Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Thomas Lorenzo: Spanish Breeze

404

Thomas Lorenzo: Spanish Breeze

By

View read count
Thomas Lorenzo: Spanish Breeze
Guitarist Thomas Lorenzo moved to Barcelona, Spain in 2003 and has since produced four solo albums, including the very charming Spanish Breeze. The son of Spanish immigrants, who fled Franco's Spain and settled in Lorenzo's birth place of Australia, Lorenzo never really forgot his Spanish ancestry, learning to weave traditional Spanish music within the Australian rock and pop music he often performed.

Some of that rock and pop influence comes through on the first five tracks of Spanish Breeze, where Lorenzo plays electric guitar much like a rock star. Two members of his quartet—bassist Alphonso Johnson and drummer Walfredo Reyes Jr.—also bring a rock background, having played with icons Santana and Steve Winwood, as well as jazz fusion super group Weather Report, while pianist Dave Garfield boasts traditional jazz credentials.

While the rock-styled grooves of the opening pieces may beg the question, "Where's the Spanish music," the true Spanish flavor of this recording comes shinning through on "Dulzura con Rabia." Lorenzo takes up his acoustic guitar and gently picks the strings on a beautiful, soft ballad, leading to more of the same with Armando Manzanero's Flamenco-tinged "Contigo Aprendi." The Spanish winds continue on the lovely "Mi Alma (My Soul)" and "Belleza de Agua Dulce," as well as on "Merry Go Round" and his last original, "Bailas?"

Leaving one of the best pieces for last, Lorenzo performs a soothing arrangement of Hoagy Carmichael's immortal "Georgia," capping off an interesting meld of Australian rock and Spanish traditional music. Lorenzo is more than convincing as an amazing guitarist, playing electric and Spanish acoustic guitars with equal vigor and skill. If a touch of rock, a taste of Spain and the cool breeze of a fine Mediterranean Latin guitar seems inviting, then a gust of Spanish Breeze may be in the forecast.

Track Listing

You're Cute; Giggles and Whispers; 1,2,3 Let's Go; A Happy Dream; Blue Secrets; Dulzura con Rabia; Contigo Aprendi; Mi Alma; Belleza de Agua Dulce; Merry Go Round; Bailas?; Georgia.

Personnel

Thomas Lorenzo
guitar, acoustic

Thomas Lorenzo: electric guitar, acoustic guitar; Walfredo Reyes Jr.: drums, percussions; Alphonso Johnson: electric bass, acoustic bass; Dave Garfield: piano, keyboards.

Album information

Title: Spanish Breeze | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Self Produced

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter 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.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.