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Roland Vazquez - The Visitor

Roland Vazquez Band -][- The Visitor – [Roland Vazquez Music, 2010] – Review –

With a number of notable recordings under his belt over the years, California native Roland Vazquez pauses for just a moment to record another marvelous album titled “The Visitor.” Furthermore, the gifted Vazquez born in 1951 decided to become a musician after seeing percussionist Mongo Santamaria perform 1963.

As anticipated, Vazquez compositionally stayed on course culturally in the vein of Latin Jazz as he decidedly encrypts his definitive signature on seven poignant gems. Not only that, Vazquez surrounds himself with top-tier talent as he scored and arranged these wonderful pieces in the framework tailor-made perfectly for a large ensemble as the opener “Urantia” superbly illustrates his direction which was inspired by his visit to Greece.

Vazquez drumming and musicianship are noted, his prolific writing skills as expected with this record are realized through the splendid arrangements coupled here are simply breathtaking as featured on “The Visitor” features the gifted Joel Fraham on tenor and Luis Perdomo plays piano.

Compositionally, “The Visitor” as you’ll find employs an uninterrupted exchange of ideas which in turn reminds me of several projects I’ve heard from the MCG Jazz Series in recent years. Although reserve as an instrumentalist, Vazquez brilliantly encompasses his musical influences gospel, funk and R&B on the hip grooves executed on “Whirlpool.”

“Sevilla” at the five spot is my favorite piece. It undoubtedly reflects the hip qualities I personally love about Vazquez music. Whether or not you view yourself an enthusiast of small or large groups you’ll immediately notice that Roland Vazquez is an architect of bridging these principles as one integral voice to provide a challenging, emotional and enjoyable canvas of music.

Ultimately, for our listening pleasure the gifted Roland Vazquez opt to record “The Visitor.” You see, with a full deck in hand he tapped into his timeless resources and multi-task his talent as professor of music and musician to surgically withdraw from the lineage of his experiences and extracted the proper components to record and impressive template of gorgeous yet intoxicating set of music for aficionados to enjoy infinitely.

For more in-depth details about this project visit, http://www.ascap.com/network/audioportraits/Roland_Vazquez/ and listen too Roland Vazquez concept on making this wonderful and entertaining project.

~ Reviewed by Rob Young | The Urban Flux