Call it “Salsa,” “Latin” or “Afro Cuban,” just keep playing it! Here are two releases from Patois Records that will liven up any party, or at least make you cruise the boulevard with a little extra pride. Percussionist Michael Spiro has been nominated for a ton of Grammy’s and this latest one might just win it for him. Along with guests Wayne Wallace/tb, Kevin Bobo/marimba and Liam Teague/steel pan, he leads a highly percussive and rhythm team of Mike Mixtacki (are all these guys Greek?), Joe Galvin/perc, Jamaal Baptiste/key, Jeremy Allen/b and Joel Tucker/g as well as ahorn section of Pat Harbison/tp and Nate Johnson/ts. The punchy percussion and clipped horns create infectios grooves on “Ritmos Unidos” whle the three p art “Ochun Suite” mixes Afro Cuban hand percussion, guitars and folk vocals to make you feel you’re out in a mountain village. Even better are the covers of a couple jazz classics; “Road Song” mixes swinging guitar, horns and an avalanche of percussion while Wayne Shorter’s “Water Babies” have winding saxes and vocal choruses and more percolation than Cuban coffee!
The two disc Salsa De La Bahia is the second volume of a sampler of the Bay Area latin jazz scene. Wayne Wallace’s Latin Jazz Wuintet has a swinging team of percussion and horns, but everything here hits as hard as a right cross. Pacific Mambo Orchestra’s “La Ambicion” delivers a 2 round KO, while Azabache’s “Montuno Street” is a fun fiesta of sounds. Timbales move around faster than jumper cables on Bobi Cespedes “Un Mensaje A Lola” and the horns chop like a machete in the Peruvian jungle on “”makayla’s Mambo” by Estrellas De La Bahia. Brass shines on “Que Viva Chango” and calluses develop from hitting the congas on Pete Escovedo’s “Muito Obrigado.” Tons of rich tenor and baritone vocals with macho deliveries fill the air with passion as well. This one’s a keeper.
Patois Records