Panchito is amazing, not just in their chemistry & musicianship, the fact that they are a Latin Jazz/salsa rooted band from The Netherlands. Their leader, guitarist & composer Andre van Berlo, produced & composed all the music for this CD.
A Rotterdam Conservatory graduate in jazz studies where he first formed Panchito in the early 2000's, he also studied & performed salsa, Latin Jazz, Argentinean folklore, Flamenco, classical music, and much more. His major influences are Paquito D’Rivera, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Brecker Brothers, Ray Barretto, Djavan, Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Marillion, Mahler, Verdi, Dream Theater, Scott Henderson, Mario Bauza.
His serious passion for Afro-Cuban music really comes through his writing - it’s exciting to listener & musician alike. Put this fusion of ideas over a tight ensemble with great jazz soloists that would compete on the level & feel of a New York jazz musicians, and you have one happening CD that you’ll enjoy hitting the repeat button more than a few times.
Andre has put together a talented group of 9 younger generation musicians from Holland & Germany, with their average age of 27. Panchito’s rhythm section (guitar, piano, bass, conga, timbales, drum set) is the absolute heart of this band with a solid foundation of Latin rhythm section concepts. They’re funky, tight, expressive, spacious with out sounding empty . And that’s just on the first track! Andre does a great job writing for a balance of ensemble & solo work without slighting either for artistic development.
Resurreccion heavily features the of solo work of Holland jazz trumpeter Rik Mol, whose harmonic knowledge, flowing technique and high chops soar out of these arrangements. I highly recommend this CD for fans of Brecker Brothers, TOP, Freddie Hubbard (especially on the title track), Paquito D’Rivera & fans and anyone who enjoys the European Latin jazz fusion.
First Flight has a serious funk/Latin groove and is beautifully orchestrated. It starts out with Joost Kroon’s crisp drums solo accented with horn hits & short lines, then flows into a funk/Latin groove (with a hip pocket!) and the horn soli theme with Rein Godefroy playing an incredibly funky variation of a montuno and bassist Jeroen Vierdag hitting a TOP bass type line but STILL hitting the tumbao loping feel underneath. Trumpet & trombone introduce the theme, and much in the fashion of a mambo section is salsa, the 2nd idea is laid over the top by guitar & alto sax. The bridge has a rich harmonic flow as Rik Mol leads on trumpet, then back into the funkier groove as the horns send off Louk Boudesteijn’s trombone solo. Louk is soulful, lyrical & driving, and nails the intricate chord changes like they were a I-IV -V progression. He’s the first soloist one hears on this CD and he sets the bar high. Rein’s piano solo follows with nice harmonic & rhythmical contrast, his energy in high gear. It’s during Reins solo you really hear the drummer’s & percussionists’ chemistry. They sound like one player - no extraneous percussion sounds. Joost, Stefan Brodte & Matthias Haffner seriously understand the concept & feel of how Afro-Cuban works. First Flight sets the pace for the band, and for what a treat the listener is in for.
Lies is a dark, locrian pulled-back 4/4 Latin funk piece with a lighter Latin 2nd section in 6. Rik Mol solos with a fat, impassioned sound and a solid controlled & articulated upper register. Word has it he’s a rising jazz trumpet star in Europe. No surprise to me - check him out! An angular yet lyrical Horn soli interlude follows, which sets up Louk’s trombone solo, again effortlessly playing melodically trough the chord changes.
Minha Magia is a 5 minute piece that building in intensity. For a full 2 minutes of well paced writing before the soloist takes off. We’re set up with a samba influenced groove using cymbals, bass & electric piano to create a spacier groove, Andre leads with an intense, haunting melody on guitar with a hint of distortion over dissonant horn swells. This pushes into a NASTY Latin funk-rock groove which Rik Mol resets the mood with such round full flugelhorn sound that it took me a few seconds to determine if was him or Louk on trombone. This song really is an ensemble feature with one soloist. Andre’s concept for solos in Panchito are actually often the same as in rock or pop music; they’re used as a way to reach a climax. They are a means to obtain a goal instead of being the goal themselves. The other tracks on Panchito /Resurreccion feature soloing by alto saxophonist Kwint van Dijck & Andre that were as well crafted & uplifting as the soloists mentioned above. There is not one weak track or solo on this CD, and I’m looking forward to their next CD. I pray they make it stateside to see in person.
JazzReview.com
