OCOTE SOUL SOUNDS AND ADRIAN QUESADA
El Nino Y El Sol
Aire Sol Records/Esl Music/Caroline
· After two years of waiting, this sought-after collaboration is available again.
For all intents and purposes, Ocote Soul Sounds is Antibalas front man and founder Martin Perna’s outlet for solo projects, (two more are to be released this fall), making this the perfect time to reissue El Nino Y El Sol. The hard-to-find collaboration with Adrian Quesada (band leader of Grupo Fantasma) is the Latin jazz yin to Antibalas’ afro-funk yang.
As the story goes, in 2004, while driving across the U.S. from his home in Brooklyn, Perna’s car broke down in Austin, Texas. With his car in the shop, Marcus drops in on his friend Quesada. The pair quickly start filling up the two-week auto-repair time with experiments in the studio, giving birth to the psychedelic latin jazz, afro-funk hybrid that is El Nino Y El Sol.
The spirit of fun and freedom that permeates the album is not diminished by the fact the flute riff of "Ora Como Rey, Manana Como Guey" or the bassline of "Justicia" are suspiciously similar to other things the two have put out. Instead, it underscores the fact that this is an album that grew out of one long creative jam session, perhaps influenced by countless listenings of the complete works of War. Loosely conceived as an imaginary film score, El Nino Y El Sol is an endearing and enjoyable flight of fancy.
|
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.