Showing posts with label Trumpet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trumpet. Show all posts

17.1.12

All Aboard!

  
Arturo Sandoval & Y El Tren Latino
1995

Tracks:

01. Be-Bop     4:18    
02. La Guarapachanga     3:59    
03. A La P.P.     2:47    
04. Waheera     5:13    
05. I Can't Get Started     4:25    
06. MarteBelona     3:47    
07. Royal Poinciana     3:16    
08. The Latin Trane     5:15    
09. Candela (Yo Si Como Candela) / Quimbombo     4:50    
10. Drume Negrita     2:45    
11. Orula     6:01    
12. I Can't Get Started (Instrumental)     4:25 
  
Personnel:

Arturo Sandoval (trumpet, flugelhorn, piano, percussion); Celia Cruz, Oscar D'Leon, Luis Enrique, Joe Williams (vocals); Kenny Anderson, Ed Calle (saxophone, flute); Dana Teboe (trombone); Otmaro Ruiz (piano); Rene Toledo (guitar); David Enos (bass); Aaron Serfaty (drums); Manuel "Egui" Castrillo, Luis Henrique, Edwin Bonilla (percussion); Vicente Rojas, Laura Pifferver, Cheito Quinones (background vocals).
  
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Trumpet Player Arturo Sandoval of Hidden Hills, California was born on November 6, 1949, in Artemisa, a small town east of Havana in the Pinar Del Río province, home of Cuba's finest tobacco growing region, the Vuelta Abajo. Arturo's family was poor, existing on an income from his father's mechanics business. By the age of six, Arturo had a strong desire to be a musician.

Arturo began playing the congas and put together a mini-circus act with a cat on a high wire. He charged the neighborhood kids a penny to see his show. When his village organized an orchestra for local events, he joined and tried out a bunch of instruments, including the trombone, bass drum and the flute, which he didn't like because it made him dizzy. Arturo started looking at the trumpet and decided that's what he wanted to play.

The band didn't have an extra trumpet, and the family had no money to buy one; however, his Aunt bought him a Cornet. Arturo states that he started to blow the cornet and just figured it out. Arturo sought out a respected local trumpet player for some training and was rebuffed and told not to waste his time. Arturo left that meeting in tears but more determined than ever.

Amazingly, Arturo never received formal trumpet lessons. He played and practiced, but that was it. One day in 1963, Arturo saw a flyer for a scholarship program offering classical music training at the National School of Arts. He applied, and secretly went to Pinar Del Río for an aptitude exam that was mostly gauged to test his musical ear. When the telegram arrived with his acceptance, he announced to his parents that he was going to go to Havana to become a full-time musician. Arturo continued his education and musical training until he was about 16, when the government formed a big band, known as the Cuban Orchestra of Modern Music. The first trumpet in the national symphony, Luis Escalante, also was chosen as lead trumpet in the big band. The announcement energized Arturo, who had begun to chafe under the restrictions that he could only play classical music at the school. "I was dying to meet Luis Escalante," says Arturo. Escalante's hobby was fixing cars, and because of Arturo's experience helping his father, he established a connection with the vaunted trumpeter. They became friends, and finally Arturo told Escalante that he was a trumpet player, too. They started playing duets, and one day, Escalante asked if Arturo would like to take his place in the big band group. "I was speechless," Arturo says. "I told him they wouldn't let me play." But after Escalante intervened, the young Sandoval became the last chair in the trumpet section. Three years later, at the age of 20, he became the first trumpet in the orchestra, which in big band parlance meant he really became the band's leader...

read it all here
  
   
   

13.5.11

Friends

  
Humberto Ramirez & Giovanni Hidalgo
Best Friends
1999
 
Tracks:

1. San Juan Ritual
2. Celebrando
3. Hasta Decir No Mas
4. A Puerto Rico
5. Clean
6. Herencia
7. La Perla
8. Best Friends

Personnel:

Humberto Ramirez : Trumpet
Giovanni Hidalgo : Percussion
Oskar Cartaya : Bajo Sexto
Papo Lucca : Piano
Horacio "El Negro" Hernández : Bateria
Carmen Luz Quiñones : Peinado

Special Guests:

Tito Puente : Timbales

and with a very special appearance by their fathers:

Humberto "Pipo" Ramírez on Tenor Sax
José "Mañegue" Hidalgo on Congas.
  
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For Humberto Ramirez and Giovanni Hidalgo, this recording was more than a mere opportunity to reunite in a studio. It was a 'reliving' process. For two humble individuals that were both born in 1963, in Old San Juan, that grew up together, this was a recording that ‘had’ to happen somewhere down the road. More than being childhood friends, their paths have had their turns and twists, but their bond has never been touched.

After close to a decade performing with his own group (the Humberto Ramirez Jazz Project), Humberto has developed his voice, direction and vision on the trumpet and has become a respected record producer in the process. In the mean time, Giovanni's congas and percussion have recorded Grammy nominated albums (‘Hands Of Rhythm’ with Michel Camilo) and performed with world named acts (Paul Simon and Mickey Hart, among them) around the globe. These experiences, blended with the commonality of their backgrounds and brotherhood were put to the test on this historic recording.
  
    
Latin jazz is generally hot-blooded music, but a quiet fire is maintained by the music of trumpeter/flugelhornist Ramirez and percussionist Hidalgo. Not that this is salsa light; far from it. The music sports a tempura-like crust: airy, simply melodic, and spicy, but not burning. The heat does come from Hidalgo on congas and timbales alongside the exciting drummer Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, while pianist Papo Lucca and bassist Oskar Cartaya match Ramirez, step-for-calm, patient step. Just about every well established Afro-Cuban/Puerto Rican rhythm is heard during the eight cuts, five penned by Ramirez. "San Juan Ritual" sets the compact, non-threatening tone in mambo fashion. This piece and the easy cha-cha-cha "Celebrando" reserve space for Ramirez to trade fours with the Hidalgo and Hernandez cooking on timbales and drums. "A Puerto Rico" uses standard clave rhythm, closest to a 50/50 latin/jazz mix, the trumpeter's effortless lines recognizing the witty pianistics of Lucca before Hernandez steals the show with an incredible solo. "Herencia" and the title track relieves Ramirez of writing chores. The former features the hottest montuno piano on the date with other guest "best friends" Tito Puente on timbales, and the fathers of the leaders, "Pipo" Ramirez on a piquant tenor sax solo, and Jose "Manengue" Hidalgo on ripping conga drums. "Best Friends" is ostensibly a descarga between the co-leaders, Ramirez using sweet muted and non-muted trumpet to inform Hidalgo in various improvisational notions. Hidalgo wrote "Clean," a beautifully conceived, repeated piano chord sequence, heavy yet delicately balanced, based in part on the melody of "Summertime." He also penned "La Perla," a classic rumba with more repetition on the piano by Lucca, and lilting trumpet. A bomba or plena Afro-Rican motif with hints of "The Peanut Vendor," establishes with precise montuno piano "Hasta Decir No Mas," again with a percussion workout that is a common thread for the end of most bridges in these selections. There's a consistency of tempo heard throughout; nothing boils over, nothing gets too soppy slow, and nothing is boring or overtly copped. It's as if the intent is to simmer and bubble, an alluring technique that serves the participants and the listener well. A fine release from these expert musicians for the general latin-jazz public. Recommended. 
~ Michael G. Nastos
 
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I dedicate this post to all my friends out there and to YOU too :)