Codes

Ignacio Berroa | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 28, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: BLUE NOTE
• ASIN: B000F9RM9S
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,761 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Dizzy Gillespie proclaimed that the Cuban-born drummer Ignacio Berroa was, "[t]he only Latin drummer in the world, in the history of American music that intimately knows both worlds; his native Afro-Cuban music as well as Jazz." His stunning debut features an international group that includes his homeboy and longtime partner, keyboardist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Puerto Rican saxophonist David Sanchez, percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo, Venezuelan pianist Ed Simon, and American bassist John Patitucci. Berroa turns Chick Corea's "Matrix" and Wayne Shorter's "Pinocchio" into complex, clave-coded Latin jazz labyrinths. Berroa's composition "Joao Su Merced" swings with Yoruba cadences and chants, and his Cubanized renditions of the Brazilian ensemble Azymuth's "Partido Alto" and Antonio Carlos Jobim's ballad "Inutil Paissagem (Useless Landscapes)" make this a pan-American affair. For those expecting Berroa to make his own syncopated statement as a leader, this stunning CD was well worth the wait. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Product Description

Codes by Ignacio Berroa

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ignacio Berroa-Codes, February 17, 2007

By 

Roger Bennett "Jazz Pacific" (Whidbey Island, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Codes (Audio CD)

First off, this album is well recorded...you can almost hear the oxygen in the studio! Musically it offers drummer extaordinaire Berroa (hey, Dizzy Gillespie didn't pick any slouches for sidemen!) a variety of settings and tempos for him and his sidemen (including well-seasoned tenorman David Sanchez and piano terror Gonzalo Rubalcaba)to take full advantage of while weaving magical musical tapestries. The original tunes, including one by Mr. Berroa himself, are strong melodically and grow on the listener with each repeated listening. Rhythmically (this is the DRUMMERS album!) they run the gamut from wistful and airy ballads, complex and twisting odd meter excursions, to driving Afro Cuban romps that will make you want to get up and shake something. And last but not least, Berroa and company give new and wonderful treatment to a couple of jazz classics, Gillespies "Woody N' You", and Wayne Shorter's "Pinnochio".

Hopefully the reader will get the opportunity to hear Ignacio Berroa and his group live somewhere, sometime soon (I recentlly heard them at Jazz Alley in Seattle, and they KILLED!). For those who may have to wait awhile for the chance however, CODES is a wonderful way to pass the time!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, May 3, 2009

By 

T. Goodrich (Fort Collins, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Codes (Audio CD)

This should be in the top ten jazz recordings of the year, not 164,237 or whatever it is this week on the Amazon list. At times I hear Weather Report or Wayne Shorter's JuJu. But it's more than that. The tunes cover a lot of territory, the musicianship is top notch and Gonzalo Rubalcaba is brilliant as always. Highly recommended.