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Henry Cole and the Afro Beat Collective: Roots Before Branches

By Mark F. Turner
March 6, 2012
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Henry Cole and the Afro Beat Collective: Roots Before Branches

As a rising jazz drummer in today's environment, Henry Cole's percussive sound has emerged in works with seminal artists such as

Miguel Zenon

saxophone, alto
b.1976

" data-original-title="" title="">Miguel Zenon,

David Sanchez

saxophone, tenor
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">David Sanchez, and the

" data-original-title="" title="">Le Boeuf Brothers. Like his peers, Cole is challenging old ideas and channeling new concepts into the mix. The debut of Roots Before Branches , with his Afro-Beat Collective, is full of fresh ideas that resist being easily compartmentalized.

Inspired by the music of his homeland in Puerto Rico with thick doses of Afrobeat, underground club music, electronica, jazz, and other stimuli, Cole's underlying roots are exposed as new offshoots emerge and thrive incorporating everything from sounds of the street parties, dancehalls, poetry, funk and rock aesthetics, to form something that is uniquely Cole-centric.

The program's changeability is dizzying yet infectious. One minute there's the sweating funkiness of "No Eres Tu, Soy Yo" that does

Fela Kuti

saxophone
1938 - 1997

" data-original-title="" title="">Fela Kuti proud, or some fierce words from poet/rapper Hermes Ayala in the punkish "Trab��jala"; the next, there are strains of

Carlos Santana

guitar
b.1947

" data-original-title="" title="">Carlos Santana blues-rock on "Una par Isab��l" provided by guitarist

Adam Rogers

guitar
b.1965

" data-original-title="" title="">Adam Rogers, or an interplanetary party in "Cominezo," where the rhythmic dance of the plena, bomba, and Cole's drum kit syncopate with ethnic vocals and electronic keyboards. Another snapshot of Cole's imagination is found in "Uncovered Fears," based upon Mara Pastor's poem and featuring an eloquent recitation from Pastor, silhouetted against a backdrop of strings donned with a European classical music vibe and Cole's cultural imprint.

As these different sounds swirl together, jazz fits in comfortably like a glove, with fine contributions from Zen��n, and S��nchez, and many others including some sweet Fender Rhodes action from

Soren Moller

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Soren Moller and bold brass from trumpeter

Josh Evans

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Josh Evans on "M��sica para un sue?o." The program ends with "Solo" as Cole free forms on his kit with accompaniment by electric bassist Ricky Rodriguez. It resembles but sounds nothing like the archetypal jazz solo and is a timely finish to a brilliant release.

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Track Listing

Aurea V.; Trabajala; To Believe Without Seeing; A?o 2010, No Eres Tu, Soy Yo; Comienzo; Una Para Isabel; Solo Dos Veces; Uncovered Fear; Musica Para Un Sue?o; Solo.

Personnel

Henry Cole

drums

Henry Cole: drums, keyboards (2-10); John Ellis: tenor sax ; Billy Carrion Jr.: baritone sax ; Juan Jose ��Cheito�� Quinones: trumpet (1-9); David ��Piro Rodriguez: trumpet (3); Josh Evans: trumpet (10); Soren Moller: Fender Rhodes (1-5, 7-10); Sean Wayland: Fender Rhodes (6); Egui Santiago: keyboards (1-5, 7-10); Roy Guzman: guitar (1-5, 9); Adam Rogers: guitar (7); Ricky Rodriguez: bass (2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11); Willy Rodriguez: bass (1, 9); Pedro Perez: bass (4, 5); Alberto ��Beto�� Torrens: bomba barril (1-5, 7-9); Obanilu Allende: plena panderos (6), voice (6), bomba barril (10); Bryant Huffman: shekere (1-5, 7-9); Reynaldo de Jesus: shekere (10); Hermes Ayala: voice (2-4); David S��nchez: tenor sax ( 1, 3-5,) alto sax (2); Luis Rosa ��El Chupa��: baritone sax (4); Jenny Scheinman: first violin (9); Megan Gould: second violin (9); Karen Waltuch: viola (9); Noah Hoffeld: cello (9); Miara Pastor: poetry reading (9).

Album information

Title: Roots Before Branches | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: Self Produced

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