DANILO PÉREZ - Motherland (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

When most people hear the term Latin jazz, they think of a mixture of bop and Afro-Cuban rhythms -- bop mixed with son, mambo, cha-cha, guaguanco, danzón, and other Afro-Cuban styles that have been described as salsa. But Latin-flavored jazz doesn't have to be Afro-Cuban jazz; in fact, jazz is compatible with numerous Latin rhythms that didn't originate in Cuba. Technically, Danilo Pérez's Motherland is Latin jazz because it fuses jazz with Latin elements. But it isn't Afro-Cuban jazz, and it isn't the type of Cubop that people associate with Machito, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Cal Tjader, and Poncho Sanchez. Instead, this introspective, chance-taking CD finds Panamanian pianist Danilo
Pérez combining post-bop with a variety of Latin rhythms, everything from Panamanian tamborito to the samba and baião of Brazil. Pérez also uses Afro-Cuban rhythms at times, but it's important to stress that salsa is only one of the many tools in his arsenal. There is no reason why Motherland cannot be described as Latin jazz, after all, it is jazz with a strong Latin flavor. But unlike other releases by Spanish-speaking jazz artists, this excellent CD demonstrates that Latin jazz isn't necessarily Afro-Cuban jazz. by Alex Henderson
Tracklist :
1    Intro    0:45
Danilo Perez
2    Suite For The Americas - Part 1    2:55
Danilo Perez
3    Elegant Dance    5:49
Danilo Perez
4    Panafrica    4:47
Danilo Perez
5    Baile    1:57
Danilo Perez
6    Song Of The Land    5:21
Danilo Perez
7    Suite For The Americas - Part 2    5:00
Danilo Perez
8    Prayer    4:37
Danilo Perez
9    Overture    3:48
Danilo Perez
10    Rio To Panama    4:38
Danilo Perez
11    Panama Libre    6:48
Danilo Perez
12    Panama 2000    8:36
Danilo Perez
13    And Then ...    1:02
Danilo Perez
Credits :
Acoustic Bass – Carlos Henriquez, John Patitucci
Drums – Antonio Sanchez, Brian Blade
Electric Guitar – Kurt Rosenwinkel
Lead Vocals, Electric Bass – Richard Bona
Percussion, Congas, Tambourine, Maracas, Cajón – Luisito Quintero
Piano, Keyboards – Danilo Perez
Producer – Tommy Lipuma
Soprano Saxophone – Chris Potter
Violin – Regina Carter
Vocals – Claudia Acuña, Luciana Souza

DANILO PÉREZ - ...Till Then (2003) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

With Till Then, Danilo Perez pays tribute to popular composers he feels have made a difference in the world. Though the Panamanian pianist offers a few original compositions, the work of other composers -- well-known, consequential people -- is the main focus of this Tommy LiPuma-produced CD. Some of the more myopic people in the jazz world will automatically assume that if Perez is using jazz to salute popular composers, he must be thinking of Tin Pan Alley. But in fact, there are no Tin Pan Alley standards on Till Then -- no George Gershwin, no Irving Berlin, no Cole Porter, no Harry Warren. And that's just as well because as dynamic as those legends were, worthwhile popular music didn't end with Tin Pan Alley (contrary to what the Stanley Crouch/Wynton Marsalis crowd would have listeners believe). Perez, thankfully, is smart enough to realize that -- and on Till Then, he finds the acoustic post-bop possibilities in melodies by Stevie Wonder ("Overjoyed") and Joni Mitchell ("Fiddle and the Drum") as well as several Latin American legends, who range from salsa innovator Rubén Blades ("Paula C") to Brazilian star Milton Nascimento ("Vera Cruz"). Perez has long had a pan-Latin outlook -- in other words, he looks to different parts of the Latin world for musical inspiration -- and Till Then reflects that. Anyone who interprets Chico Buarque's "Trocando Em Miúdos" (another great Brazilian melody), Cuban artist Silvio Rodríguez' "Rabo de Nube," and Chilean singer Violeta Parra's "Gracias a la Vida" on the same CD obviously isn't limiting himself to any one particular area of the Latin spectrum. While Till Then is far-reaching and unpredictable, it's also focused and cohesive; clearly, Perez knows exactly what he's doing on this inspired addition to his catalog. by Alex Henderson  
Tracklist :
1     Native Soul 3'16
Danilo Pérez
2     Gracias a la Vida 4'05
Violeta Parra
3     ...Till Then 3'47
Danilo Pérez / Lizz Wright
4     Overjoyed 4'52
Stevie Wonder
5     Trocando Em Miúdos 6'36
Chico Buarque
6     Improvisation on Red 2'58
Danilo Pérez
7     Paula C 7'10
Rubén Blades
8     Rabo de Nube 3'35
Silvio Rodriguez    
9     Fiddle and the Drum 4'05
Joni Mitchell
10     Vera Cruz 9'25
Milton Nascimento
Credits :
Bass – Ben Street (pistas: 1, 4, 7, 8), John Patitucci (pistas: 2, 3, 5, 10)
Drums – Adam Cruz (pistas: 1, 4, 7, 8), Brian Blade (pistas: 2, 3, 5, 10)
Flute [Steel Pan] – Adam Cruz (pistas: 2, 10)
Percussion – Adam Cruz (pistas: 5, 10)
Piano, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Danilo Perez
Producer – Tommy LiPuma
Soprano Saxophone – Donny McCaslin (pistas: 5, 10)
Vocals – Lizz Wright (pistas: 3, 9)

CHARLIE HADEN WITH MICHAEL BRECKER - American Dreams (2002) APE (image+.cue), lossless

