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4
Album Review

Michael Spiro/Wayne Wallace: Canto América

Read "Canto América" reviewed by James Nadal


The historical evolution of the Caribbean Basin and specifically the Greater Antilles, has been over five hundred years in the making. The triangular connections between Europe, Africa, and the New World with its ensuing social and economic constraints, established the conditions for an innovative culture in the region. The enculturation process led to the creolization of the music and the creation of hybrid religions as Santeria in Cuba, and Voudou in what was then Hispaniola (Saint-Domingue), adding an intriguing dimension ...

7
Album Review

Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet: Intercambio

Read "Intercambio" reviewed by James Nadal


The music that commenced as accompaniment to ancestral rituals and gained its popularity in dancehalls and ballrooms, has come of age. Latin infused jazz, has been steadily evolving since the African drums came to the Caribbean, and melded with European musical influences. Trombonist, composer, arranger, and producer Wayne Wallace is aptly tuned into this evolutionary process and presents Intercambio, a cross cultural interaction of musical counterpoint. With his Latin Jazz Quintet--and its exemplary members--Wallace has taken a sophisticated ...

9
Album Review

Mitch Shiner And The BloomingTones Big Band: Fly!

Read "Fly!" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


"Hoosier Jazz" isn't an actual sub-genre of music, but that geographical tag fits this album so well. Drummer/Percussionist Mitch Shiner, a graduate of Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, put together a Bloomington-based big band built around his IU chums, be they students, alums, local hotshots or professors. Then he simply fed them some killer arrangements and let them spread their wings. Fly!, the maiden voyage of Mitch Shiner And The BloomingTones Big Band, is a tight ...

3
Album Review

Wayne Wallace: Latin Jazz Jazz Latin

Read "Latin Jazz Jazz Latin" reviewed by Jeff Dayton-Johnson


Trombonist Wayne Wallace and his Latin Jazz Ensemble have a well-oiled record-making machine that seems incapable of turning out a subpar album.Therein lies the mystery. The ingredients that Wallace and his bandmates pour into the machine are eminently predictable--a studiously well-sampled array of Latin rhythms, didactically specified in the liner notes; a mixture of strong original compositions and Latin settings of jazz standards; tight ensemble playing by the quintet with plenty of space to breathe; a smattering of ...

130
Album Review

Amikaeyla & Trelawny Rose: To Eva, With Love: A Celebration of Eva Cassidy Live

Read "To Eva, With Love: A Celebration of Eva Cassidy Live" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Singer Eva Cassidy was a force of nature, an incandescent slice of lightening that flashed and was no more. Best described as a song stylist, Cassidy was an excellent guitarist capable of interpreting standards from any genre in an almost violently refreshing and personal manner. Cassidy's career lasted barely 10 years and never garnered the attention she deserved. Closing in on 30 years after Cassidy's death from malignant melanoma, it is humbling to consider such immense talent would only garner ...

262
Album Review

Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet: To Hear From There

Read "To Hear From There" reviewed by Bridget A. Arnwine


Trombonist/composer Wayne Wallace and his music could probably be characterized by any number of clichéd phrases, but why use a cliché when the truth will do. The truth is that Wayne Wallace's To Hear From There is a far better record than its Grammy-nominated predecessor, ¡Bien Bien! (Patois, 2009), and that's saying a lot. Wallace's greatest gift to the music on To Hear From There is that he approaches it respectfully. Wallace, an American man of African ancestry, performs Latin ...

104
Album Review

Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet: To Hear From There

Read "To Hear From There" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose


Trombonist Wayne Wallace is one of the most melodic players on his instrument. And although he might inhabit a somewhat narrow range--eschewing the very high register--he is also one of today's most expressive trombonists. His husky tone is one of a kind and gives his playing tremendous character. Moreover, he is one of the few players who comfortable in virtually every idiom, and this is something unique as it enables him to extend his playing with subtle changes in rhythmic ...

257
Album Review

Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet: To Hear From There

Read "To Hear From There" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


Trombonist and composer Wayne Wallace knows how to have fun, and on the delightfully upbeat To Hear From There his Latin Jazz Quintet makes that fun leap out of the speakers. The group--Grammy-nominated for 2009's ¡Bien Bien! (Patois Records)--is energetic and exceptionally tight. Wallace leads this fine and funky band through a selection of tunes that combine Latin, African and West Coast styles to create a mix of tunes that swings and grooves from start to finish. ...

154
Album Review

Wayne Wallace: To Hear From There

Read "To Hear From There" reviewed by Wilbert Sostre


Wayne Wallace continues to explore the infectious Afro-Cuban rhythms on To Here From There, the follow-up to his 2010 Grammy-nominated album, Bien Bien! (Patois Record, 2009).Wallace is a trombonist with vast experience that includes collaborations with artists such as Count Basie, Joe Henderson, Lionel Hampton, Sonny Rollins and Tito Puente. Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet plays like they were born in Cuba.The danceable “La Escuela" with its piano montuno and the distinctive clave of the Cuban son ...

195
Album Review

Wayne Wallace: To Hear From There

Read "To Hear From There" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


San Francisco-area trombonist Wayne Wallace is known for his Grammy-nominated forays into Afro-Cuban music, and on the surface, To Hear From There is another Latin jazz album. But mixed with the danceable, percussion-heavy rhythms and exuberant melodies, with a touch of melancholy, are complex, improvised solos that would delight even a jazz purist. The improvised give-and-take between pianist Murray Low and percussionist Michael Spiro, at the beginning of Tito Puente's classic “Philadelphia Mambo," is as angular and ...


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