Espiritista

The Baltimore-based Rumba Club's latest album continues the band's exploration of Latin dance rhythms, but this time out the jazz influences are more strongly present. This is partly obvious from the tunes selected for the program, which include two Wayne Shorter numbers ("Children of the Night," "Infant Eyes") as well as Cedar Walton's "Mosaic" and a swinging Mercer Ellington composition ("Things Ain't What They Used to Be"). But more important is the format, which follows more closely the standard head-solos-head format of straight-ahead jazz even as it thoroughly integrates the rhythms and textures of Latin music. The title track (written by percussionist Jim Hannah and bassist Andy Gonzalez) is a duet between conga and bass that brings elements of the Puerto Rican bomba rhythm into the mix; the group's arrangement of "Infant Eyes" is slow, lush, and sweet, with congas and timbales (tymbal or kettledrums) tapping a metronomic pattern around it. The band's fiercely swinging take on "Things Ain't What They Used to Be" is based on a dizzying polyrhythmic juxtaposition of walking bass and an intricately syncopated cowbell pattern. Highly recommended.