Rating:
Genre:
Jazz
Release Date: 09/09/2003
The legendary conguero may be known as one of the modern kings of all
jazz that's
Latin, but he's also an old-school
soul junkie at heart, having grown up in southern California in the '60s; while he was learning to play
tropical Latin music professionally, his radio was full of classic
Stax and
Motown. Increasingly aware that classic
R&B songs adapt well to the jazzy
cha cha tempos that drive his ensemble,
Sanchez evolves beautifully on the new collection into a style of
Latin soul that's truly compelling. The opening track, the funky, brass-driven
cha cha "One Mint Julep," features not only the organ arpeggios of
Billy Preston, but also two of the horn guys from the
James Brown band,
Fred Wesley and
Pee Wee Ellis.
"JB's Strut" funks out with the horniest of them, but
Brown is paid even greater homage on
blues/
soul/
big-band/
Latin renderings of three of his tunes,
"Saints and Sinners," "Out of Sight" (sung with a tongue-in-cheek
Brown bravura by
Sanchez), and
"Conmigo." And while he's at it,
Sanchez invites two legendary
soul men to make things even more authentic.
Sam Moore has a blast with the sassy
"Hitch It to the Horse," while
Ray Charles adds his whimsical touch to the salsified
blues tune
"Mary Ann." The remaining question is, just where is
the Godfather of Soul himself? Hopefully, he's proud of one of the most unique tributes to him ever fashioned.
~Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide
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