“Without music, life would be a mistake” – Friedrich Neitzsche
For the first Seriously Good Music of 2021 we welcome back Caribbean music critic and writer on music, Nigel Campbell. Thanks again Nigel. Best wishes to you all for 2021. Enjoy the selections, and let us know what you think.
“The term Latin jazz was coined during the 1950s by the American media, but it’s always been an overly simplistic description of a complex musical melting pot. In truth, that pot has always been a cultural cauldron, and Latin-jazz bandleaders-of both big and small groups-carry on the tradition today by adding ingredients from numerous ancestral countries, as well as drawing influences from the Internet and the growing Latino population in the United States.”
— Meredith, Bill. “Latin Jazz: The Latin Tinge.” In JazzTimes online edition. November 2007. Updated August 22, 2019. https://jazztimes.com/features/profiles/latin-jazz-the-latin-tinge/
Our Caribbean music space has contributed to this jazz sub-genre and evolved the tradition begun by early migrants to the US like Machito and Mario Bauzá, who were pioneers in creating Latin jazz, and more specifically Afro-Cuban jazz. Here is a sampling of a Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz product for audiophile listeners.
“Cimarrón” – Josean Jacobo & Tumbao (2019)
Pianist Josean Jacobo has been heralded as the “Ambassador of Afro-Dominican Jazz” and with that understanding, the listener has to negotiate the mine field of ideas and ideologies on Dominicanness and the other image of the island as a tourist playground. On this album, “Cimarrón”, Jacobo along with the band Tumbao — a unique combo of 2 saxes, drums and percussion — present a solid interface of the music born in the American melting pot of New Orleans and traditional folkloric rhythms from African-descended natives of the island. His piano soars and floats on the ten songs here, while the polyrhythms of the hand drums and other percussion give credence to a history of solid representation of the music of African souls who have mingled and transformed Spanish-derived sounds to create what we today know as Salve, Congos, Bachata and more. The language of jazz has broadened in this context, and this album is a distinctive beginning for new listeners.
“Kijombo” – Yasser Tejeda & Palotré (2019)
The Dominican Republic has blessed the world with the highly popular merengue and bachata genres of music. Native son, and guitarist, Yasser Tejeda has blended these and other elements of traditional Afro-Dominican music — palo, gaga, perico ripiao — with modern jazz, funk and rock to create a fusion that is both danceable and indicative of the majesty of New World African music. On the 11-track album, “Kijombo”, the music sails through moods and tendencies that are not boring or repetitive but is a study of how almost ancient and sacred sounds and rhythms can be applied to modern tropes to elevate the whole. The blurb from the record label says that the album represents “a journey through a history of Dominican musical resilience.” The percussive pulse, that African heartbeat is not replaced by electric impulses, but supplemented by ideas and song lyrics that speak to retention of the roots of native excellence. This album is an ideal starting point for new music discovery.
“The Complete Cuban Jam Sessions” – Various artists (2019)
Between 1956 and 1964, the major Cuban record label Panart captured the sounds and descargas — improvised musical jam sessions — of the most innovative native musicians on the island. With the freedom of jazz and the soul of Cuba, this is “a stylistic and historic panorama of Cuban music, from big band son montuno to Afro-Cuban rumba, mambo, cha-cha-chá, and country acoustic guajira music,” as described by compilation label Craft Recordings. This bit of history is here remastered for a new generation and collected in a five-LP box set (five CDs are another option), offering a unique glimpse of the zeitgeist of the nation during and after the Cuban Revolution, which nationalised Cuban culture and record companies. Legends of Cuban music recorded in that loose setting include mambo co-creators (and brothers) bassist Israel “Cachao” and pianist Orestes “Macho” López, alongside jazz drummer Guillermo Barreto and other pioneers. A keepsake for the ages.
“Sabiduría/Wisdom” – Eddie Palmieri (2017)
The Caribbean is a trans-nation of expanded and connected diasporas. Puerto Rican heritage extends beyond its island space to include its famous diaspora citizens. Bronx-born Eddie Palmieri is a legendary Latin jazz pianist, who at the age of eighty may have delivered one of the most sonically and musically endearing albums in his career. Not that he “finally got the formula right,” but with those years of experience as a bandleader, composer, and arranger, and the “wisdom” — sabiduría in Spanish — that comes with that experience, Palmieri can pull together some of the finest talent, young and old, in jazz and salsa/Latin music to successfully and pleasingly blend the Afro-Caribbean rhythms of his Puerto Rican island “home” with the harmonically complex sounds of mainland jazz and bebop. The album also extends the fusion to include bossa nova on “Samba Do Suenho” and Cuban son on “Coast to Coast”.
“Pollen” – Yoser Rodriguez (2016)
Cuban bass player and singer Yoser Rodriguez debuts with an album that is a joy to listen to. Described by the record label as “a rich and winding fusion of Brazilian, African, Trinidadian, Cuban, and American pop influences,” the mood of the album fluctuates between elation and what the Brazilians call saudade, a kind of melancholy and longing. Marketing blurbs aside, Rodriguez delivers ten tracks that pique interest and inspire the will to listen repeatedly. They’re sung mainly in Spanish, and we’re also told these songs “explore the immigrant experience in Canada, environmental issues, love and friendship.” Language is no barrier to great songwriting. Piano, strings, and Latin horns create the tropical ambience for the unembellished voice of Rodriguez to directly weave his messages. Solid musicianship that shines a light on the growing Cuban influence and presence in Toronto, where Rodriguez is based now, is another hallmark of this solid debut.
© 2020 Nigel Campbell. All Rights Reserved.