Search - Layla Angulo :: Live at The Triple Door

Hot Latin Grooves With Style And Passion

Music Man | Los Angeles, CA | 06/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love this CD! I've seen Layla with her sextet at a club in Seattle and she definitely rocked the house and at the end of the night she literally sent people dancing out into the street. But when I heard her with her 11 piece orchestra -- wow -- she really knocked all of us who were listening to it out! (It also sounds awesome in a car CD, but please, don't start dancing while driving on the freeway ;) )



What's great about this live recording is the ENERGY and sheer love of the music you can feel from Layla and her talented group of musicians. You can really hear her leading the band, keeping them tight, and pumping them up and pushing them to the next level.



Plus, as a great musician herself -- man, can she play that sax -- she knows when to pull in her guys, and then let them go and wail on their own solos, letting them fly into places you rarely hear Latin Jazz go.



The songs -- and she wrote almost all of them -- are so CATCHY, they stick in your head for days. I especially like the opening song, "La Noche Del Tambor" "Tus Manos" "La Rumbera" and there was one song that I thought would be perfect for Mark Anthony, "Que Te Valla Bien Sin Mi" -- it had some "pop" to it, but never compromised the real Latin rhythms going on.



I think Layla and her band are on their way to something big! I can't wait to hear what her next studio album is going to do.



"