Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Ray Vega: Boperation

Ray Vega: Boperation

By C. Michael Bailey
October 1, 1999
View read count

Viva La Musica. Pregnant with percussion, Boperation is a standards light beam passed through a Latin prism. The result is an infectious salsa slant on hallowed music ably directed by trumpeter Ray Vega. Vega chooses carefully songs composed by ostensibly his greatest influences if not those he recognizes for the necessary artists the are (were). His tone is at once Miles, Birks, and Clifford. Oh, how brilliant and what a start to hear, like a dream where you talk on the phone with that long gone relative you loved so much.

I Bow to You... There are some things expected and some surprises. Freddie Hubbard’s convoluted “Hubtones” and Dizzy’s “Birk’s Works” are nothing new as are Clifford Brown’s “Daahoud” and Art Farmer’s “Whisper Not”, or Miles “Blue in Green/Four”. The surprises are Kenny Dorhams’s “Lotus Blossom” and Lee Morgan’s “Mr. Kenyatta”. All are played with either a bouncy Latinesque personality or a temperamental Spanish ballad machismo. Add the wiry mix of Steve Kahn’s guitar and Joe Locke’s full-bodied vibes to these standards with Vega’s superb rhythm section and you have a winner. Great Production.

Track Listing

Hub-Tones; Lotus Blossom; Boperation; Birks

Personnel

Ray Vega

trumpet

Ray Vega- trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion; Roger Byam- tenor sax, alto sax, soprano sax; Igor Atalita- piano; Bernie Mi

Album information

Title: Boperation | Year Released: 1999 | Record Label: Concord Music Group

PREVIOUS / NEXT

My Conversation with Gary Peacock
< Previous

Modern Memory
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.