NEFF IRIZARRY

CAMBIO (CHANGE)

Blue Canoe Records

Neff Irizarry, guitars/composer; Martin Fabricius, vibraphone; Jimmy Haslip, bass; Ricardo Padilla, percussion.

Right away I find myself caught up in the rhythm of this music.  Ricardo Padilla’s percussion antics slap happiness all over my listening space.  The vibraphone of Martin Fabricius perpetuates the Latin arrangements forward in a soothing, yet energetic way.  Neff Irizarry has composed all this music and he leads the way, bringing his guitar magic stage-center. His first tune is called “Adelante (Come Forward).”  This is a vibrant Latin jazz journey that celebrates the comfortable merging of guitar and vibraphone.

Neff Irizarry pays homage on this album to his Afro-Cuban, Latin jazz guitar style, offering us eleven original compositions that display his mastery on guitar.  “Cuatro Minutos” (that translates to “Four Minutes”) shuffles across my room next.   Irizarry follows in the footsteps of Pat Metheny, Steve Khan and Jim Hall, while wrapping-up his individual style. He has packaged Latin arrangements comfortably inside Contemporary jazz.

Irizarry is the author of books on Latin jazz guitar. He is proficient, not only as a contemporary Latin jazz artist, also as an educator.  His music reflects Puerto Rican influences and a Nordic cool called “Sisu.”  He is featured in the European Real Book (Sher Music Co., 2007), allowing him to join the ranks of lauded European composers of Latin jazz.

The one tune on this album not composed by Neff Irizarry is called “The Rain Song.”  It begins with chord changes sounding very much like the Beatles tune, “Something in the Way She Moves,” but quickly becomes its own unique melody.

“El Swing de La Finca” (Farm Swing) makes me want to put on my dancing shoes.  On “Hija Mia” (my daughter), Irizarry has arranged a slow melodic original song to float over a Bolero beat that moves like an Afro Cuban double-time beneath Irizarry’s guitar.  Martin Fabricius makes a very beautiful statement on vibraphone during his expressive improvised solo.

Another favorite composition of mine is Neff Irizarry’s “Lluvia” that translates to ‘rain’ and “Vitamina R” adds zest and energy to this project, breaking away from a moderate tempo approach that seems to stretch comfortably from tune to tune.  I needed this ‘pick-me-up’ piece, with Jimmy Haslip’s bass line accompanied by drums taking a brief solo. Haslip co-produced this project.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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