Walk All Ways

Jazz and other forms of instrumental music first started exploring Latin, African, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms and melodies in earnest in the 1940s and '50s, first as a novelty, then as the kitschy style now known as exotica. By the '60s, as black and Latino communities started exploring their cultural heritages, the music got more serious, and by the advent of "world music" as its own section in the record store in the 1970s, these musical styles were simply more ingredients to throw into the stew. Elements from all stages of that musical history are woven through Daniel Barry's Walk All Ways, a most enjoyable blend of jazz improvisation, vintage film scores, modern chamber music, and various ethnic musical forms. There's a playfulness to Walk All Ways that keeps it from being merely a po-faced exercise in ethnomusicology: Barry's gutbucket cornet solo at the opening of "Nini's Dream" almost sounds like a parody of 1950s hardboiled crime film soundtracks and "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue." But the cornetist and his midsized band (six members, plus special guests) aren't merely playing with exotic rhythms; the Latin and Afro-Caribbean elements are fully integrated into Barry's soundtrack-like version of modern jazz on tunes like "Fuga Bembe" and "Mighty Urubamba." Walk All Ways is a self-assured, multifaceted delight. Also: bonus points for not only employing a full-time accordionist, but also giving him something to do in every song.