Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #646774 in Music
• Released on: 2004-11-16

Customer Reviews

Genuine Latin Jazz
I've always considered "Latin Jazz" a pretense. Real jazz is about improvising with DEPTH and FEELING. And these two factors are often missing from fare dished out by salsa bands (the main pretenders to the title) whose soloists seem to believe that playing LOUD, the more to shatter your eardrums, and going up and down the musical scales FAST (in fact, faster than Speedy Gonzales) is what jazz improvisation is all about. And, of course, we must not forget the endless, monotonous riffing.

Tito Rodriguez at Birdland is one of the very rare examples of real Latin Jazz. With top-notch jazzmen like Clark Terry, Zoot Sims, Bob Brookmeyer (chummily billed as `Bobbie' on the cover), Al Cohn and Bernie Leighton as soloists, who can miss? These guys know their business. Their solos mesh with the music and the rhythm with warmth and emotion. And all of them are excellent--especially Clark Terry, still in his early years. My only gripe is that the rhythm section plays without time breaks--as if on auto pilot. Jazz drummers use these breaks to avert monotony and jump to greater heights at the end of the break.

But this is a minor complaint to this otherwise excellent CD. If you want to know what genuine Latin Jazz is all about, you cannot afford to miss this disc.

Tito's debut @ Birdland
The year was 1963 and Tito Rodriguez made his debut at the world famous New York jazz club, Birdland. This was a major accomplishment for Latin jazz since Birdland was considered a jazz mecca. The opening features an introduction, to those familiar with Birdland, by the man who alway's says "And now ladies and gentlemen, Birland proudly presents." The set is 60's fare, a mix of than contemporary pop tunes and standards. There is one Latin song and that is "Perdido." The enthusiastic response from the crowd makes it clear that a good time was had by all. The music is Latin jazz with a heavy influence on the jazz. Additional players sat in on this set like Zoot Sims and Clark Terry. The percussion is what sets it apart as being Latin jazz. Strong songs include the Gershwin standard "Summertime" that features nice work on the vibes. Another standard jazz song interpreted by Tito Rodriguez is Billy Strayhorn's "Take The A Train" which was made famous by Duke Ellington Take the A Train: The Best of Duke Ellington. It features a nice interaction by the various players. Many of the songs are uptempo sizlers but occasionally the beat slows down but not much. This is Latin jazz in it's embryonic stage. Recommended for Latin jazz aficionados.