El Eco: Two Worlds

El Eco's Two Worlds is a bit of a smooth Latin stew—the cool tempos of Brazil simmered with the darker tones and more complex rhythms of Argentina and Uraguay.

El Eco is led by drummer Guillermo Nojechowicz, and the generously-sized group also featues trumpeter Claudio Roditi, who recently added his horn magic to guitarist Ken Hatfield's Phoenix Rising ; and saxophonist Dino Govoni, who just put out his second CD, the marvelous mainstream In the Library on Whaling City Sounds.

This record presents samba beats, bossa nova grooves, the occasional popping modernistic electric bass lines (a la Marcus Miller), and enough churning Latin percussion to get you up out of the chair to shimmy into the Southern Hemisphere snake hips.

Drummer/leader Nojochowicz is Argentine-born, but Boston bred—having lived in Beantown for twenty-plus years. He reworks the diverse Latin song-scapes, bringing in a hue of the blues, a bit of the bop. Tight arrangements, beautiful soling by Roditi and Govoni as well as pianist Helio Alves, and some cool, lovely, fluid vocals by Kim Nasarian, especially on "Cafe Opiniano" and "Chacarera de Paloma".

A polished effort, beautifully arranged and produced. Hard to believe it's a debut release.

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