{"id":3297,"date":"2012-01-27T00:02:13","date_gmt":"2012-01-27T08:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=3297"},"modified":"2012-01-27T00:02:13","modified_gmt":"2012-01-27T08:02:13","slug":"recent-listening-jerry-gonzalez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2012\/01\/recent-listening-jerry-gonzalez\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Listening: Jerry Gonzalez"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jerry Gonzalez Y El Comando de la Clave<\/a><\/em> (Sunnyside)<\/p>\n

Since Jerry Gonzalez changed his base of operations from New York to Madrid a decade ago, the trumpeter and congero<\/em> has worked with many\"\"<\/a> musicians while seeking a satisfactory combination of players for his own band. In Los Comandos de la Clave, he seems to have found it. This is his most stimulating album since the Fort Apache Band\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Rumba Para Monk<\/em><\/a> in 1989. <\/p>\n

In company with Cuban and Spanish players who feel rhythm as he does, Gonzalez unleashes his gusto, propensity for chancy high-wire walking and mastery of melodic improvisation. However important melody and harmony are to his conception, rhythm is at its heart. That is particularly evident on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Obsesi\u00c3\u00b3n,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Avisale a mi Contrario\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and a stunning \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Love For Sale,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but it extends to a treatment of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tenderly\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that honors the implication of the tune\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s name while imparting a soft urgency. The fullness of Gonzalez\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s flugelhorn sound is vital to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tenderly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d success, as it is to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In A Sentimental Mood,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \"\"<\/a>done primarily with percussion accompaniment and vocalese by bassist Ala\u00c3\u00adn Perez. As Gonzalez plays obbligato, the Ellington tune\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s final choruses flow through a hypnotic group vocal on the repeated word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sentimiento.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Perez now becomes one of the few electric bassists capable of making me reconsider my reservations about the instrument. The impressive Cuban pianist Javier Masso, known as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Caramelo,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and drummer Kiki Ferrer round out the basic quartet. On selected tracks, vocalist Diego el Cigala, cajonista<\/em> Israel Suarez (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pira\u00c3\u00b1a\u00e2\u20ac\u009d), and Alberto \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chele\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cobo playing clave join the band. Piquant nicknames abound in this group. When he lays down his trumpet or flugelhorn, Gonzalez\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s congas are prominent in the percussion section. <\/p>\n

For its intensity, power and variety, I would single out as the highlight Gonzalez\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and the Comandos\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 thematic and metrical development of John Coltrane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Resolution\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, but the entire album is a highlight. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I voted for it as 2011\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best Latin album in the recently released Rhapsody<\/em> critics poll<\/a>. In the video of an extended performance of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Resolution\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that just popped up on the web, the quartet come close to topping themselves. <\/p>\n