Search - Charlie Sepulveda :: Feeling Good Again

A very good effort

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 05/19/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"4 1/2. Charlie Sepulveda, Puerto Rican trumpet and flugel horn player, has released a really fine album of Latin Jazz. One of the things that makes it stand out is the fine compositions, three of which are by that excellent composer and pianist, Hilton Ruiz, one of the artists that introduced me to Latin Jazz. Another thing is the uniformly high musicianship by the band members (none of whom I'm familiar with). I especially like Ismael Rodrigues who plays hard-bop and other jazz stylings as easily as more Latin-derived piano and Ricardo Pons on various saxes. A couple numbers (the title cut and "Just for You," both written by Sepulveda himself) are a little on the slick side, skating a tad too near to jazz lite for me (hence the half-star off), but they're very well performed and don't really detract. Plus, the leader has a pretty killer muted solo on "Just for You" that keeps it squarely in a true jazz mode.Not essential, but, all in all, very listenable and enjoyable."