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Jazz Articles about Willie Martinez
The Paul Carlon Quintet: Blues for Vita The Paul Carlon Quintet
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Blues for Vita provides listeners with an outstanding eight-selection presentation that is a modernized throwback to the days when tenor-trumpet quintets such as Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Lee Morgan's, and Cannonball Adderley's ensembles were the mainstays of jazz labels such as Riverside, Columbia, and Blue Note. The album offers a well-produced mix of straight-ahead, boogaloo, and Latin-flavors from five terrific Paul Carlon originals, two Broadway musical grabs, and a Larry Willis tune made most famous by Woody Shaw ...
Continue ReadingWillie Martinez: After Winter, Spring
by Russ Musto
The sophomore effort from the Latin jazz drummer Willie Martinez's La Familia Sextet, After Winter, Spring, is a bright and breezy journey into tipico territory marked by tight arrangements of melodically appealing original compositions and arrangements over a wide variety of swinging Afro-Caribbean rhythms. An experienced pro with tenures under the leadership of Chico O'Farrill, Hilton Ruiz and Norman Hedman, to name only a few, Martinez has assembled a band of similarly seasoned associates to make his own engaging brand ...
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