AvaxHome Music Community Requests for Music

“

A leader of the Tropicalia movement in Brazil in 1967 and 1968, along with artists like Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil and other musicians mixed native styles with rock and folk instruments. Because Gil fused samba, salsa, and bossa nova with rock and folk music, he's recognized today as one of the pioneers in world music. A multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter, Gil joined his first group, the Desafinados, in the mid-'50s and by the beginning of the 1960s was earning a living as a jingle composer. Although known mostly as a guitarist, he also holds his own with drums, trumpet, and accordion. He began playing the accordion when he was eight, and he listened to street singers in the marketplace around Salvador. ...

”

“

Sur fond de samba-pop, de doux rythmes afro-brésiliens et de reggae ensoleillé, Banda Larga Cordel, avec sa pochette ornée du logo RSS bien connu des internautes, évoque l'amour, la solitude, et l'abolissement des frontières grâce au numérique. Apôtre du logiciel et de la licence libres, Gilberto Gil milite depuis des années pour la démocratisation des nouvelles technologies. Souriant, chaleureux, jamais surchargé sur le plan des arrangements, habilement exécuté par d'excellents musiciens, Banda Larga Cordel est de bon augure pour le concert de ce soir.

”

Radio Tarifa is one the outstanding world music groups of the turn of their time. Their name derives from the town of Tarifa, which is the part of Spain nearest to Morocco. The group's mixture of Spanish and Arabic music is not itself new (see Juan Peña Lebrijano. for example). What is new is that instead of simply fusing musical styles as they currently exist, Radio Tarifa goes back in time to the common past of those styles, back to before 1492 when the Moors and Jews were exiled from Spain, and imagines a shared style that might have evolved had history been different, including not just elements of Spanish and Arabic music but also other musics of the Mediterranean, of the Middle Ages, of the Caribbean. This invented style is not only fascinating in its own right, but sheds light upon the real styles of Spain, most notably flamenco.

If Cuba has the 'Buena Vista Social Club', Puerto Rico has 'Paradise'". That's the best way to explain the richness of this album, where Humberto Ramirez plays for the first time with a Big Band and reaches the pinnacle of the Latin Jazz. This Big Band is formed by remarkable musicians as Papo Lucca, Rubén Rodríguez, Alex Acuña, Richie Flores, Charlie Sepúlveda, Juancito Torres, Angie Machado, Rafi Torres, Toñito Vazquez, Justo Almario, Freddy Medina, José Encarnación, Danny Fuentes, Miguel Rivera and Héctor Veneros among others. The production, direction and arrangements were in charge of Humberto Ramírez, who proves once again his ability and his enormous talent as a musician, not just as trumpet player.

The most influential non-Latin figure in Latin jazz is paid respectful homage by another non-Latin vibraphonist of note, Spyro Gyra's Dave Samuels, who put together a heavyweight ensemble of Latin jazz stars for the job. Like many such tribute albums, this one cannot match the original versions for panache and that special 1950s San Francisco atmosphere -- the earnest covers of "Soul Sauce" and "Viva Cepeda" attest to that -- and Samuels' own highly accomplished playing leans toward the bop and R&B idioms in rhythmic emphasis. Still, this is a pleasant, intelligent Latin jazz outing by and large, graced by the presence of Eddie Palmieri on piano, Dave Valentin on flute, David Sanchez on tenor, Ray Barretto on congas, and Steve Khan on acoustic guitar. And it might persuade Spyro Gyra fans to investigate the real deal. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide