One of my guilty pleasures is Latinized versions of jazz standards, and the team of Calle Loize do it with extra picante’ seasoning. This album catches the band in a concert setting in Puerto Rico (where else?!?_ and the rhythm team of Jimmy Rivera/b, Tony Batista/B, Mark Monts de Oca, and percussionists Ivan Blevis, Candido Reyes & Javier Oquendo sizzle like cooked rice and onions on pieces like a simmering “Stolen Moments” and “Dolphin Dance”. The horns include trumpeters Melvin Jones and Godon Vernick, with some hip muted tones on “Well You Needn’t” and “Old Folks” while Xavier Barreto’s flute floats on over the sublimely simmering “Seven Steps To Heaven” and “Dolphin Dance”, pulsed along by Andre Avelin’s guitar. This session is a V8 engine of a cruiser on Saturday night.
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