Search - Paquito D'Rivera :: Live at the Blue Note

Latin Jazz at its best

09/25/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Along with Chucho Valdes' "Bele Bele En La Habana", Cubanismo's "Cubanismo" (their first release), and Monty Alexander's "Goin' Yard", this is one of the top CDs I own. This ought to give you an idea of what I think of this CD and of my taste in general.A bit of background first. Paquito's stylistic range is very broad. In fact, I actually don't like some of his CDs, which I have bought and then given away. However, I think that "40 Years of Cuban Jam Session", except for the vocal tracks, is also a hell of a CD, albeit a little bit "ethnic" in style. I say all of this so you can see my perspective.This CD can best be described as refreshing Latin Jazz. It's all instrumental. The musicians are from all over the place (from Chicago to Curacao). The ensemble is tight as hell. This is not a typical Latin Jazz fair; the "Latin" sense is there, but the jazz is rocking; sometimes it feels like a 1970s fusion band, but then again, the Latin stuff always comes through. All of the cuts are entertaining; not a bad one in the mix. The musicians individually rock. The only aspect of the CD I don't like is that we don't get to hear enough solos. These musicians are all very fine performers. Paquito hams it up a little bit, though; his virtuosity permeates all the tracks."