This album is a collaboration between vibraphonist Stefon Harris, trumpeter Christian Scott, and tenor saxophonist David Sanchez, recorded in Havana with Cuban musicians, including pianists Rember Duharte and Harold Lopez-Nussa. It's not a Latin jazz album, though; these guys are primarily interested in moving classic hard bop into the future with infusions of hip-hop sensibility and groove, and that aesthetic permeates Ninety Miles, though there are occasional keyboard montunos and plenty of conga-driven rhythms to be heard, particularly on the album's peak, the hard Afro-Cuban/New Orleans funk workout "Congo." In a way, Ninety Miles is a puzzling album, because it doesn't seem to be making any explicit political statement; it's about the artistry, and nothing more. Christian Scott is a blazing young trumpeter in the Clifford Brown mold; Stefon Harris, who came up under Greg Osby, is keenly aware of the vibes' traditional position within jazz, and makes the most of that; David Sanchez is a powerful saxophonist with a flair for melody over muscle-flexing displays of lung power. And that's all they really want you to take away from this album. It's a blowing session that just happens to have been recorded in Cuba, with Cuban musicians backing them. Which, in its way, is a political statement, if an oblique one. But the album is well worth hearing on purely musical grounds.
by Phil Freeman
Tracklist:by Phil Freeman
01. Nengueleru (Duharte) 5:04
02. E'cha (Torres) 4:17
03. City Sunrise (Sanchez) 6:47
04. The Forgotten Ones (Sanchez) 3:53
05. Black Action Figure (Harris)6:21
06. Congo (Duharte) 6:30
07. And This Too Shall Pass (Harris) 9:28
08. Brown Belle Blues (Harris) 5:00
09. La Fiesta Va (Torres) 5:46
Personnel:
Vibraphone – Stefon Harris
Tenor Saxophone – David Sanchez
Trumpet – Christian Scott
Tracks 1,6,8:
Piano, Vocals (6) – Rember Duharte (1,6,8)
Electric Bass – Osmar Salazar
Drums – Eduardo Barroetabena
Bata, Congas, Percussion – Jean Roberto San Miguel
Tracks 2,3,5,7,9
Piano - Harold Lopez-Nussa
Bass - Yandy Martinez Gonzalez
Drums – Ruy Adrain Lopea-Nussa
Congas, Djembe, Percussion, Bata (4) – Edgar Martinez Ochoa
Ninety Miles
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