organ trios like Rollins' Velocity Trio, which features drummer/percussionist
Pedro Segundo
percussion
Ross Stanley
pianoSo The 11th Gate is sprawling and ambitious. Thanks to Rollins' inventive instrumentation and compositions, stitched into whole cloth by solo trombone, percussion and Hammond interludes, it is also a triumph. The leadoff "Samba Galactica" serves a great introductory course: While Segundo and Stanley drift in and out of airy samba and jazz rhythms, Rollins's trombone alternates between notes that sharply sting like crisply articulated trumpet, and soft tones that paint in butterfly flurries of languid color; when Rollins' trombone steps aside, Segundo and Stanley dialogue generates engaging Brazilian magic.
On "The Other Side," Stanley runs through organ chords that somehow bob and crest in waves, from which Rollins' trombone seems to rise like a larger than life musical leviathan. Rollins kicks off "Big Chill" with meaty riffing, introducing New Orleans drumming that quickly shuffles much further out, then leads the trio back and forth between this progressive jazz stratosphere and a more earthy, wanton Crescent City funk stomp.
The Velocity Trio's take on "Freedom Jazz Dance" sounds naturally its own, as if it was its tune and not written by
Eddie Harris
saxophone, tenor1934 - 1996
TriBeCaStanNew Deli
EverGreene Music
2011
TriBeCaStan is a mythical kingdom or mystical state (or both) founded by John Kruth and Jeff Greene, built upon music brought within its walls from Western China, Cuba, Morocco, Uzbekistan and just about any and every where else. For New Deli, their second official "state communication," TriBeCaStan's population expands to include
Claire Daly
saxophone, baritone- 2024
Taj Mahal
guitar and vocalsb.1942
James Brown
vocals1933 - 2006
Johnny Turner
b.1934"As we say in TriBeCaStan, 'If your toes all face one way, you will walk crooked,'" Greene suggests. "This means we must be in solidarity with all of the world to find the right direction. If you dig around in the '60s and '70s in music from India, Thailand and Ethiopia, you hear how the musicians borrowed from and reworked American music. We're just doing the same thing, but in reverse."
"We've not only been inspired by world-class global musicians like Bachir Attar of the Master Musicians of Jajouka, Carnatic mandolin master U. Rajesh, and the Austrian hurdy-gurdy virtuoso Mathias Loibner," Kruth explains, "we invited them to play as guests on New Deli!"
You can pick out of this unique pan-cultural tapestry jazz threads from rewoven tunes by
Don Cherry
trumpet1936 - 1995
Ornette Coleman
saxophone, alto1930 - 2015
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
woodwinds1935 - 1977
Recorded at
Bill Laswell
bassb.1955
Steve Turre
tromboneb.1948
Sun Ra
piano1914 - 1993
"Daddy Barracuda" and "(One Day) His Axe Fell Into Honey" slice up even more tasty Deli. A loping sing-along that rolls on wobbly vibes, "Daddy Barracuda" is a lot of fun and proves that while TriBeCaStan is quite serious about pan-ethnic musicality, it's not overly serious or too impressed with itself. "(One Day) His Axe..." collectively claps out its rhythm on percussion, bells and drums, while the flutist plays more rhythm than melody, sounding for all the world like a bird defiantly warbling right into the teeth of the rhythm. Their percussion/flute breakdown before the richly grooving organ solo, then the recessional vocal chant, combine to make this clever, engaging and funky.
Various ArtistsPutamayo Presents: Brazilian Beat
Putamayo World Music
2012
"One of the exciting things we at Putamayo do is introduce artists to people who don't know them," says Putamayo Records head Dan Storper. Brazilian Beat surveys the roots and fruits of Brazil's contemporary music, selected from Putamayo's archive of tens of thousands of global/world music pieces. "You can really hear the intersection between past and present in the music of Brazilian artists," Storper continues. "We didn't make an effort to seek it out; this is what musicians are doing. They respect their traditional music but are adding new flavors with real passion."
In the opening "Samba na Mao, Eu Tenho," Tamy's Portuguese vocal whispers so romantic and breathless that it sounds French, and finds comfort in the trumpet's coolly-blown breeze while its rhythm clicks past in modern electronics and softly strummed acoustic guitar. A magical, creamy combination of guitar, percussion and an unaffected vocal, "Ai Entao," written and performed by Michigan-born Brazilian singer-songwriter Monica de Silva, provides its counterpart; de Silva's voice proves simply perfect for the earnest beauty of her melody, and vice versa. "Minha Loucura" by BungaLove (from Rome, Italy) maintains this perfect spell with cooing female vocals, soft yet sharp guitars, and percussion that chirps like songbirds greeting the dawn—if sunrise made a noise, it would sound like this.
"Samba Ti, Samba Eu" by Brazuka Fina suggests the shadows and wonder of twilight; its vocals and Spanish guitars shine no less bright or pure, but spirits more dark and mysterious lurk in the bass line rumbling beneath.
