ARTIST: Luis Munoz
TITLE: Of Soul And Shadow
LABEL: Pelin
GENRE: Jazz
BITRATE: 191kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 47min total
RELEASE DATE: 2007-08-21
RIP DATE: 2007-08-24
TRACK LIST
1. Paso A Paso 6:41
2. Verde Mundo Infinito 4:51
3. La Semilla 4:50
4. Al Silencio 5:45
5. Luz Del Sur 1:42
6. La Verdad 4:43
7. Mas Alla 6:38
8. El Vedado 3:56
9. Paz 5:21
10.Adam's Dream 3:06
RELEASE NOTES
On his fourth CD and second for his own indie label Pelin Music, the versatile
and innovative pianist, percussionist and composer Luis Munoz again spreads the
melodic, densely rhythmic joy across Latin America (he's a native of Costa
Rica), Brazil, the tropics and -- during those cool, more traditional jazz
moments -- the innovative streets of New York. While ensembling seamlessly and
energetically with longtime cohorts like Nico Carmine Abondolo (acoustic bass),
Randy Tico (bass), Tom Buckner (saxes) and Adolfo Acosta (trumpet), Munoz also
invited some exciting new guests to the sessions near his home in Santa Barbara,
CA: Rßmses Araya (RubΘn Blades), trombonist Ira Nepus (Diana Krall) and hot NYC
saxman David Binney. With those talents surrounding his own melodic invention
and use of fanciful percussion instruments, Munoz could easily overpower the
listener, but he gets off to a more subtle start, with Gilberto Gonzalez's
graceful acoustic guitar melody over an hypnotic keyboard harmony -- and then
John Nathan's jumpy island marimba kicks in, followed by Binney's intense sax
solo. Munoz opens "Verde 'Mundo Infinito" with a taste of home, sampling the
Costa Rican rainforest for a moment and then duetting with himself on percussion
and marimba as a prelude to a snazzy brass-driven Latin jam. "La Semilla" keeps
the percussion and horns maneuvering behind Jonathan Dane's lyrical trumpet
melody; then, just as the party gets going, Munoz offers a moody surprise on "Al
Silencio," a trio piece enhanced by Ron Kalina's chromatic harmonica; he goes
the same route on the lush and dreamy "Mas Alla," a dedication to his wife. On
the quickie interlude "Luz del Sur," Munoz fashions a new hybrid one might call
"surf rock/country/tropical music" with the help of Bill Flores on pedal steel.
"La Verdad" is multicultural in a different way, with South African flavored
rolling guitars and horn accents behind Andy Zu±iga's Spanish vocals. The fun
part of indie jazz projects like these is that there's no corporate power to
answer to that might question the artistic wisdom of a haunting orchestral piece
after a mariachi-spiced dance tune. With this collection, Munoz takes the
concept of eclecticism to a whole new and exciting level.