Home » Jazz Articles » Tito Carrillo
Jazz Articles about Tito Carrillo
Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective: Fiesta at Caroga
by Jack Bowers
Whenever the word “Afro-Caribbean" appears in an album's title, there are sure to be plenty of bold and exciting rhythmic passages, and Fiesta at Caroga, recorded by the Afro-Caribbean Jazz Collective at the 2022 Caroga Lake (New York) Music Festival, is no exception to the rule. The Collective, founded by guitarist Jose Guzman, is comprised for the most part of music professors at several central Illinois universities. As for the music itself, it leans heavily on such ...
read moreMaddie Vogler: While We Have Time
by Jack Bowers
Regardless of one's opinion of the music (from this vantage point, quite favorable), it is always a pleasure to welcome a jazz group led by a woman whose talents reach beyond voice or piano. Maddie Vogler, who presides over an admirable sextet on While We Have Time (and wrote all the music therein), plays alto saxophone, and does so about as well as any of her peers, male or female. When she is not gigging or recording, ...
read moreMaddie Vogler: While We Have Time
by Dan McClenaghan
In the introduction to alto saxophonist Maddie Vogler's debut recording, While We Have Time, are two striking images. The first is the cover shot, a pair of venerable unmatched hands, depicting those of the artist's immigrant grandmothers, beautifully and simply adorned. The second image is the inside photo of a vibrant young woman, an alto saxophone cradled in her hands. Maddie Vogler. Unusually for a debut, it is a set of all originals, but Vogler is up to ...
read moreTito Carrillo: Urbanessence
by Paul Rauch
Trumpeter Tito Carillo's second bite of the apple on Origin was more than a decade in the making, following up his outstanding first release, Opening Statement (Origin, 2011). With Urbanessence (Origin, 2022), the Chicago-based artist is truly up to the task, producing a work which is an homage to everyday life in the city. The narrative makes the point that cities are home to creators, visionaries and an army of people who are motivated by the hope they provide. Cities ...
read moreTito Carrillo: Urbanessence
by Jack Bowers
Urbanessence, the second album as leader from Chicago-area trumpeter, composer and educator Tito Carrillo, is a rhythmic showcase for ten of his buoyant original compositions, all of which embody his love of BAM (Black American Music) and the lyric legacy of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Peru. Carrillo, a bold and burnished improviser from the Freddie Hubbard-Lee Morgan-Donald Byrd school of hard bop, shares the front line with the energetic and versatile saxophonist Troy Roberts (who plays ...
read moreRyan Cohan: Originations
by Paul Rauch
There is a risk in creating art that reflects in essence, one's own personal journey. What that journey reveals within the context of one life may not carry the same value to a collective audience. In the case of Chicago based composer/pianist Ryan Cohan, his explorative delve into his own bi-cultural roots as presented on his new release, Originations (Origin, 2020), would not resonate with listeners if the music itself was not thrilling. Music provides unity like no other communicative ...
read more
Giveaway
Days remaining: 4
