Alex Conde, Descarga for Monk

Monk Latin style? Yes, on pianist Alex Conde's Descarga for Monk (Zoho 201501). Well, Latin by means of Spanish duende to be precise. The Valencia-born pianist recruits bassist Jeff Chambers, John Arkin, drums, John Santos, percussion, and on occasion Amparo Conde and Carmen Carrasco on palmas and compas (hand claps and footstomps a la flamenco).

Alex Conde gives us his own innate Spanish tinge, the band jumps right in, and they tackle nine Monk standards in ways that, not surprisingly, show that Monk's melodic and harmonic brilliance can be shaded effectively with contrasting musical forms. Alex does a good bit of improvising that shows his own stylistic sense more so than a direct channeling of Monk, and the band gets a rhythmic flow that is infectious and convincing.

There's "Round Midnight" but also "Ugly Beauty," "Ruby My Fear" but also "Think of One." In short Alex and company tackle the well-known and the somewhat lesser-known with a Spanish-Latin flair that makes for good listening and a good bit of toe-tapping as well.

If Monk rings your bell like he does mine, you will find this another way to hear his music and will appreciate the treatment, I think. And Alex comes across as a talented pianist, too.

A good one!

Harold López-Nussa, New Day

Good, very good Latin Jazz pianists and their music don't come across my desk all that often. When something does, I take notice. Such a pianist, who is around 30 and already very accomplished, is Harold López-Nussa. You can hear him to excellent advantage on his album New Day (Jazz Village 570021).

He appears before us on acoustic and sometimes electric piano, with the backing of a good Latin jazz trio, which means acoustic bass and a drummer fleet on the set and able to cover the Latin percussion nuances as well.

This appears to be an ideal setting to hear Maestro López-Nussa. He is rhythmically very fluid in a Latin core sense and at the same time has a harmonic-melodic jazz sensibility for today, so that the music is driving and contemporary.

The set here is an excellent one. The originals have substance and originality. Harold drives without especially emphasizing the left-hand chording a la McCoy Tyner or Eddie Palmieri, which distinguishes him in part from some of the contemporary Latin jazz pianists out there, though his comping remains strong, just a bit more brittle and varied. There is a well-developed musicality that is apparent and marks him as special.

He is on tour throughout North America this September and October, so if you like what you hear, go to it! The album is a winner on all fronts, a landmark Latin jazz piano album of the last few years, surely.

Chucho Valdes, Border-Free

Chucho Valdes and his Afro-Cuban Messengers blaze through one hell of a Latin Jazz set on their album Border-Free (Jazz Village). He won a Grammy last time out and this one does not flag. The Cuban piano giant comes through with some originals and in tandem with his rhythm section they burn with brilliance.

Listening, you hear the jazz roots and feel the Cuban rhythm down to your toes. His website mentions that he has been influenced by Moroccan Gnawa music and, yes, that comes through in some of the heated riffing. Flamenco also has influenced him, the site says, and, yes, there is a certain flair in phrasing that has a similar thrust. As for the rest this is Afro-Cuban jazz as a tour de force. Branford Marsalis guests on three cuts with excellent outcome.

Beyond that Chucho shows you what he is made of here. And that is thrilling!

Arturo O'Farrill and the Chico O'Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Final Night at Birdland

Chico O'Farrill of course was a prime moving force on the Latin Jazz scene for many years, a great composer, arranger and big band leader. With his passing the big band he kept in top form for long runs in New York clubs, the Chico O'Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, was taken over by his son Arturo. For fourteen years the band held forth at the reconstituted Birdland on Monday nights.

As Arturo recounts in the liners, the pressure of keeping a crack big band going and at the same time forwarding his own bands and music became too much, so on July 16, 2011 the band played its last night at the club. Fortunately for us the recording equipment was running that evening, preserving in all its splendor the Final Night at Birdland (Zoho 201311).

Everybody is in top form, the charts include many classic Chico numbers and a moving tribute-piece by Arturo, and the recording has presence and grit.

All I can say is that this recording gives you a hell of a good look at why Chico was something else, and is a testiment to the band and its last ten years under the leadership of Arturo as well. If you've been into Chico it is an affirmation, if not it's a great introduction.

That Latin-Jazz lives and thrives today has much to do with the O'Farrills, past and present. Play on players, listen on listeners!!

Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet, Latin Jazz-Jazz Latin

When I was a Sophomore in High School I was assigned a rookie English teacher who began the first class with "I am so-and-so, I graduated from so-and-so university and I like girls!" Now of all the things to start with, that probably wasn't it. We took it the wrong way and he may well have meant it the wrong way but either way he was off to a bad start. So when I say I like something I sometimes remember that teacher and how what you like may be best repressed or at best may be irrelevant.

However when I say "I like Latin jazz", I feel it is entirely appropriate. It's the truth. And because I do, I immediately responded to the album Latin Jazz-Jazz Latin (Patois 014) by the Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet. The title is the right one, because Maestro Wallace and the band lead us through some jazz standards done Latin style and then through some Latin material done with a good Latin jazz feeling.

