ARTURO O´FARRIL & CLAUDIA ACUÑA: In these shoes

ARTURO O´FARRIL & CLAUDIA ACUÑA
Ambos são velhos conhecidos do blog e dispensam apresentação. Entre os músicos que formam a banda eu tenho 3 bons amigos: o próprio ARTURO, velho camarada das sessões de domingo da "Chico O´Farril Big Band" no "Birdland"; MICHAEL MOSSMAN, meu amigoo desde 1989, quando veio ao Brasil com Horace Silver, para tocar num Festival de Jazz em São Paulo. Michael, além de também integrar a CO´F Big Band, fazia parte do "trio de bebuns" que, depois do show no Birdland, saía pra tomar "umas e outras" em esticadas memoráveis pelos bares do Village e Litte Italy.(Os outros componentes do trio eram o trombonista portorriquenho "Papo" Vázques e - naturalmente, o locutor que vos fala...) Finalmente, meu terceiro amigo é o guitarrista ADAM ROGERS, que conheci em 2003 no "Iridium", em NY como integrante do grupo de Michael Brecker. Adam é um nome respeitado na comunidade jazzistica da "big Apple" e muito requisitado. Ainda é um "segredo muito bem guardado" que vou ajudar a revelar, postando um álbum dele, brevemente.
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ALBUM REVIEW
Singer Claudia Acuna's style has been shaped by a wide range of influences. She started out singing Chilean pop and rock along with folk and opera. It seemed nothing was off limits. Jazz came calling when she came under the spell of Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan, leading her to sit in with Wynton Marsalis, Danilo Perez and Michel Petrucciani when they visited Santiago. Acuna moved to New York City in 1995 and soon settled into a more permanent jazz scene performing at Arturo's, the Zinc Bar and Small's. Pianist Arturo O'Farrill has fused jazz and Latin music with a great deal of success. It was natural then, for Acuna and him to find common ground in the two streams. That has come to fruition on In These Shoes, which has jazz and Latin standards as well as a Van Morrison composition. Acuna grabs attention right off with her sassy, slinky interpretation of "In These Shoes." Her leaning to the theatrical, without the artifice, comes through in her phrasing on this upbeat cha-cha tantalizer which is enlivened by the coro. Latin rhythms and the tenor sax of Yosvany Terry greet "Willow Weep For Me." Acuna is lithe and emotionally deep as she gives meaning to the lyrics; an accomplished performance. The song is given greater impetus by the fluid ideas that O'Farrill brings and Terry's sturdy work. Morrison's "Moondance" is another tune that breathes freely from a Latin arrangement, with the percussion of Pedro Martinez blooding the beat. "California" is sunny and sparkles, with Acuna joyously singing with abandon backed by the chorus. Yes, it's radiant, and in that lies an irresistible call to have fun. O'Farrill's arrangements are top notch. They give Acuna the opportunity to mark her class as a singer, and also open the instrumentation to body the song with impressive melodic and harmonic streams.
(By Jerry D'Souza at allaboutjazz.com)

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Latin jazz stars and friends in long standing Claudia Acuna and Arturo O'Farrill say they recorded this album just to have fun and nothing else. They say they weren't interested in pleasing "serious jazz cognoscenti" or wanting to "ingratiate themselves with jazz purists." Well, they have come to the right jazz critic in this case because I am neither of those things. I dug "In These Shoes." The song is fun even if I didn't understand vocalist Pedrito Martinez's Spanish lyrics. I still knew what he meant. The tune is basically a friendly suggestive tease between a man and a woman who is wearing some sexy shoes (a shoe/foot fetishist's dream). Acuna, who sings in English on the cut, has a wonderful jazz-inflected voice. Though it is true that most of the album probably would not pass the "jazz smell test," this tune has plenty of Latin jazz elements to qualify.
(By Walter Kolosk at www.jazz.com/music)
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MINHA OPINIÃO: concordo com o Kolosk, quando ele diz que Claudia e Arturo gravaram este álbum "just to have fun and nothing else." Na verdade, AO´F e CA não tiveram a intenção de fazer um "disco de jazz sério" - na concepção de "seriedade" que os críticos mais exigentes demandam. Tiveram mesmo foi o prazer de se divertir com as "claves", "grooves" e "montunos" num clima alegre de "salsa". E o fizeram com muito "sabor", bom gosto e elegância. O repertório é variado, "breezy and sunshine filled", como definiu um crítico. Como dizem os nossos "hermanos": PÁ GOZAR!!!!

(*)O "latin-jazz-combo" é excelente. Merece destaque o grande baterista cubano Dafnis Prieto.
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ARTURO O´FARRIL & CLAUDIA ACUÑA: In these shoes

PERSONNEL:
Arturo O'Farrill: piano, arreglos
Claudia Acuna: voz
Michael Mossman: trompeta
Reynaldo Jorge: trombón
Yosvany Terry: saxo
Adam Rogers: guitarra
Ruben Rodriguez: bajo
Dafnis Prieto: batería
Pedrito Martinez: percusión, voces

TRACKS/FAIXAS:
01 In These Shoes
02 Vida Sin Miel
03 Paciencia
04 Cuando Cuando
05 Agua
06 Como Los Amantes
07 Moondance
08 Willow Weep for Me
09 California
10 Jibarito
11 Dime
12 La Piye.