João Donato
piano1934 - 2023
Leo Gandelman
saxophoneb.1956
David Sanborn
saxophone1945 - 2024
Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers
band / ensemble / orchestrab.1938
Tracks and Personnel
La Verdad
Tracks: La Verdad; Dina's Mambo; La Muralla; Carnaval; Verguenza; Majadero; Caravana Del Vejigante; Lola's Dilemma.
Personnel: Rei Alvarez: voice, percussion; Marlysse Simmons: piano, Rhodes, Farfisa; Giustino Riccio: timbales, drum set, cuica, drumfire, coro, guitar; Hector Barez: congas; Mike Monta?ez: bongos; Bob Miller: trumpet, moog, coro; Mark Ingraham: trumpet; Tobias Whitaker: trombone; JC Kuhl: tenor sax; Edward Prendergast: bass; Molly Berg: guitar; David Hood: baritone sax; Arnaldo Marrero: bongos.
Wonderful!
Tracks: Tell Me Something Good; If You Really Love Me; Jesus Children of America; My Cheri Amour; Golden Lady; You Haven't Done Nothin'; It Ain't No Use; As; You've Got It Bad Girl.
Personnel: Chris Foreman: Hammond B-3 organ; Bobby Broom: guitar; Greg Rockingham: drums.
Every Day is Saturday
Tracks: Every Day is Saturday; Secret Pieces; The Pig; Private Hell; La Petite Mort; Elephant Walk; Burying Ground; Workin'; Hard Man; WTH?
Personnel: Rhett Frazier: vocals, synthesizers, moog, piano, keyboards, samples; Donny Gruendler: drums, synthesizers, moog, piano, keyboards, samples, synth bass; Jesse Stern: guitar, bass; Bobby Tsukamoto: bass; Kirk Fletcher: guitar; Rick Holmstrom: guitar;
The 11th Gate
Tracks: Samba Galactica; Emergence; Everything Is Mind; Ujamma; Contemplation; The Other Side; Big Chill; Lightworker; Freedom Jazz Dance; Illuminous; The 11th Gate.
Personnel: Dennis Rollins: trombone, electronics; Pedro Segundo: drums, percussion; Ross Stanley: Hammond organ.
New Deli
Tracks: Song for Kroncha; Louie's Luau; Freaks for the Festival; Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood; Dive Bomber; A Crack in the Clouds; Bed Bugs; Jovanka; Daddy Barracuda; Two for Ornette (Dee Dee / Theme from a Symphony); Guinea; (One Day) His Axe Fell Into Honey; El Bumpa; The Brain Surgeon's Wife Serves Lunch; The Mystery of Licorice McKechnie.
Personnel: John Kruth: mandolin, banjo, mandocello, flutes, whistles, harmonica, zither, royal benju, hufusi, lead vocals; Jim Clouse: soprano sax; Bob Musso: vocals; Dave Dreiwicz: electric bass, acoustic bass, vocals; Scott Metzger: guitar, vocals; Steve Turre: trombone, shells; Boris Kinberg: conga, timbales, bongos, cowbell, rub board, maracas, shaman rattles, triangle, finger cymbals, vocals; Todd Isler: drums, hadgini, frame drums, lap drum, uduboo, vocals; John Turner: trumpet, vocals; Claire Daly: baritone saxophone; Kenny Margolis: organ, accordion, clavinet, harpsichord, electric piano, vocals; Bachir Attar: ghaica; Matt Darriau: kaval; Jerome Desigaud: mobeke; Bruce Huebner: shakuhachi; Tine Kindermann: saw; Mattias Loibner: hurdy gurdy; Tami Lynn: vocals; Chris Morrow: trombone; U. Rajesh: electric mandolin; Badal Roy: tabla.
Putamayo Presents: Brazilian Beat
Tracks: Samba na Mao, Eu Tenho; Feriado Pessoal; Partido Alto; Bananeira; Ai Entao; Minha Loucura; A Coisa mais Linda do Mundo; Samba Ti, Samba Eu; A Nega E O Malandro; A Conta do Samba; Anel de Saturno.
Personnel: Tamy; Bruna Caram; Marcos Valle; Brazilian Groove Band; Monica de Silva; BungaLove; Fino Coletivo; Brazuka Fina; Rogé; Tita Lima; Marcello.
Tags
From the Inside Out
Chris M. Slawecki
United States
The Who
Nat Adderley
benny golson
Oliver Nelson
Stevie Wonder
Chaka Khan
Rufus
Bobby Broom
Greg Rockingham
Chris Foreman
Charles Earland
Jimmy McGriff
Dr. Lonnie Smith
Johnny "Hammond" Smith
John Medeski
Wes Montgomery
Roy Milton
Lowell Fulson
Burt Bacharach
frank sinatra
Wardell Gray
The Dramatics
Jesse Stern
Kirk Fletcher
Rick Holmstrom
Maceo Parker
Courtney Pine
Pedro Segundo
Ross Stanley
Eddie Harris
Claire Daly
Taj Mahal
James Brown
John Turner
Don Cherry
Ornette Coleman
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Bill Laswell
Steve Turre
Sun Ra
Jo?o Donato
Leo Gandelman
David Sanborn
Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers
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