It has been quite a while since I last heard an album by Mike Freeman ZonaVibe, and here we have him again taking centre stage on an album of his own compositions. He has been joined again by musicians he has worked with regularly over the years, so we have Jim Gailloreto (Tenor Sax) and Ruben Rodriguez (bass) who both played on Freeman’s ‘Blue Tjade’ and ‘The Vibesman’ albums while Guido Gonzalez (trumpet), Roberto Quintero (congas) and Joel Mateo (drums) all played on 2018’s ‘Venetian Blinds’, the last album of Mike’s I heard. I have always been fascinated by the vibraphone, whether it is being played by John “Poli” Palmer (Family) or Ruth Underwood (Zappa), possibly because I used to play bell lyre in a marching band in my youth.
Here Mike has yet again produced a series of mambo and salsa-inspired jazz numbers where he and the rest of the band are in total sync, with the brass instruments following Mike’s lead, or taking control themselves, the drums and percussion creating the beat and the bass somehow keeping everything in line so it doesn’t get too out of control. The result is an incredibly relaxed album, somehow just right for the coming Summer, and to the listeners to either relax with a smile or move to the Latin beat. It never feels forced, never rushed, and that everyone knows exactly where they need to be at all times, so there are breaks within which allows the music to breathe.
Apparently Mike is from Hell’s Kitchen, and he uses the vibraphone to continue the tradition of it being used in Latin music, and the results is relaxing and very pleasant indeed.
Rating: 7/10
Links:
https://www.jazzvibe.com/