ZohoMusic.com - Latin Jazz With A New York Vibe

After producing over 50 albums for other artists in Puerto Rico, Colombia and the U.S., participating as pianist-arranger in more than 100 recordings and writing music for feature films, theater and television, as well as jingles and video games, Israel Tanenbaum is stepping out with something more profoundly personal on Impressions.

“I’ve dedicated my entire professional life to writing for others and helping others become who they are or reach whatever it is that they’ve managed to reach,” said the Bronx-born, Puerto Rican bred musician who spent ten productive years in Colombia as a producer-composer-arranger-player for Orquesta Guayacán, Checo Acosta and Alfredo De La Fe, among many others. “I’ve produced so much music for so many artists and that’s been fulfilling to me. And now at this stage of the game, I’ve decided, ‘It’s about time you do something for yourself.’”

Leading a talented crew of players who hail from Cuba, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and New York City, Tanenbaum creates irresistible mambos, danzons and descargas that showcase his refined arrangements and typically uncommon choices while also revisiting his musical roots and rekindling some nostalgic memories along the way. “I’ve got all this stuff bottled up inside me,” said Tanenbaum, who has worked with such renowned salsa and Latin jazz artists as Pete “El Conde” Rodríguez, Juancito Torres, Marvin Santiago, Dave Valentin and Alfredo De La Fe and also played in popular groups like Batacumbele, Zaperoko, and Roberto Roena’s Apollo Sound, where he served as musical director for two years. “I know that one album isn’t going to resolve everything but I would eventually like to put everything out there.” Impressions is a big first step.

Making up the core of The Latinbaum Jazz Ensemble are first-call NYC bassist John Benitez, who hails from Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, Brooklyn-born conguero Richie Flores, who was raised in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico and played alongside Tanenbaum in Grupo Batacumbele and Apollo Sound, timbales player Tito De Gracia from Villa Palmeras, Santurce, Puerto Rico, percussionist Roberto Quintero from Caracas, Venezuela, in-demand drummer Tony Escapa from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Bronx-raised drummer Francis Benitez (bassist John’s son). Tanenbaum’s inventive arrangements are enhanced by the use of vibraphones (Daniel Neville, Christos Rafalides), flutes (Oriente Lopez, Andrea Brachfeld), trumpets (Jonathan Powell, Orlando “Batanga” Barrera), trombones (Angel Subero, Willie Alvarez, Xito Lovell, Edilberto Liévano); and saxophones (Felipe Lamoglia and Julio Flores).

Impressions kicks off with the alluring guaracha Strange Destiny punctuated by tight, brisk horn arrangements and incorporating a wordless vocal choir of Diana Serna, Gustavo Rodriguez and Daniel Silva. Julio Flores turns in two outstanding sax solos here — one on soprano over the pianist’s sparse comping, the other a burning alto solo over the churning montuno section, followed in succession by heated solos from trombonist Liévano and trumpeter Barrera. “This is a Latin jazz version of a ballad which I composed when my father passed away called ‘Let Me Go,’” recalled Tanenbaum. “That was a liberating tune for me. My dad was a huge fan of Latin music and of my stuff, too, which was really nice. And so I felt that this piece was a fitting way to honor him.”

Hot Bridge, a persuasive salsa groover with an infectious percussive undercurrent, is augmented by some intricate unisons from the horns (trumpeter Powell, tenor saxophonist Lamoglia, trombonist Subero) alongside vibraphonist Rafalides and flutist Lopez. Tanenbaum offers both a sparkling piano solo and a scintillating synth solo on this invigorating number while Subero adds an inspired solo of his own on trombone. Tanenbaum acknowledged the subliminal influence of salsa icons Eddie Palmieri and Tito Puente on this lively number. “I fell in love with Palmieri’s La Perfecta sound when I was a kid,” he recalled. “I thought it was just such a crazy way to use trombones, to be as aggressive and raw as that. And the Tito Puente influence is heavy for anyone who came up with Latin music.”

Prime Flight is an engaging cha cha with winning solos from the composer on piano, Neville on vibes and Flores on conga. “This is one of the few tunes on the album that actually goes back to the harmonic progression after the solos,” he explained. “The others are more specific. They don’t go back to the head but rather move on to new sections.”

Another Life, an introspective piano interlude that was improvised on the spot, harkens back to Tanenbaum’s beginnings with the instrument. “As a kid in Puerto Rico, I used to hang with a couple of guys from the music store that I worked in. One of them was the piano teacher in the store and the other was the piano tuner. The piano tuner had this beautiful Danemann piano in his apartment. We’d go to this guy’s house and play on that piano from eight or nine at night until the sun came up. And this was right at the time when Keith Jarrett had released his Köln concert album, where he plays everything improvised. And I fell in love with it. I thought it was such a great thing to be able to sit down and play without having a piece of paper, because I didn’t know how to read at the time. And so Keith Jarrett was my savior. Like, ‘Really? I can do this?’

“So we would take turns on that Danemann piano and every time it was my turn, I would just improvise. And some incredible ideas and things came from that early experience.” Regarding his improvised solo piano showcase here, Tanenbaum said, “It’s not virtuosic like a Gonzalo Rubalcaba or a Danilo Perez. It’s not highly complex, it’s very simple. I didn’t sit down and write out a melody The fiery descarga Mambo Raro gives everybody in the group a solo taste (first Flores on alto sax, followed by Alvarez and Subero on trombones, Neville on vibes, then Tanenbaum on piano). Meanwhile, its infectious rhythmic undercurrent