Customer Reviews

Codes

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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!

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.