Search - Trio Mundo :: Rides Again

Music of great warmth and joie de vivre

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 10/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When will the bounty of glorious world jazz end? Never, I hope. Some of the smaller independent jazz labels such as Zoho, Sirocco, High Note, Sunnyside, Meta, Justin Time, Cuneiform, and ACT just seem to keep churning out jazz beat of the highest order.



That's certainly the case on this disc. Trio Mundo (Manolo Badrena, drums, percussion, nylon-string guitar; Dave Striker, guitar; Andy McKee, bass; and guest Steve Slagle, soprano and alto sax and flute) here delivers a recording of transcendent lilt in an Afro-Latin lingua franca of the highest order. Pure sunshine filtered through some ur-tribal jazz vibe is what we've got here.



Badrena's the key. His wild assemblage of standard drum kit and world percussion, wielded with absolute assurance across an incredibly broad range of Latinate percussive moves, sets the table for the vivacious rhythmic groove that grounds these pieces. Bringing in guest Slagle, long an associate of Stryker, on saxes, was a brilliant move. He seems to have absolutely assimilated the deep Hispanic vibe that's all over this recording.



Recalling Egberto Gismonti at his most controlled freneticism (some of the cuts from, esp., "Sanfona" come to mind), Rides Again is Afro-Latin jazz of the highest accomplishment.



Do check it out."