Wayne Wallace plays in a hot, extroverted trombone style that is virtually indispensable for this music. He is especially good at it, too. There are plenty of solo opportunities for the band members and the special guests and that is as you'd hope. The arrangements are very hip, exciting, hot. It's Bay Area Latin--which as we saw a few weeks ago with Salsa de la Bahia, has had more of a jazz component than not over the years. But Wayne is tops there, virtually speaking. And this album gives you the why. There's his quintet, who are absorbed equally in modern jazz expression and Latin groove. Along with Wayne we have Murray Lowe doing the Latin and the jazz thing on piano, David Belove, a very nimble and hip electric bassist, and the rhythm team of Colin Douglas on drums and Michael Spiro on percussion, doing what is key and doing it with fire.

Add to that a bit of overdubbing and a set of guest artists that build the sound up to large-band size when needed. More bones from Wayne, trumpets, Pete Escovedo on timbales, plus for Cuban traditional authenticity, violins and flutes. Then there are four singers to give that vocal thing the punch it needs, when needed.

Maybe 20 years ago if somebody told you they were going to do a Latin jazz version of "Giant Steps", you would not think it could be done. Wayne does it here and it's ultra-hip, which only goes to show you how well-endowed the band is, but also how what once was considered impossible, even dangerous, now has entered our playing and listening beings as what we can do and hear in the normative sense. Wayne does not do it any humdrum everyday way, far from it, but you get the idea, I hope.

The whole set is filled with Latin and jazz goodies executed with heat, passion and soul.

If you, like I, "like" Latin jazz this is your album. It's as hip as anybody and it has that total groove going! Get in and ring in the new year with killer tracks.

Alex Brown, Pianist: Engaging Latin Jazz Progressive-Style

Alex Brown, young piano fire-starter, seems well on the way to a long tenure as a Latin Jazz adept, with instrumentality, leadership and conceptual-compositional flair. His first album, Alex Brown, Pianist (Paquito 4552) bears this out. It's a program of mostly Brown originals and the spark is there, from Brown and some choice sidemen.

Altoist Paquito d'Rivera, with whom Brown has had an important association, "presents" this recording and adds his alto to the brew. Warren Wolf's marimba, Ben Williams' contrabass, Eric Doob's drums, Vivek Patel's fluegel, and Pedro Martinez's Latin percussion grace the proceedings, some in and some laying out on occasion.

Danilo Perez may suggest himself for comparison. Like Perez, Brown is working on the expansion of the Latin Jazz sound to include modern jazz elements, further rhythmic sophistications and a piano style that includes some of the developments that McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Chic Corea have worked out for themselves over time. That is only to say that both pianists are of their time and have listened to what has been going on on their instrument.

But Brown is still Brown, a musician moving onward to his own turf and bringing a vibrant compositional-ensemble sound to the forefront. And in the process there is some serious burning going on!

If you like Latin Jazz you should definitely check this one out. Alex Brown is headed somewhere and we can go along for the journey.

The Black Butterflies and "1 de Mayo"

First off, pardon the silence of several days. My internet connection disappeared in a windstorm on Wednesday and I could not get it repaired until Saturday. It was a sober reminder of how dependent we all have become on technology. No matter. I am back.

Today, a good one from a group that calls itself The Black Butterflies. Said unit is a seven-person outfit playing an appealing mix of Latin and modern contemporary jazz.It has moments of freedom and moments of groove. Never does it sound slick or contrived.

1 de Mayo (self release TBB001) is their first. A dual horn front line of Mercedes Figueras (soprano, alto, tenor) and Tony Larokko (same) can fan flames (as in their version of "Afro Blue") or run the melodic variations against a Latin groove. There are two originals each by Mercedes and Tony. The tunes are not without interest and each sets up a good blowing scenario. Dan Tepfer plays appropriately idiomatic keyboards with some push.

What I like about The Black Butterflies is their refusal to take the polite road. This is jazz with the Latin and post-bop fire that gives you plenty to like. Oh, and the rhythm section (two Latin percussion, acoustic bass, drums) kicks some tail too. Recommended.

Paul Austerlitz, His Bass Clarinet, His Brand of Latin Jazz

Paul Austerlitz wrote a book on meringue that I think I should read. He plays the bass clarinet, its aurally rotund brother the contrabass clarinet and the tenor sax in distinctive ways. He leads a varied group of musicians through a very hip Latin jazz program on his new album Journey (Innova).

There is some recitation of poetry (by Michael S. Harper), and it's worth hearing (and that is saying much; think of some of the not-so-great poetry one can hear in the context of these sorts of projects). His music combines Afro-Latin percussion and a polyrhythmic approach with a post-Trane-Tyner-Pharoah-Sanders sensibility that works quite well.

And there's much else going on. Like for example a merengue version of Sonny Rollins' classic "East Broadway Rundown!" There's an Indian classical sort of number with bass clarinet acting as the solo instrument, there's a traditional Yoruba-Cuban chant adapted for a modern approach. There's no shortage of inspiration.

It's all good. It's the sort of thing I like to hear. Paul can play and he has a discerning composer's-arranger's sense of how to meld disparate sources into something new. Highly recommended.