Jessie Marquez -[|]- ALL I SEE IS SKY [Carena Records]

Tags

Cuban Jazz, Female Vocalist, Jazz, Jessie Marquez

Being that it’s Mother’s Day Weekend, I couldn’t resist taking time to talk about this extremely talented vocalist named Jessie Marquez. Wow, what a joy to listen too her latest album “ALL I SEE IS SKY.” This recording captures the warmth, beauty and the overall sensibilities of who she is as an artist from the opening melodies of the enchanting “Dime, Amor (Tell Me, Love).” Her lyricism and impeccable style is absolutely intoxicating. Jessie’s encompassing Cuban heritage is delightful, sexy, cool and inviting. Kudos to Jessie Marquez for inviting us into her world with this gorgeous album filled with attractive and stimulating music for enthusiast to enjoy. —Rob Young | The Urban Flux

Jessie Marquez - ALL I SEE IS SKY

Jessie Marquez -[|]- ALL I SEE IS SKY -(MP3)- [Carena Records, 2011]

While a trip to La Habana might be out of range for most Northwest music lovers, singer Jessie Marquez can get you there fast and without the red tape.

Marquez has sung in clubs, cabarets, theaters, street parties, and on television and radio throughout Cuba. Her soothing vocals are a mix of North American harmony and Latin emotion that embody the Cuban genre called filin (a play on the word “feeling”).

An offshoot of the romantic bolero, filin draws from North American jazz, Brazilian bossa nova, and the Cuban familiarity with the many shades of love and longing.

Marquez, whose father was raised in Havana, grew up eating her grandmother’s Cuban cooking and hearing stories about the family’s days on the island. She first visited her father’s childhood home in 1996. Right away, she says, “there was something very familiar about it –the way people spoke, their gestures, their attitudes. I felt at home.” –Jessie Marquez | BIOGRAPHY

..:: SOURCE: Jessie Marquez.com & Two For the Show ::..

Justin Time Records Set To Release Cuban Pianist Roberto Fonseca’s Akokan

Tags

Cuban Jazz, Improvised Music, Jazz, Roberto Fonseca

Available in U.S. Stores on February 16

“Music is my life and life is my music; they are both intertwined, enriching the other.“- Roberto Fonseca

Roberto Fonseca - Akokan

The world knows well the incomparable musical resources cultivated and harbored in Cuba. But with the release of Akokan, many jazz and Latin music lovers will receive enlightenment on one of the most distinctive contemporary artists to emerge from that vibrant creative community.

Roberto Fonseca has already visited the United States on several occasions, as pianist with the Buena Vista Social Club™ and the Grammy-winning group’s legendary lead singer, the late Ibrahim Ferrer. Now, recording with the quartet he has led for the past dozen years, he asserts his own voice as a pianist, composer and facilitator of emotionally deep, intellectually stimulating performance.

Arturo O’Farrill | Song for Chico

Tags

Arturo O'Farrill, Cuban Jazz, Piano

Arturo O’Farrill | Song for Chico – [Zoho Music, 2008]

2008 Grammy Award WINNER For Best Latin Jazz Album!!! Arturo O’Farrill, Song for Chico.

By now, Arturo O’Farrill has his own following, not just those who are interested in the popular “guests” he has had on previous work. His piano range is wide, both in style and technique. This album showcases his arranging and leadership talent, as well. Anyone who enjoys the rhythms of Afro-Cuban music will appreciate the tight style of the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra that makes just listening without moving to the beat almost impossible. A deft mix of old and new tunes, including the title homage to his father, Chico, who was such a force in bring this music to the USA over half a century ago. The update on the classic “Caravan” makes a great start for the CD. Don’t miss his “Picadillo“, the best version since Cal Tjader’s. Here’s hoping that this proves the springboard for greater recognition and success. —Porterfiend

..:: Source: Amazon.com ::..

Chico O’Farrill | Carambola

Tags

Arranger, Chico O'Farrill, Conductor, Cuban Jazz, Trumpet

Chico O’Farrill | Carambola – [Milestone, 2000]

Chico O'Farrill, Carambola

With 60 years of music making under his belt, the Cuban-born composer, arranger, and bandleader Chico O’Farrill reigns as the dean of Latin jazz. After arriving in New York in 1948, he worked with Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Machito. Carambola, the maestro’s first CD of the 21st century, finds him in rare form. Old tunes like “Carambola,” “Havana Blues,” and “Crazy City (…But I Love It)” charge with a mambo-bebop fire. “Waller Exercise” is a ragtime-stride, New Orleans second-line ditty recorded to sound like a scratchy 78, while “Rhapsody for Two Islands” is a Cubop shout to George Gershwin. The timeless vocals of Graciela, the sister of Machito and wife of Mario Bauza, grace “Oye Mi Rumba.” The CD’s high points, though, are O’Farrill’s extended compositions–his 1950 masterpiece, “The Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite” with its mercurial, millennial mood, and “The Aztec Suite.” Composed in 1959, the latter is featured on CD for the first time. Both numbers indulge peppery rumbas, bebop lines, boleros, and Afro syncopation’s with the touch of a master. Trumpeters Phillip Michael Mossman and Jim Seeley, trombonist Papo Vazquez and alto saxophonist Mario Rivera add their improvisations to the mix and make this aural offering one tasty Cuban-American dish. —Eugene Holley Jr.

Check out “Afro Cuban Jazz Suite” performed by Chico and company on a clip from “Calle 54” the movie!

..:: Source: Amazon.com ::..

Cuban Composer-Percussionist Arturo Stable

Tags

African American, Cuban Jazz, Latin Music, Percussionist

Cuban Composer-Percussionist Arturo Stable – Releases CALL – October 13 on Origen Records

Arturo Stable

Arturo Stable’s new release on the Origen Records label, Call, redefines the outer limits of Latin jazz through complex and compelling original works and an outpouring of virtuosic performances by Stable and his quintet. It is the follow-up to his 2007 Origen Records release Notes on Canvas, a critically-lauded effort that featured Stable’s aural interpretations of iconic paintings by Monet, Picasso and other masters.

“I see Call as a culmination of some of the material that I started developing in Notes on Canvas,” the 34-year old innovator explains. “I see some new and positive elements in my playing that I like very much, and a cohesive sound throughout the album that I’m especially happy with. But there’s a contrast between the two albums that’s enjoyable as well.”

Call’sriveting qualities stem from Stable’s choice of musicians and how he chose to record the session. Call is a quintet outing that showcases pianist Aruan Ortiz, bassist Edward Perez, saxophonist Javier Vercher and drummer Francisco Mela, with special guest Ian Izquierdo on violin.