Wayne Wallace - The Nature Of The Beat '2008

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Mis Amigos
02. Jeru
03. Serpentine Fire
04. Fascinatin Rhythm
05. No Esta Complicado
06. Besame Mucho
07. Come Running To Me
08. Unchain My Heart
09. That Walk
10. Oshumare


Jazz trombonist Wayne Wallace has been steadily moving up the ladder as one of
the premier players on his instrument, and merging more so to the Latin jazz
idiom. Hes a fine arranger and bandleader too, talents that should not be
overlooked. For this program, Wallace asserts his melodic common sense by
leading out many tunes, stirring up a large horn section, and infusing his
personal dynamism that will rival any of his heroes and influences. His
background in playing pop music also shows up, as he covers tunes by Earth, Wind
& Fire and Ray Charles. But the straight Latin and jazz tracks fully display
what Wallace does best. The sizzling montuno original ¡No Esta Complicado! is
fronted by the trombonist, setting off chirping and chattering horns in the
backdrop. A clave beat sustains the orisha inspired Oshumaré in a nice,
melodic understated groove during five minutes of marvelous music that
inexplicably is faded out prematurely. Theres an expansive take of Herbie
Hancocks Come Running to Me (spelled correctly on the inside booklet, but
nonsensically Coming Running to Me elsewhere), an amiable cha cha version with
flute, brass, and electric piano. Melecio Magdaluyo is the wondrous flute player
and fluid alto saxophonist on the date, and his light shines brightly
throughout. His flute sweetly coalesces with Wallace on the very slow version of
Bésame Mucho, while his alto solo leaps over the Latin funk of Mis Amigos and
That Walk. Veteran saxophonist Ron Stallings is here as well, playing
outstanding baritone sax on the spicy but low-key, deep take of Gerry Mulligans
Jeru, a great idea for the soloist and the other horns. Stallings is on tenor
and vocals for a timba funk version of Unchain My Heart which is all too
unremarkable. An overbearing vocal on the straight 4/4 Fascinatin Rhythm,
highlights an inconsistency with this CD. Mixing and matching really excellent
Latin jazz with mundane funk flaws the overall product, no matter the influences
involved. Wallace is an extraordinary trombone player and improviser, of that
there is no doubt. The band, including Magdaluyo, Stallings, timbales master
Michael Spiro, the great percussionist John Santos, pianists Frank Martin and
Murray Low, and bassist Paul VanWageningen are all truly outstanding.
Unfortunately, songs like Serpentine Fire do not do the program favors, and the
occasional vocal coro or synthesizer add-ons are unnecessary. A relatively good
effort overall from Wallace, it still has many very bright moments, at least
four hot tracks, and a clear vision for the future.

Wallaces recent placement in DownBeat Magazines Critics Poll has gotten the word
out about his virtuosity as a trombonist, and on The Nature of the Beat,
(available digitally now; hard copies out August 19 on Patois Records), we hear
him stretch out on an eclectic mix of tunes. Latin classics such as Besame Mucho
find their place next to jazz standards like Fascinatin Rhythm, here recast in a
afro-cuban timba style. In addition to four Wallace originals, the disc features
tunes by Earth Wind & Fire, Herbie Hancock, Ray Charles, and Gerry Mulligan, all
reframed in Wallaces scintillating Latin arrangements. Wallaces enduring love of
Afro-Cuban music brings us another soul-stirring disc that celebrates the
universal rhythm of life. As Wallace puts it: The lure of the drum is difficult,
if not impossible, to resist. The Nature of the Beat is the second part of a
trilogy that began with Wallaces critically acclaimed 2007 album The Reckless
Search for Beauty. Both discs highlight the multi-faceted nature of his musical
vision by bringing together three genres of music from the Americas - Jazz,
Latin Jazz, and R&B - and joyfully celebrating their interconnectedness. The
disc opens festively with Mis Amigos, a Wallace original that features bristling
percussion, energetic vocals, and sparkling brass lines. Fantastic solo turns by
Wallace, Melecio Magdaluyo on alto sax, Frank Martin on synthesizer, and Louis
Fasman on trumpet increase the excitement. On Jeru, a Gerry Mulligan tune from
Miles Davis groundbreaking album The Birth of the Cool, Wallace pays tribute to
the sound that eventually came to be known as both Cool Jazz and West Coast
jazz. Wallace slightly changes Mulligans recipe by substituting Post Horn for
French horn, and Wagner Tuba for Trombone; in honor of the composer, Ron
Stallings takes a beautiful bari sax solo here. The Earth Wind & Fire hit
Serpentine Fire receives an ingenious re-working from Wallace and Michael Spiro
in a hard-grooving homage to the brilliance of E.W.F. and its leader/drummer
Maurice White, whom Wallace got to watch first-hand in the studio while playing
on the E.W.F. album Touch the World. To honor the themes of universal love and
mystical spiritualism that E.W.F. embraced, Wallace presents a tri-lingual
version of the song, with lyrics sung in English, Spanish, and Yoruba, a
West-African language. Wallace takes a blazing solo here, while vocalists
Claytoven Richardson and Orlando Torriente sing with soulful exuberance.

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