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Various Artists: Calle 54

By Jim Santella
July 1, 2001
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This soundtrack comes from a full-length film dedicated to Latin jazz. Solo piano, jazz trios, and larger ensembles carry the tradition to an audience thirsty for knowledge. As the world gets smaller, the audience for this music grows in size. Jazz, with direct ties to Cuba, Brazil, The Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Argentina, Africa and Europe, makes a pleasurable soundtrack. It's new music for a new world. Director Fernando Trueba calls the film "a musical about music."

Dizzy Gillespie's United Nation Orchestra and his earlier big bands made considerable progress as ambassadors who spread the sounds of jazz around the world. From Sony's 54th Street studios in New York, this cross-section of Latin jazz spokesmen gathered to record the music for Trueba's motion picture. The result is a film that allows the music to speak for itself. By meeting with Bebo Valdés in Sweden, Chucho Valdés in Havana, Jerry González in Puerto Rico (the land of his family), Chico O'Farrill in New York, and Chano Domínguez in Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain, Trueba assembled a film that details the origins of Latin jazz and offers insight as to how it's developed in a century. The soundtrack reflects both the myriad cultural traits that remain, and jazz's fresh, improvisational nature.

Track Listing

(1) Panamerica; (2) Samba Triste; (3) Oye C

Personnel

Various Artists

various

(1) Paquito D'Rivera- alto saxophone, clarinet; Diego Urcola- trumpet; Aquiles Baez- guitar; Raul Jaurena- bandone

Album information

Title: Calle 54 | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Blue Note Records

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