jazz2love

Album:  Unidad Artist:  Aguankó Label:  Self-Released Website:   https://www.aguanko.com Cuban bop or Cubop is not only the moniker of percussionist Alberto Nacif's dormant Latin group through the 1990's but it is a type of musical style in the jazz spectrum that is recognizable and easily persuades the body to move along to its rhythmic stride.  Think of the theme song from the TV program Sex in the City , composed by Douglas Cuomo.  Nacif tweaks percolating romps with woodwind and brass threading that finesses the Cuban-fermented bop style to a sophisticated vintage. Aguankó's 5th effort, Unidad , is filled with original Latin jazz arrangements. The recording features the core members of Aguankó, all coming from the halls of the Detroit area jazz scene.  Hitting it off with the spicy mambo-clad furls of "Kintsugi," the track is fraught with tingling percussive beats.  Followed by the cha-cha chassis mooring "Discurso," having an immediate e...

Album:  Wide Awake Artist:  Adam Glaser Trio Label: Self-Released Website:  www.adamglaser.com An assortment of standards like Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's timeless tune "My Romance" and Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox's classic pop song "I Got A Name" move alongside originals inspired by masters like Igor Stravinsky and Robert Schumann on Adam Glaser Trio's latest release Wide Awake . Led by pianist Adam Glaser, the trio is rounded out by Pete Coco on bass and Chris Smith on drums. The trio string together a collection of varying tempos from waltzes to sambas. Latin flavors are sprinkles throughout the recording, sprucing up the orchestral components and offering a gentle sprint in the rhythmic patterns.  "If You Don't Mind" is a prime sample of the trio's use of Glaser's Latin-tinged keys, which enliven the rhythmic beat to a warm samba.  The waltzing strokes of Glaser's keys along "November" bring out the glisten...