The best moments on Crystal Sea create Jobim-like tapestries woven soft and whole into Afro-Cuban, pop, jazz and classical cloth. Perez first flies through "The Purple Condor," his piano twinkling like a little Latin leprechaun, then digs into more serious chords at both ends of his piano. In "The Saga of Rita Joe," percussion gets washed away by strings that swirl and tower like a tornado to set the pianist's dramatic opening piano scene. Like Ogerman's complementary arrangement, Perez's piano sounds dark and mysterious, yet somehow floats lightly through this "Saga's" many movements.

"When it came to working with Claus, it was another kind of adventure where I was called upon to touch the lyrical side of my playing," Perez explains. "Claus is a master of colors. As the musical director, he provided me with both a story and a landscape, and then told me, 'I want you to paint.'" But it's hard to determine if they painted their Crystal Sea in watercolor, or in watered-down color.

Tracks and Personnel

Plays Fats Waller

Tracks: Everybody Loves My Baby; Squeeze Me; Ain't She Sweet; Ain't Misbehavin'; Lulu's Back in Town; Honeysuckle Rose; I've Found A New Baby.

Personnel: Jimmy Smith: organ; Quentin Warren: guitar; Donald Bailey: drums.

3

Tracks: Visitors; In Depth; Spheres of Existence; The Last Train; Volcano Red; The Enquizator's Request; Inside Outside.

Personnel: Lafayette Gilchrist: piano; Anthony "Blue" Jenkins: bass; Nate Reynolds: drums.

3 Cities

Tracks: Egypt by Air; Journey; Strange Constellations; Junoon; Spiral; Map of Dusk; Fallen; Greenish Blue; Monsoon Malabar; Feasting with Panthers; Amina.

Personnel: Ashwin Srinivasan: bansuri; Sunil Das: sitar; Ulhas Bapat: santoor; Tapas Roy: oud, rebab, saz, santoor; Zarine Sharma: sarod; Dilshad Khan: sarangi; Pradeep Pandit: vocals; Hamsika Iyer: vocals; Rakesh Pandit: vocals; Nishadh Chandra: percussion; Deepak Bhatt: dhol; Madhu Suthnan: percussion; Jaya Chandran: percussion; Saroja: dilruba, tarshenai; Napoleon: bansuri; Sirishkumar: percussion, tablas; Abdullah Mufa: percussion; Will Brown: drums; Abdullah Mufa: drums; Meneka: vocals; Kartik: vocals; David Rainger: guitar; Adam Lamprell: Russian zither; Jonathan Mayer: sitar; Garry Hughes: keyboards, programming; Andrew T. Mackay: piano, bass, programming; Neville Franco: violin, orchestra leader; Shyam Jawda: violin; Chander Makwana: violin; Kamal Pradhan: violin; Errol: violin; Puran Singh: violin; Earnest: violin; Buddhev: violin; Suresh Lalwani: violin; Jitu Thakur: violin; Sanjeev Rao: violin; Suresh Tamayaiya: violin; Nandkishore: viola; Rizwan Sheikh: viola; Evrol D'Souza: viola; Prabhat Kishore: viola; Mark: viola; Dharmendra Jawda: viola; Jeetendra Jawda: viola; Sandeep Thakur: viola; Shyam Jawda: viola; Benny D'Souza; cello; Sanjiv Chakraborty: cello; Lavine: contra bass; Balachandran: violin; Hemanth Raj Muliyil: violin; K Sasikumar: violin; P J Sebastion: violin; P S Ramachandran: violin; Fernandes: violin; R K Prabhakar: violin; Kalyan: violin; Sheik Imam Saheb: viola; Mohan: viola; Cyril Petter Fernandes: viola; K Murali: viola; Jayachandar: viola; R Joseph: viola; Gopnath Sett: viola; P Selvaraj: viola; V R Sekar: cello; R K Vijayendaran: cello; Francis: cello; Srinu: cello; Biddu: contra bass.

Obrigado Dom Um Romao

Tracks: Estate; Love for Sale; Aos Pes Da Cruz; Recado Bossa Nova; Vocalise; Miniature IV; Manha De Carnaval; I Fall in Love Too Easily; Two And One; Prenda Minha.

Personnel: Ithamara Koorax: vocal; Peter Scharli: trumpet; Markus Stadler: guitar; Thomas Durst: double bass; Dom Um Romao: berimbao (7).

Brass Shout / The Aztec Suite

Tracks: Nica's Dream; Autumn Leaves; Moanin'; April in Paris; Five Spot After Dark; Stella by Starlight; Minor Vamp; The Aztec Suite; Heat Wave; Delirio; Woody 'N' You; Drume Negrita; Alone Together.

Personnel: Art Farmer: trumpet; Benny Golson: arranger; Chico O'Farrill: arranger; Lee Morgan: trumpet; Ernie Royal: trumpet; Bernie Glow: trumpet; Markie Markowitz: trumpet; Nick Travis: trumpet; Joe Ferrante: trumpet; Curtis Fuller: trombone; Jimmy Cleveland: trombone; Wayne Andre: trombone; Frank Rehak: trombone; Tommy Mitchell: trombone; James Haughton: baritone horn; Julius Watkins: French horn; Bob Northern: French horn; Jimmy Buffington: French horn; Tony Miranda: French horn; Don Butterfield: tuba; Jay McAllister: tuba; Spencer Sinatra: tenor sax; Zoot Sims: tenor sax; Sheldon Powell: tenor sax; Sol Schlinger: baritone sax; Bobby Timmons: piano; Hank Jones: piano; Percy Heath: bass; Addison Farmer: bass; Philly Joe Jones: drums; Elvin Jones: drums; Charlie Persip: drums; Jose Mangual: Latin percussion; Tommy Lopez: Latin percussion; Willie Rodriguez: Latin percussion.

Across the Crystal Sea

Tracks: Across the Crystal Sea; Rays and Shadows; Lazy Afternoon; The Purple Condor; If I Forget You; (All of a Sudden) My Heart Sings; The Saga of Rita Joe; Another Autumn.

comments powered by Disqus