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Rarely has the well-worn phrase "Latin fire" been so appropriate. From the get go, this one’s on fire alright and it’s a result of fine tuned compositions, tightly edited arrangements, an amazing sense of pacing, and top echelon Latin musicianship. With Latin Fire, Rebeca Mauleon is looking at a Latin Grammy or something’s wrong. She has combined one of the slickest, trickiest ensemble performances in years with radio friendly material that transcends mediocre pop.
Indulge us and listen to this CD first without reading a word of the liner notes. Then when you do go to the sleeve, you’ll discover the reason you’re hearing what you’re hearing. Composer and ace pianist Mauleon has surrounded herself with the snap, crackle and pop of Latin musicians, starting with Giovanni Hidalgo on congas and hand percussion. Never a dull moment here! Hand in glove with Hidalgo is the legendary Cuban wonder kid, Jimmy Branly on drums: No stock breaks and fills from this lad. If that weren’t enough, we have the great Bill Ortiz on trumpet and Gary Brown on bass. And a stellar vocal chorus to assist Rebeca.
From the opener, "Batamambo", an up tempo grabber in which, yes, there is a strong mambo section and a lurking bata drum, sometimes rearing up in the sub woofer, it is clear that these musicians are having fun. Rebeca’s piano lays down a percolating groove that lurches into an up tempo Latin jazz. Such probing and interesting piano! Such high energy scatting trumpet! Such intricate yet ultimately anchoring conga chops—even the cowbell parts are worthy of examination! Long before the trumpet solo, we know we are the presence of greatness.
"Cuba Hermosa" is dedicated to the Cuban people. It’s a deceiving structure. We have a languid Latin funk vamp that could turn out to be a rote L.A. style love song, but there are no throw away lyrics here. It’s sung in Spanish but if you’re rusty, you can refer to the English translation. Here, appropriately, Rebeca solos on electric piano, getting the right timbre, before switching to acoustic.
Don’t put this fire out: That’s the message in "Fuego". The moderate tempo salsa tune gives us a chance to hone in on the musicians’ parts: Everywhere you look someone has invented a new way to phrase, to fill, or, in this instance, to dissolve into the solo after a brief piano montuno—so funky it gets under your skin.
On to the rumba, as in "A La Rumba". This should be required reading for music students. Here, as elsewhere on Latin Fire, there is an implicit "hipness" to Rebeca’s contributions. Speaking of hip, check out Branly’s bass drum pattern in the vamp starting around 3:17. The prevalence of such ingenious individual parts is something special.
Let yourself dance and sway with the piano intro in what could have been a stock cha cha cha, "Te Canto Puerto Rico", and you’ll tie your knees in a bind. Branly and Brown go for the wide groove and take the feel to half-time; works great and, and added plus, it allows the vocals to stand out that much more in the mix.
In "Ritmo Caribeno", Mauleon pulls out the perfect accordion patch on her electric keyboard, which she melds with an ideal horn line. Everything is effervescent here, from the delightful "mid Caribbean rhythm", sort of part Cuban, part samba. Giovanni Hidalgo, of course, is the man to navigate these waters and pull diverse influences together. It would be hard to single out any one track such as this, though, as demonstrative of his greatness. Quite simply, he shines on each composition.
"Ven Conmigo" ("come with me") is indeed an attractive incentive to follow along and get moving to the music. Very interesting: At the 1:32 mark, a piano vamp provides a bridge into a fast Cuban groove demarcated with a rock backbeat—perhaps not the usual choice, but it works like a charm. And although it’s back in the mix, Giovanni’s conga part is a compendium of Latin chops tastefully dealt.
For a real change of groove, and another dose of that implicit hipness, check out the opening rhythmic pattern in "La Ventana", heavy on all fours of the measure. The groove may be a little ambiguous, in that it owes to several Latin styles, but the message is crystal clear in the lyrics, spoken in a soft, quasi-rap style: "Don’t limit yourself; don’t be so superficial." Okay, so maybe such sensitive admonishment is not entirely radio friendly, but the Latin Grammy is still in the offing!
Dynamics are the order of the day in "Pa’ Lante" ("onward"). The lyrics are more whispered than spoken. Ortiz is in the lower register of his horn, while Branly seems to be working out some sort of samba/partide alto/jazz groove of his own devising; here his accents shadow and spar with Rebeca’s vocal phrases. Nice montuno, seven beats (as opposed to eight) to the bar, at 2:52, not that you would notice since it flows over you like a wave—typical of the understated intricacy and musicality brimming on this disk.
And we haven’t even broached the fact that if you pop this CD into your computer you’ll enjoy a lesson in Latin rhythms and an uncredited mystery track, a vocal-less version of "La Ventana".
Rebeca Mauleon’s Latin Fire is truly one of the strongest Latin CDs out there, judged in terms of concept, arrangements, execution, recording quality, and, not least, the excitement factor. Highly recommended.
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