Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Various Artists: Calle 54

Various Artists: Calle 54

By Jim Santella
July 1, 2001
View read count

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

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Meet Duane Eubanks
< Previous

Mats Gustafsson / Paul Lovens Duo & ...
Next >

Various Artists Concerts

Nov 14 Fri

WDCB Live Broadcast: Cod Music Fridays @ Noon With...

College Of Dupage - Mac Room 140
Glen Ellyn, IL

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.