Alex Garcia's AFROMANTRA - UPLIFTING SPIRIT (2006)
Ole Mathisen (Sax)
Pablo Vergara (Piano, Rhodes & Keyboards)
Waldo Chavez (Bass)
Aryam Vazquez (Perc)
Alex Garcia (Drums & compositions)
Guest musicians:
Manuel Valera (Piano & Rhodes)
Desmar Guevara (Piano)
Jorge Fernando Rodriguez (Guitar)
Jorge Castro (Sax)
Jorge Bringas (Bass)
Yordamis Megret (Vocals)
more tracks can be heard on Vinilemania's Radio Channels
courtesy www.descarga.com by Peter Watrous
Another great, serious Latin jazz project from Alex Garcia, a
drummer originally from Chile, via Havana and New York. The music,
furious at times, sounds as if it were only possible with a
foundation in New York. Garcia’s a tremendously intelligent composer,
one who brings modern classical ideas of composition into a bed of
Afro Cuban rhythmic impulses, all blended with jazz practice. The
group, mostly a sextet or quintet, just sounds new, with two horns
working over an intensely interactive rhythm section of piano, bass,
drums and percussion. The dynamic variety jumps on you, moving from
almost gentle danzón to group improvisations that roar, verging on
free improvisation. Manuel Valera, the gifted Cuban pianist shows up
on several tunes, playing Fender Rhodes. The saxophonist Ole
Mathisen tears up the pieces; this is modern Latin jazz at it’s
intelligent, driving best.
Highly Recommended. (Peter Watrous, 2007-02-06)
