Nelson Riveros - The Latin Side of Wes Montgomery

Nelson Riveros - The Latin Side of Wes Montgomery - Zoho Music

New York guitarist Nelson Riveros provides a Latin accent on seven of Wes Montgomery's compositions and two originals. Riveros is joined by Hector Martignon (piano), Mark Walker (drums), Andy McKee (bass), and Jonathan Gomez (percussion) for this different twist on Montgomery's music. This project took place after he played a gig that involved performing some of Montgomery's songs. The gig inspired Riveros to reimage Montgomery's music in a Latin American style. Riveros said, "I started to hear all kind of rhythms, bass lines, and melodic variations to some of his tunes. The next day, I started writing arrangements, and this very project began to take shape." 

Riveros is an impressive player and does provide an imaginative gloss to the Montgomery compositions. He and pianist Martignon stand out throughout with fresh inventions. The rhythm section on this recording is top-flight. "West Coast Blues" may be the only arrangement that the Latin coating on Montgomery's loping blues doesn't completely jell to these ears, yet his fleet, sophisticated playing still sparkles. "Jingles" is a terrific, briskly paced performance with sterling piano along with Riveros' mix of single notes runs, octaves, and chords. Riveros' original, "Nelson's Groove," is inspired by "Wes' Tune," and he mostly employs octaves during the bridge. His interpretation of "Wes' Tune" has one of his most inspired improvisations, including his use of octaves. Bassist McKee takes a robust solo on this number.

There are standout renditions of Montgomery's "Road Song" and "Four On Six." The album closes with a lovely, relaxed unaccompanied performance of "Leila," played on a nylon-string guitar. It caps an auspicious and outstanding Zoho Music debut for Riveros that also is an excellent tribute to Wes Montgomery.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is "Road Song."

Douglas Olsen 2 Cents

Douglas Olsen
2 Cents
Self-Produced

Veteran trumpeter Douglas Olsen makes his recording debut as a leader with "2 Cents." A mainstay on the New England scene, Olsen's trumpet and flugelhorn are joined on this recording by Dino Govoni on alto and tenor saxophone, Angel Subero on trombone and guiro, Yaure Muniz on trumpet, Tucker Antell on tenor saxophone, Tim Ray on piano, Dave Zone on bass, Mark Walker on drums, and Ernesto Diaz on congas. These musicians are heard in differing configurations on a program of nine bop and Latin jazz tunes that include a couple of bop classics and Olsen's originals.
 
Olsen's "Tailwind" is an uptempo quartet number that allows the composer to showcase his crisp, bright tone with some fiery playing before Ray takes a hot solo with Zone and Walker adding a crisp groove. Govoni adds tenor sax for the relaxed, strutting groove of the title track, with bassist Zinno taking a solo on a number with the mix of polish and fire that was characteristic of the legendary Clifford Brown-Max Roach quintet. "Critical Mass" is a first-rate straight-ahead hard bop performance with Olsen and Govoni memorably soloing and trading phrases. Olsen's flugelhorn shines on a lovely ballad, "Una Para Ti." The energetic "Passage" is another strong hard-bop quintet performance.

On Dizzy Gillespie's "Algo Bueno" (aka "Woody'n' You"), Angel Subero, Year Munizt, Tucker Antell, and Diaz replace Govoni on this terrific Latin jazz performance. Besides his interplay with Olsen, Subero adds plenty of heat with his trombone solo. Fats Navarro and Howard McGhee collaborated on "Boperation," which is played at a slower pace than usual and spotlights Olsen and fellow trumpeter Muniz.

Kudos to Douglas Olsen for his compositions, superb playing, and leadership of the first-rate musicians heard with him. The result is this outstanding recording.

I received my review copy from a publicist. It is available as a download (and perhaps CD) from bandcamp, https://douglasolsen.bandcamp.com/album/2-cents. Here is a performance from Douglas Olsen.