I’m sure pianist/music director Arturo O’Farrill isn’t referring to the Baptist Church I grew up in when he talks about The Offense of the Drum on this latest release. In fact, what O’Farrill accomplishes on this ambitious release is to give a sort of musical/political/racial history of the effects of the percussion instruments. On this disc, instruments from Africa, Japan, Cuba, Colombia and Puerto Rico are included with this big band that also throws in a harpist, turntables and more things that go “bump” in the night than you can literally shake a stick at.
The music itself is quite thrilling, with some swinging saxes leading into a frenetic harp solo by Edmar Castaneda, while spoken word poetry teams with DJ Logic’s turntables mix with percussion on They Came.” Vijay Iyer’s piano on the complex but viscerally swinging “The Mad Hatter” is a wondrous piece of music, while hints of rag time to free time meld like a sauce on “Mercado en Domingo.” The almost 12 minute title piece is an educational opus, while the album closes with Donald Harrison on vocals as well as his warm alto taking you on a tour of New Orleans as only a host of the city can. Hard to knock this percussive set!
Motema Music