BOBBY SANABRIA - BIG BAND URBAN FOLKTALES (2007)
Bobby Sanabria
- Arranger, Drums, Marimba, Vocals (bckgr), Choir, Chorus,
Handclapping, Producer, Vibraphone, Executive Producer, Vocal
Arrangement, Mixing, Concept, Soloist, Screams, Caja, Percussion
Arrangement, Shouts
Peter Brainin - Kazoo, Sax
(Soprano), Soloist
Kevin Bryan - Trumpet,
Kazoo, Lead
Justin Davis - Trumpet,
Kazoo, Soloist
Joe Fiedler - Trombone,
Arranger, Kazoo, Soloist, Trombone Arrangement, Lead
Alex Hernandez - Kazoo,
Vocals, Bass (Acoustic), Soloist
Gene Jefferson - Choir,
Chorus
Ricardo S. Pons - Flute,
Kazoo, Sax (Baritone), Vocals (bckgr), Choir, Chorus, Handclapping,
Soloist, Prayers
Christian A. Rivera -
Conga, Kazoo, Vocals
Ray Santos - Arranger
Tim Sessions - Trombone,
Kazoo, Soloist
Charenée Wade - Vocals,
Scat, Soloist
Chris Washburne - Arranger,
Kazoo, Trombone (Bass), Soloist
1. 57th St. Mambo 2. Pink 3. Since I Fell For You 4. D Train 5. El Lider 6. El Ache De Sanabria En Moderacion 7. Besame Mucho 8. The Crab 9. O Som Do Sol 10. Blues For Booty Shakers 11. The Grand Wazoo 12. Obrigado Mestre
more tracks can be heard on Vinilemania's Radio Channels
Review by Patricia Albela courtesy LA Jazz Scene
New York-based drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, bandleader and educator Bobby Sanabria greets 2008 with a Grammy nomination for his superb <it Big Band Urban Folktales it>. Each of the CD’s cuts tells a story from urban New York and the result is a multi-layered gem, raw and sophisticated, earthy and spiritual at once.
The opening “57th Street Mambo” is an Afro-Cuban/Puerto Rican jazz fusion. After Sanabria’s Afro-beat intro, the piece, which features its composer Michael Philip Mossman in a soaring trumpet, goes from mambo, cha-cha-chá and charanga, into a bomba bridge. The irreverent “Pink,” a “son funk-tuno” in a twelve-bar blues harmony, means to evoke some of the Bronx’s females’ sexy, hip-swinging strut. In this Chris Washburne’s composition, meowing trumpets, grunting trombones and irresistibly dissonant montunos by eighteen-year-old pianist Yeisson Villamar over Sanabria’s groovin’ drums are the brand mark. The hard-hitting mambo-jazz “D Train” exudes New-York attitude in its symbolism of a subway ride, and features trombonist Tim Sessions, trumpeter Andrew Neesley, and tenor saxophonist Jeff Lederer.
“El Aché de Sanabria en Moderación,” a funky cha-cha-chá with fiery horns, which heats up into a double-time rumba for the bridge and ends in bembé, is a tribute to the music’s African roots and spirituality. Ray Santos and Joe Fiedler’s arrangement of Buddy Johnson’s “Since I Fell for You,” which vocalist Charenee Wade interprets with utmost soul, is one of the CD’s two boleros. The other one is Jeremy Fletcher’s spellbinding arrangement of the classic “Bésame Mucho,” masterfully interpreted by singer Hiram Ramón.
Sanabria and Fiedler push the music forward with their co-arrangement of Frank Zappa’s “The Grand Wazoo,” a highly energetic rock, blues and classical concoction. Sanabria also crosses Afro-Caribbean boarders to include the Brazilian styles, through his choice of two Hermeto Pascoal pieces. The band’s artful interpretation of “O Som do Sol,” which begins and ends with a lullaby and a straight ahead jazz waltz, goes into bossa nova with a cuica and a 7/4 funk mambo samba, after an undercurrent of Afro-Cuban bembé finds its way into the mix. The CD closes with Pascoal’s “Obrigado Mestre,” the first-time recording of a dazzling jazz ballad.
