Search - Bobby Matos & Afro-Cuban Jazz Ensemble :: Chango's Dance

Afro-Cuban/Latin Jazz L.A.-style

Melissa | Puerto Rico | 09/16/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a work of greatness. Little-known outside of die-hard salsa circles in Los Angeles and New York, timbalero Bobby Matos has played and recorded with Tito Puente and Machito's orquestra, among others. He is not a "showoff"-type player, preferring to guide the ensemble rather than solo on top of it. It is a big ensemble on this session, with two trombones, sax, piano, and many great percussionists (including Ray Armando, also an alumnus of Tito Puente's group). There are lots of Afro-cuban influences to be found here, from the call and response conversation between saxes and trombones on the title track, to the bata drum conversations ("Bata Interlude" and "Yeza Interlude"), and the other percussion interludes. There is a charanga, "Oiganlo Interlude/Son Numero Seis", with an interesting narrative interspersed between chorus vocals (the narration is more like a poetic affirmation of Cuba's close ties with Nigeria/Benin/and Togo tribal roots). Clearly the band has jazz chops to burn, and they show them on a Miles Davis/John Coltrane Medley of "So What/Impressions". This is an overlooked Afro-cuban, Latin jazz masterpiece of the mid-nineties."