Desde La Bahia - TT: From the Bay Area - Reseña

Latin Beat Magazine, Dec, 2000 by Jesse "Chuy" Varela

Earlier this year, the first independent presentation of the Latin Grammy Awards showed how deep Spanish-language pop now rests in the belly of recording corporate whales. An industry once regionalized by small mom-and-pop labels is now making mega-bucks and there's no turning back. Thank your lucky stars we're blessed with a refreshing alternative Latin music scene in the Bay Area fueled by great musicians and bands as well as public radio stations -- KPFA, KCSM, KPOO, KKUP, KUSF and others. Of diverse interests and influences, nothing better showcases this dynamic than the album offerings by our resident musical community this year. Who would have imagined Andean music fusing with west coast acoustic jazz, or John Coltrane performing with a Venezuelan "jaropo" twist and superb Afro-Caribbean hybrids? All this happens around us and speaks to the open minds that support the community centers that provide music and dance classes, workshops and performance spaces such as La Peña Cultural Center (which celebrated a 25-year anniversary), Los Cenzontles Mexican Traditional Arts Center, the Eastbay Center for the Performing Arts, Alice Arts Center, Freight & Salvage, Ashkenaz, Asian Cultural Center and many others. They're at the forefront of a cross-cultural revolution, helping to blur the borders and divisions that exist in this multi-ethnic community.

Azabache (AZ)

Currently, the Bay Area Salsa scene is flourishing with an estimated 30 bands playing in some 12-15 nightspots. You can literally find Afro-Caribbean dance music any night of the week, and one of the groups pulling people into the clubs is Azabache. Led by percussionist Rafael "Ray" Martínez and his lead-singing younger brother Manuel "Manny" Martínez, Azabache rose two years ago after they left Louie Romero's band (Mazacote). With a book of tight trombone-driven originals, the Manhattan-raised brothers show on this self-titled-self-produced debut that their N.Y.C. salsa and boricua roots are intact. Manny is a talented sonero with a resonate tenor voice and a bold expressive delivery. Ray plays timbal and leads the group musically. The delightful plena Batman and Spiderman is a refreshing folkloric contrast to the driving dancehall tunes like Montuno Street and Thanks For The Mambo.

Alex de Grassi and Quique Cruz: tatamonk (Tropo)

This hauntingly beautiful album is a landmark date in the melding of acoustic jazz with the instrumental indigenous flavors of the Andean Mountains of South America. De Grassi does an exceptional job creating a textural jazz feels that works with the collaborative efforts of such noted resident talents as Michael Bluestein (piano), Jon Evans (bass), Dan Foltz (drums), Ian Dogle (percussion) and Jeff Beal (trumpet and flugelhorn). But it is Chilean-born and longtime Berkeley-resident Quique Cruz who puts on an amazingly dexterous performance on the bamboo sikus and quena flutes from the Andean altiplano. The distinct melodicism he and De Grassi create intermixed with a delayed behind-the-beat swing, makes for a beautiful meditative musical experience.

Pete Escovedo: E Music (Concord Picante)

On E Music, Pete Escovedo offers us a contemporary Latin jazz effort with smooth and straight-ahead edges. Co-produced by daughter Sheila, the album was done in Los Angeles with luminaries sax and flute ace Justo Almario and pianist George Duke. With sons Juan and Peter Michael on board, the timbalero still draws from the horn-heavy instrumental fusion he helped hone in the 1970s with Azteca. On this one he reverts to his dancehall roots when the Escovedo Brothers Band ruled spots in the 1960s such as the Sands Ballroom in Oakland. The torchy bolero Sí Te Contaría brings out the one-time crooner's resonate voice. He also sings a bilingual inspirational salsa song called Praise and Worship. Escolandia says it all about the percussive talent and ability of this first family of Latin and funk drumming.

María Fernanda Márquez: Once Cuentos De Amor -- Eleven Love Songs (MFM)

The voice of María Marquez is unmistakable. With a distinguishing quiver and a range that spans a broad register, she entranced us with her offering this year of Once Cuentos De Amor-Eleven Love Songs. Drawing from the golden age of the Venezuelan bolero, she's joined by a prominent cast of Bay Area musicians. Cuando Yo Te Quería (When I Loved You) is done in duet with Omar Sosa on a Fender Rhodes piano and breathes new life to the Billo Frometa composition. With longtime collaborators Robin Lewis (guitar) and Gerry Grosz (vibes and marimba), she sends shivers down your spine on Golondrinas Del Tiempo. Jackeline Rago and percussionist John Santos join her on a couple of tunes including a bongó spoken-word duo on the Luis Pérez Oramas poem Bolero. Intimate and personal, María demonstrates she's part of an emerging cast of Latina jazz singers that include Claudia Acuña and Luciana Souza.

Andy Narrell: Behind The Bridge (Heads Up)

Nobody has done more in the United States to advance the cause of the steel drum in jazz music than Andy Narrell. His albums are popular sellers in both the straight-ahead and smooth jazz arenas. His harmonic sensibility and ability to dance over changes on the steel pans (an instrument born out of disposed steel oil drums in the English-speaking Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago) now ranks him with greats Othello Molineux, Rudy Smith and Len "Boosie" Sharp. Drawing from the pen of Pixinguinha, Ivan Lins, David Rudder, Ernesto Lecuona and Chucho Valdés, he explores a variety of grooves and sounds. His continued support of the Chabot College Panhandlers steel drum ensemble in Hayward is also a cool way to give back to a community he and his brother Jeff, along with the late Dennis Kaufman, helped cull in steel-pan appreciation.