2005-02-26 / 13:23
VICTOR DE DIEGO GROUP
This is not his first recording , either as a leader or as a sideman in other people’s projects, but it is the first time that he gives free reign to his jazz instincts. The album contains a number of classic references and many tracks may sound familiar upon a first hearing, since the repertoire featured here is wonderfully accessible (whatever happened to good commercial music?), although genuinely authentic. Or perhaps we could even omit the ‘although’. There was a time in which labels such as Blue Note or Prestige churned out hit after hit for the ‘relative masses’, and this album contains something of that naive beauty. Listen
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Musically, Victor shows his penchant for the hardbop school from the end of the 50s and beginning of the 60s. Needless to say, this album lacks neither soul nor groove. The repertoire is fresh and indicative of a prior process of simplification. A few more minutes in the oven may not have been amiss, but this sense of urgency has its own charm. In short, the group is currently touring live and the tracks are bound to be even more dynamic on stage, since this music seems to be designed to be heard live (jazz, by definition, should always have this quality, something which brings it closer to its roots in the ‘question-answer’ songs of the cotton fields!). In this sense, the least technical offering, Oraindik Ametsetan, is a miracle of optimism even in its most introspective moments, and a faithful portrait of this new Victor de Diego.
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DENDA
