HILTON RUIZ: MANHATTAN MAMBO

HILTON RUIZ
O precocemente falecido pianista HILTON RUIZ já é velho conhecido do blog. HILTON tocou com práticamente TODOS OS GRANDES nomes do "latin jazz", incluindo Tito Puente, com quem trabalhou por muitos anos. Este álbum, para o meu gosto, é o melhor de todos o que RUIZ gravou com seu próprio grupo.
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HILTON RUIZ
Born on May 29th, 1952 in New York City, Hilton Ruiz built his musical skills quickly at a young age. He started classical piano studies in his elementary years and performed at Carnegie Hall at the age of 8. He soon began stretching his musicality into jazz and Latin music, quickly advancing in both directions. Famed jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams worked extensively with the young Ruiz, helping him develop a strong bop repertoire. He soon started performing with Latin bands, and at the age of 14, he played on his first recording with Ray Jay and the East Siders. Ruiz recorded his first album as a leader in 1975, The Piano Man, and continued to work with a variety of jazz legends. The 1992 release Manhattan Mambo showcases Ruiz’s ability to bridge Latin and jazz worlds into a rich sound charged with New York spirit. Ruiz changes Perez Prado’s “Mambo Numero Cinco” from a pop dance number into a full blown descarga, giving saxophonist David Sanchez ample opportunity to build a strong statement. The Ruiz original cha cha cha “Home Cookin’” provides Sanchez, trumpet player Charlie Sepulveda, and trombone player Papo Vazquez with
a chance to explore soulful blues licks. Ruiz improvises furiously over John Coltrane’s “Impressions,” followed by a wildly passionate solo from Sanchez. inheriting a kind nature as a bandleader, Ruiz hands the spotlight to sideman Giovanni Hidalgo on the percussion feature “Giovanni Speaks,” recognizing the music’s percussive roots and Hidalgo’s major talents. The jazz-tinged son montuno “Sure Thing” provides colorful chord changes for melodic improvisations from Sanchez, Sepulveda, and Ruiz. The album features jazz freedom and improvisation with intensive Cuban rhythms, fueled by a band full of future Latin Jazz icons. In May of 2006, Ruiz traveled to New Orleans, planning to create an album to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. Police discovered Ruiz outside a local bar with a crushed skull and broken face bones on May 19th; after weeks of treatment, he died on June 6th. Some controversy existed as to the actual cause of Ruiz’s death; some claimed that he had been beaten while the bar declared that he suffered a severe fall. Whatever the case, the Latin Jazz world lost a major musical voice in 2006.
(Source: http://www.chipboaz.com - edited by CB)
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MINHA OPINIÃO - não sobrou nada pra dizer: está tudo aí em cima. Gostaria apenas de chamar a atenção para o "dream team" que HILTON RUIZ reuniu para esta gravação. UM COLAR DE PÉROLAS!
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HILTON RUIZ: MANHATTAN MAMBO

TRACKS/FAIXAS
1- Mambo numero uno
2- Sure thing
3- Michael·s mambo
4- Home cookin
5- Overtime mambo
6- Giovanni speaks
7- Impressions
8- Showtime

PERSONNEL
Hilton Ruiz- piano
David Sanchez-saxofón tenor
Papo Vazquez- trombon
Andy Gonzalez- bajo
Ignacio Berroa- bateria
Steve Berrios- timbales
Joe Gonzalez- bongo
Giovanni Hidalgo- conga

(*)Link para download sugerido no comentário anexo.
(**) Download link merely suggested and enclosed in the attached commentary.