Arturo Sandoval
Rumba Palace

An infernal heat. Tonight it's truly an infernal heat. As always, on nights like these, Caribbean atmospheres make for a good climatic-themed sound refuge; so, after various wandering across the web and my music collection, I settled on "Rumba Palace" by Arturo Sandoval, his latest album released a couple of years ago. For those few who don't know him, Arturo Sandoval is the Cuban trumpeter endorsed over thirty years ago by His Majesty Dizzy Gillespie, who later became a sort of godfather to him. Dizzy, an old fox of Bop and Big Bands, was struck by him in Havana in unsuspecting times, as early as the '40s; indeed, Sandoval manages to skillfully and passionately blend that elegant mixture typical of Cuban orchestras of the '40s and Bop.

This album however does not sound old, but sounds very smooth. An atmosphere more akin to Cuban exiles in Miami than Cubans in Havana or some other area of the Isla Grande. The result is an album that's elegant, majestic, charming, intriguing. Sandoval always manages to find a great balance between his Latin soul and his soul forged by boopers, primarily Clifford Brown and Gillespie indeed. "A Gozar" is a very fascinating Big Band Rumba, which would sound great played in a gazebo by the sea on a warm summer evening; just like "Guarachando". The Big Band discourse sprinkled with Bop and Latin American music dominates the album, although Sandoval manages to stay completely in American territory for the time of a piece, the poignant ballad "Peaceful", which reminds me a lot of the atmosphere from the soundtrack of "Ma Quando Arrivano le Ragazze?" by Pupi Avati, composed by the trusty Riz Ortolani. After "Peaceful" comes my favorite track of the album, "Having Fun"; which is somewhat the definitive summa of the album, painted in a Fusion harmony in which Sandoval's trumpet ultimately triumphs.

A great album: rhythm section, horns, vocals, all skillfully arranged, manage to exalt the trumpet of an old fox like Sandoval. This album isn’t a miracle that will last, we're far from that, but it is a skillful album, well-produced and that won't disappoint fans of the genre.

No Cuba Libre or Mojito, I settle for a couple of beers on this late hot evening; and maybe I'll stop by his friend Paquito, but that's another story...