Customer Reviews

944 Columbus

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Mario Bauza is one of the founding fathers of latin jazz, starting to experiment with Afro-Cuban music in the forties, together with Machito amongst others. Recognition came very late for him and he was able to record very little under his name. This is his third album in a row for the Messidor label (the first one "Tanga" is also a masterpiece), the last one just less than two months before he passed away in 1993 around the age of eighty! Still there is nothing in this album that sounds aged, on the contrary: this is some of the most sparkling fresh energizing and honest Afro-Cuban jazz ever made! And if you consider that the band consists of 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, 5 saxophones, 5 people in the percussion department, 3 background vocals and two lead vocalists, then you probably understand that it sounds really BIG! Sparks fly on this record and be sure that your feet and body will move once you hear this music. Just listen to my favorite cut "Zambia".

Why Mario Bauza is still a relatively forgotten figure in the latin-jazz mainstream is a mistery to me. This CD is one of the best showcases of latin-jazz's raw power. It's not 'over the top', like Arturo Sandoval or some of Chucho Valdes' records, and it's not 'bare-bones' like some of the albums by Munyequitos de Matanzas. It's just right.