The broader your musical taste and imagination, the more you'll appreciate this eclectic swirl of styles, a comprehensive embrace of D'Rivera's passion for Afro-Cuban jazz, classical European composition, and the wide variety of subgenres to be found throughout South and Central America. The sumptuous array of textures begin immediately on "Waltz For Moe," which loosens its waltz structure to accommodate the dazzling strum and pizzicato of Columbian harpist Edmar Castaneda, fulfilling the Venezuelan joropo folk music tradition; the light and spongy Latin jazz vibraphones of Dave Samuels; and the French Caribbean flavor of Andy Narell's steel pans. Bassist Oscar Stagnaro arranges "Con Alma," by D'Rivera's mentor Dizzy Gillespie, with a soulfully relaxed groove that puts him on the prow of the beat. Roberto Pansera's tango, "Preludio No. 3," has a whimsical attitude covering its compositional rigor, arranged here by Argentinian trumpeter Diego Urcola as a traipse through a sidewalk cafe in the form of Hector del Curto's accordion-like bandoneon, D'Rivera's clarinet and his own buffered trumpet.

"Tojo" is the closest thing to a blowing session on Suite, with Urcola's trumpet, D'Rivera's sax and a switch from cello to trombone by Dana Leong all deserving of their spotlight solos over more pulsating… read more »