Jazz Articles about Jose Aponte

About Jose Aponte

Album Review

The big lockdown buried a lot of music that was ready to roll when Covid struck in 2020. Tours and gigs were canceled, album launches fizzled. Some of us are still discovering good sounds we missed out on. These include Brasuka's debut album, which arrived several years post lockdown in a large packet of CDs sent by the group's publicist, stamped with an October 8 street date. Who knew that meant October of 2021? Nevertheless... The name Brasuka ...

Album Review

Brasuka: A Vida Com Paixão

Read "A Vida Com Paixão" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki

by Chris M. Slawecki
January 2, 2022

Brasuka first came together as a side project, led by keyboardist and vocalist Rosana Eckert and percussionist Ricardo Bozas, from out of a Sergio Mendes tribute band. You can still hear these roots in this full-length debut. But you can also hear where and how Brasuka's sound branches out into different styles and frameworks and yet retain the warm, inviting and bright sound of their original inspiration. Eckert's lead vocal on the title track to A Vida Com ...

Album Review

Angel Roman & Mambo Blue: Festive Interplay

Read "Festive Interplay" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
December 9, 2021

Latin Jazz as presented by guitarist Angel Roman, is a combination of Afro Latin rhythms from a variety of sources, but when blended with Brazilian, pop, and fusion the music results in a new stew which, while recognizable, has different flavours, fragrances and textures. Delivering this mélange is the band Mambo Blue, whose membership ebbs and flows depending on Roman's residency. This iteration is composed mainly of musicians from Austin, Texas, and they have delivered on their talents with a ...

Album Review

Angel Roman: Mambo Blue

Read "Mambo Blue" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
December 8, 2021

Latinos know that there is no such thing as generic Latin music, although you can find common rhythmic patterns, melodic motifs, instrumentation and harmonies spread across the Caribbean, Mexico, central and South America . So if you are looking for “typical" Latin stuff, you will not find it here. Although to a nonexpert ear, there is something distinctly Boricua (Puerto Rican) about Mambo Blue, even if it was conceived in Austin, Texas. The music scene there is probably about as ...