RAY MANTILLA - GOOD VIBRATIONS (2006)
Ray
Mantilla Percussion/leader
Enrique Fernandez Baritone sax & flute
Edy Martinez Piano
Mike Freeman
Vibes
Cucho Martinez Bass
Bill Elder Drums
Special Guest: Steve Berrios Percussion
Flying Home
5:33
Midnight Sun 6:56
Maria Cervantes
5:57
For Keeps 6:59
Ya No Me Quieres (Bolero For Tito) 4:36
Blues For Queen D
5:11
Camino Al Cielo Too 6:32
Namesake 4:58
Bari Con Bata 6:59
more tracks can be heard on Vinilemania's Radio Channels
review by Karla Cornejo - courtesy www.allaboutjazz.com
On the cover of Good Vibrations, Ray Mantilla is dressed in black, as if in mourning. It seems appropriate. Two of the nine songs are tributes to the late Tito Puente, and in the liner notes, he dedicates "Bari con Bata" to "honor all our heroes of percussion who are here now and who have passed on." Good Vibrations takes a jab at the supernatural, not asking questions about life, death, the pursuit of happiness and what have you, but answering them, loudly, aggressively and with congas.
Backed by Enrique
Fernandez (baritone saxophone and flute), Edy Martinez (piano), Mike
Freeman (vibes), Cucho Martinez (bass), Bill Elder (drums) and
special guest Steve Berrios (percussion), Mantilla sculpts a record
that is simultaneously festive and solemn. It's a melodic paradox
that's ubiquitous in jazz, but Mantilla has paved new ground here.
Despite its spiritual underpinnings, Good Vibrations comes across as
a celebratory album that's elegiac in neither concept nor
arrangement. Mantilla leads the congas to contour Martinez's
dexterous dominion of the keys, creating a frothy blend of rhythmic
complexity that comes across like a delicately synchronized
seduction. "Maria Cervantes" is what lovesickness should sound like,
in all its tragic glory. There may be a time to mourn, but there's
also a time to dance—and that's biblical. Good Vibrations tolerates
no dissenting arguments.
