At long last, Latin jazzman Johnny Blas is back with a new recording, his first in the 21st century. It has been eight years since King Conga, almost a decade since Mambo 2000, and almost 11 since his debut for Cubop in 1997 with Skin & Bones. Those records, with their quartet of trombones (one of them played by Dan Weinstein, who was the band's musical director), electric guitars, violins, claves, and flute along with Blas' killer congas and other percussion, set some new standards for Latin jazz in the 21st century. That ...
Read More
At long last, Latin jazzman Johnny Blas is back with a new recording, his first in the 21st century. It has been eight years since King Conga, almost a decade since Mambo 2000, and almost 11 since his debut for Cubop in 1997 with Skin & Bones. Those records, with their quartet of trombones (one of them played by Dan Weinstein, who was the band's musical director), electric guitars, violins, claves, and flute along with Blas' killer congas and other percussion, set some new standards for Latin jazz in the 21st century. That said, all three of those recordings were of a piece, in a sense. They were all solid (actually, Mambo 2000 was simply killer), innovative, and using earlier forms while simultaneously reinventing the wheel. Indestructible Spirit is a complete shift from his previous catalog. Blas has not only taken the reins in his new group, he is, along with bassist Jeff Hawley, co-producer. There are nine tunes here, all but two of them written by Blas. For starters, four trombones have become two -- Steve Johnson and Leonard Luna -- and sometimes even one. Weinstein is absent (though he is represented by one of his tunes). Pianist Ryan Prior is now a core part of the band's sound -- and he plays a Rhodes as often as an acoustic piano. Blas has also picked up the saxophone (a soprano) again for the first time in a decade, and plays it on two cuts. Ray Zepeda plays soprano on one and tenorist Paul Clark appears on another. Of course, Blas' conga is everywhere, and timbales and coro are almost as ubiquitous as well. In addition to bass, Hawley plays cuatro and coro, and even does some drum programming on a couple of cuts.Sound like a mess? Hardly. Indestructible Spirit is a reinvention to be sure, but first and foremost it's a Latin jazz record cut for the 21st century. The record swings hard in places, is funky throughout, and never stops grooving whether on an uptempo mambo or a jazz ballad with layers of percussion. While the opener, "Oaklands Mambo," is pure trademark Blas -- with trombones in the front line with his congas and timbales moving around them and the drum kit -- the popping, loping bassline by Hawley and Prior's piano are something else. The music digs into the heart of jazz, pointillistically exploring the beat, playing counterpoint to the congas and the drum kit. It's a killer track that makes sense as a 12" single, and is a great candidate for remixers. "Puerto Rico Rico" is where the Rhodes makes its first appearance, alongside the cuatro and coro. It's a mellow, grooving, soulful cha-cha, but the Rhodes and bassline move it somewhere else. The comping that Prior does, with both hands, illuminates the rhythms and even serves as their anchor when Hawley plays his solo on the cuatro, which moves across single-line playing by everyone from Pat Martino to the blues before Prior lets the Rhodes shine in his own solo. "Lubi" is another burner. It's a salsa jam opened by the dual trombones before Hawley's bass brings it right down to the funk. This is tough yet futuristic Nuyorican salsa that sizzles and thunders with its odd meter and Afro-Cuban leanings. Luna's trombone solo kicks it, wailing away into the stratosphere. So far so good, right? Then the big shock: the nine-minute smooth Latin-tinged jazz ballad "Barry Rogers," written by Weinstein. With Zepeda's soprano playing the chief melodic element, Blas spends much of the track just keeping time. If you expected another firestorm after "Lubi," this will be as shock to your system. But what a mellow toaster! It begins slowly and then begins to simmer at about three minutes in, with Zepeda just tearing it up on the soprano. Prior's Rhodes is the perfect complement here, and Blas' own congas are the spiritual heart of the entire tune. The melodic interplay is spectacular. The changes are simple, but with rhythmic invention, a lower-than-the-basement-floor electric bassline, and a Rhodes solo with wonderfully serpentine ostinato lines that knot around...
Read Less