This overly long quartet-plus-strings session is Charlie Haden's paean to an ideal America, made during a time that was ripe for such reflections. The band, with Haden on bass, Michael Brecker on tenor, Brad Mehldau on piano, and Brian Blade on drums, is unassailably strong. But listeners could have lived without the ear-candy sheen provided by the 34-piece orchestra, arranged primarily by Alan Broadbent, with additional contributions from Jeremy Lubbock and Vince Mendoza. (Broadbent and Mendoza also penned charts for Jane Monheit's In the Sun, released two weeks earlier.) Aside from outright banalities like "America the Beautiful" and "It Might Be You" (yes, the Stephen Bishop lite-radio hit), there are some saving graces, like Keith Jarrett's "Prism" and "No Lonely Nights," Mehldau's "Ron's Place," and Haden's two originals, "American Dreams" and "Nightfall." But Pat Metheny's "Travels" goes soggy without its Midwestern guitar twang, and Ornette Coleman's "Bird Food," one of only three tracks not to feature the orchestra, is so wildly out of place that its impact is somehow diminished -- notwithstanding a vivid pedal-point interlude about six minutes in. by David R. Adler  
Tracklist:
1 American Dreams 4:50
Arranged By – Alan Broadbent, Charlie Haden
Conductor – Alan Broadbent
Written-By – Charlie Haden
2 Travels 6:44
Arranged By, Conductor – Vince Mendoza
Programmed By [EVI, Synthesizer] – Judd Miller
Written-By – Lyle Mays, Pat Metheny
3 No Lovely Nights 5:16
Arranged By, Conductor – Alan Broadbent
Written-By – Keith Jarrett
4 It Might Be You 4:52
Arranged By, Conductor – Jeremy Lubbock
Written-By – Alan & Marilyn Bergman, Dave Grusin
5 Prism 5:19
Arranged By – Charlie Haden
Written-By – Keith Jarrett
6 America The Beautiful 5:21
Arranged By, Conductor – Alan Broadbent
Written-By – Katharine Lee Bates, Samuel Augustus Ward
7 Nightfall 5:06
Arranged By, Conductor – Jeremy Lubbock
Written-By – Charlie Haden
8 Ron's Place 7:27
Arranged By – Charlie Haden
Written-By – Brad Mehldau
9 Bittersweet 6:43
Arranged By, Conductor – Alan Broadbent
Written-By – Don Sebesky
10 Young And Foolish 5:36
Arranged By, Conductor – Alan Broadbent
Written-By – Albert Hague, Arnold B. Horwitt
11 Bird Food 7:29
Arranged By – Charlie Haden
Written-By – Ornette Coleman
12 Sotto Voce 5:10
Programmed By [EVI, Synthesizer] – Judd Miller
Written-By, Arranged By, Conductor – Vince Mendoza
13 Love Like Ours 4:25
Arranged By, Conductor – Jeremy Lubbock
Written-By – Alan & Marilyn Bergman, Dave Grusin
Credits:
Bass – Charlie Haden
Cello – Anne Karam (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Daniel Smith (4) (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Ernie Ehrhardt (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Jerome Kessler (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Jodi Burnett (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Larry Corbett (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Suzie Katayama (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13)
Concertmaster – Joel Dearouin (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Murray Adler (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13)
Contractor [Strings] – Jules Chaikin (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13)
Double Bass – Charles Berghofer (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Edward Meares (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Norman Ludwin (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Putter Smith (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13)
Drums – Brian Blade
Harp – Gayle Levant (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13)
Piano – Brad Mehldau
Tenor Saxophone – Michael Brecker (tracks: 2 to 13)
Text By [Poems By] – Mattie J.T. Stepanek
Viola – Carole Mukogawa (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Denyse Buffum (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Harry Shirinian (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), James Ross (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Marilyn Baker (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Ray Tischer (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13)
Violin – Armen Garabedian (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Berj Garabedian (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Bruce Dukov (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Charles Everett (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Darius Campo (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Joel Dearouin (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), John Wittenberg (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Kirsten Fife (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Mari Tsumura (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Maurice Dicterow (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Murray Adler (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Joe Ketendjian (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Patricia Johnson (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Peter Kent (2) (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Pip Clarke-Ling (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Shari Zippert (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13), Susan Chatman (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13)

BRAD MEHLDAU - Introducing Brad Mehldau (1995) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Pianist Brad Mehldau's debut as a leader features his straight-ahead style in trios with either Larry Grenadier or Christian McBride on bass and Jorge Rossy or Brian Blade on drums. The well-rounded set is highlighted by tasteful and swinging versions of five standards (including John Coltrane's "Countdown," "It Might As Well Be Spring," and "From This Moment On") and four of the pianist's originals. This CD (which is sometimes available at a budget price) serves as a fine start to what should be a productive career. by Scott Yanow

Tracklist:

1 It Might As Well Be Spring 7:46

Written-By – Hammerstein/Rodgers

2 Countdown 4:12

Written-By – Coltrane

3 My Romance 6:23

Written-By – Rodgers/Hart

4 Angst 6:11

Written-By – Brad Mehldau

5 Young Werther 7:11

Written-By – Brad Mehldau

6 Prelude To A Kiss 10:00

Written-By – Ellington

7 London Blues 7:00

Written-By – Brad Mehldau

8 From This Moment On 6:33

Written-By – Porter

9 Say Goodbye 9:25

Written-By – Brad Mehldau

Credits:

Bass – Christian McBride (tracks: 6 to 9), Larry Grenadier (tracks: 1 to 5)

Drums – Brian Blade (tracks: 6 to 9), Jorge Rossy (tracks: 1 to 5)

Piano – Brad Mehldau