Kenya Revisited Live!!!

We Say...

Review by Britt Robson

Bobby Sanabria continues his relatively recent emergence into the vanguard of Latin jazz bandleaders with this revelatory refreshing of the 1957 recording, Kenya. The original piece was performed by the seminal artists (and Sanabria mentors) Machito and Mario Bauza with their Afro-Cuban big band; it was conceived late in their career, and was meant to piggyback on the crossover success that was being enjoyed by Tito Puente. Sanabria has added the flair and sophistication of a half-century of jazz evolution without sacrificing any of the original's lusty propulsion, tailoring the piece to exploit the scholarship and obscure the limited improvisational skills of the Manhattan School of Music students who comprise much of the band.

The best individual performers are the percussionists, including master conguero Candido, who performed on the original Kenya and who proves he's onstage for more than nostalgia during the title track, "Wild Jungle" and "Tururato"; the constant excellence of drummer Norman Edwards stand out, as does Sanabria's own trampoline-like timbales on "Conga Mulence." Trumpeter J.J. Kirkpatrick chips in a nifty solo with mute on "Blues A La Machito," and altoist Justin Janer holds his own in the saxophonist role originally filled by Cannonball Adderly. But the updated charts — especially from fortysomething trombonist Joe Fiedler, who does not perform here — are the collection's abiding virtue. Check out the trombone jamboree on "Frenzy," the mambo break in "Holiday," and the new sonic upholstery on Chano Pozo's classic "Tin Tin Deo." Bottom line, Kenya indicates that the qualitative leap forward Sanabria took with Big Band Urban Folktales was no flash in the pan.