Layla Angulo: Live At The Triple Door

Layla Angulo brought her brand of Afro-Peruvian rhythms and jazz to the Triple Door in Seattle for this set, which turns out to be an entertaining one. Angulo wrote all the music except for "Muñeca, a Eddie Palmieri composition. The band is tight and can essay ideas that please and also work on long jams.

One of the most sparkling tunes is "La Rumbera, which has a lot going for it in the seamless lines of the horns, the percussion's showering dancing beats, and the singing of Eddie Rodriquez. Pianist Eric Verlinde lays improvisation open in clean and lithe lines. Angulo has her say, and she shows a deep tonality that grooves the melody. Percussion holds sway on "A Golpe De Cajon as the piece gradually builds in tempo, the ride getting more giddy as the musicians go along. The rhythm becomes sensuous, punctuated by Galand Green on trombone and Angulo as she comes up with an edgy, bristling solo.

"Muñeca flies right off. Green brings in an airy tone on his flight of becoming imagery with the flute, Verlinde enunciates emphatically on the piano, and Randy Burgeson is exuberant on the trumpet, his tonality adding resplendent colour. The rhythm section makes it all the more intense, each of the players engaging in the conversation and adding that extra dimension which serves to make a tune captivating.

This is a fun record. Sit back and listen or get up and dance. It'll get you either way.