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David Sánchez colors his music with a 'Latin tinge'

Ed Morales

May 18, 2008

When Jelly Roll Morton, who played a pivotal role in inventing how to play jazz piano, spoke of using a "Latin tinge," he was referring to a certain rhythmic pattern called the habanera, that crept into his style. Eighty or so years later, we can speak of the Latin tinge in more metaphorical terms, since "Latin" music has become so intertwined with jazz and other American pop music. Sometimes it's not even the most dominant aspect of a recording artist's trajectory.

Take David Sánchez, jazz saxophonist from Puerto Rico, whose new album, "Cultural Survival" (Concord Picante) has just been released. One of the tracks that jumps out is "Adoración," a classic Eddie Palmieri tune from 1973. While the original is one of those anthemic salsa jams that could last 20 minutes in live performance, Sánchez's version is tightly controlled, at times understated and languidly intense.

Sánchez spends most of "Adoración's" 9 1/2 minutes engaged in a furtive dialogue with new collaborator, guitarist Lage Lund. The effect is part Pat Metheny, part muscled-up Stan Getz, and Adam Cruz's drumming pushes the track to frenetic heights. It's as if Ismael Quintana's original 1973 vocals were reconstructed into a series of discrete, well-chosen phrases: "Eres tú mi vida/Pienso en ti todito el día" (You are my life/I think of you all day).

Then there's the wistful "Ay Bendito," which roughly translates to "Oh My Gosh," and is well-known as the quintessential utterance of the average Puerto Rican. One says "ay bendito" to express compassion for someone else's problems, or to acknowledge that there but for the grace of God go I. Sánchez's saxophone strikes that melancholy but hopeful tone, while Lund picks away at West Coast chords that narrate the details behind the song's story arc.

"La Leyenda del Cañaveral" is the studio version of the live piece Sánchez premiered at Carnegie's Zankel Hall last fall. Based on a poem by his sister, the 20-minute mini-symphony finds the root of the blues, bebop, cool jazz and mambo as it pays tribute to those who worked the sugar cane fields. To Sánchez, the music he's playing is moving forward, perhaps in circular pulses, tracing the same experience he revisits in his cover of "Monk's Mood."

Just as Jelly Roll Morton felt a Latin tinge in a rhythm he translated through his piano, that tinge finds its ways into the lyrical brilliance of Sánchez's work, waiting to be discovered by his listener and his musical descendants.

CRUCIAL SONIDOS

Bassist/vocalist/composer Esperanza Spalding, who describes herself as "Welsh, African-American, Skokomish [Native American] and Hispanic" is, at 23, on the verge of jazz stardom. I first saw her playing stand-up bass for Spanish flamenco guitarist Niño Josele at the Village Vanguard last year, and this week she's releasing her self-titled debut on Heads Up International. Aside from her considerable skill at her instrument, she has an enchanting voice and writes ambitiously quirky love songs. In addition to tightly produced contemporary jazz she offers here, there is a Spanish rendition of Johnny Green's "Body and Soul" (Cuerpo y Alma), a Baden Powell cover "Samba em Preludio" and a guest appearance by Horacio "El Negro" Hernández on drums ... The Yosvanny Terry Quartet plays the Zinc Bar (212-447-8337) Tuesday and Wednesday ... Albita plays SOB's (212-243-4940) Thursday.

E-mail Ed Morales at sonidoslatinos@edmorales.net.