Back in 1990, pianist Mark Monts de Oca and drummer Jimmy Rivera formed a quartet at the Apple Jazz Club on Calle Loiza in Santurce, Puerto Rico, meeting bassist Tony Batista and guitarist Andre Avelino. Three decades later the quartet has reunited, adding two trumpets, flute, guiro, and two percussionists for their new recording ‘There Will Never Be Another You’. The Calle Loiza Jazz Project performs eight jazz standards, paying tribute to friends such as Puerto Rican trumpeter Juancito Torres, Dave Valentin, Mongo Santamaria, Carlos “Patato” Valdes, and Jerry Gonzalez. The album showcases Puerto Rican rhythms (played by drummer Rivera, congero Javier Oquendo, guitarist Avelino, bassist Batista, Candido Reyes on guiro, and Ivan Belvis plus guest spots for Brazilian percussionist Reinel López). It is the bass which probably causes me the most problems with this album, as Batista is an incredible musician, but his playing is often too busy, and way too high in the mix. His use of what sounds like a fretless electric bass also has a tone which just doesn’t work with the music, if it had been a double bass then possibly it would have been less instrusive, but as it is, I found my ears unfortunately listening more to his lines than the wonderful brass solos and percussion. He is often playing more melody than the piano, and I would have very much liked it to have been the other way round.
That all those involved are incredible musicians is never in doubt, but it’s just that the overall mix is heavily weighted in one direction, and I am somewhat surprised those involved didn’t correct that, and the solo on “Some Day My Prince Will Come” is the final straw – it might be stunning onstage when an audience can react to it, and the man is an absolute master of his craft, but it is just as important to know when not to play as it is to know what note is needed next. Musicians may find this impressive, but listeners such as me may well not agree.
Rating: 5/10
