Land of the Sun (Verve Music Group)
Charlie Haden
Released August 31, 2004
Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album 2005
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_my8HE739yr960viLDsLGUtVvgrVMsLql0
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/album/44Iqf9H7LqtyFge0fNfMZW?si=x1mrqDXyQxung_5AiX6OnQ
About:
Legendary bassist & producer Charlie Haden reunites with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, his co-producer of the GRAMMY-award winning Best Latin Jazz Album Nocturne, on Land of the Sun – another exquisitely crafted recording. A collection of beautiful ballads from Mexico, Land of the Sun focuses primarily on the compositions of Jose Sabre Marroquin whose songs are recognized as landmarks of Mexico’s popular music. Sun also features Agustin Lara’s classic “Solamente Una Vez,” a song which has been recorded by both Frank Sinatra & Elvis Presley. In addition to sax giant Joe Lovano & percussionist Ignacio Berroa (both prominently featured on Nocturne), Sun includes the addition of alto sax, trumpet, flute & guitar, resulting in a richer sound that further highlights the lyricism of these indelible melodies. Land of the Sun is another milestone in one of the most critically distinguished & popular careers in the history of jazz. From free jazz and protest songs to American folk tunes, eclecticism has been bassist Charlie Haden’s stock-in-trade. On his previous recording, Nocturne, Haden, Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, and percussionist Ignacio Berroa explored the Latin ballad tradition. Here, save for Augstin Lara’s “Solamente Una Vez (You Belong to My Heart)” (previously recorded by Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra) and Armando Manzanero’s “Esta Tarde Vi Llover (Yesterday I Heard the Rain),” Haden focuses on the work of little-known Mexican composer Jose Sabre Marroquin. Haden’s vivid and vibrant bass lines are augmented by Rubalcaba’s transcendent arrangements, featuring Lovano and alto saxophonist Miguel Zenon. Marroquin’s romantic boleros and canciones, especially “Nostalgia” and “Paola’s Song,” exemplify the softer syncopations of the Latin sound.
Eugene Holley, Jr.
Track Listing:
1. Fuiste Tú (It Was You) 6:17
2. Sueño Sólo con Tu Amor (I Only Dream of Your Love) 5:08
3. Canción de Cuna a Patricia (Lullaby for Patricia) 7:00
4. Solamente una Vez (You Belong to My Heart) 8:06
5. Nostalgia 5:40
6. De Siempre (Forever) 7:07
7. Añoranza (Longing) 3:21
8. Cuando Te Podré Olvidar (When Will I Forget You) 4:49
9. Esta Tarde Vi Llover (Yesterday I Heard the Rain) (Armando Manzanero) 6:42
10. Canción a Paola (Paola’s Song) 8:58
Personnel:
Charlie Haden: bass
Gonzalo Rubalcala: piano, percussion
Ignacio Berroa: drums, percussion
Joe Lovano: tenor saxofone (1-3, 5-8, 10)
Miguel Zenon: alto saxofone
Michael Rodriquez: trumpet, flugelhorn
Oriente Lopez: flute
Larry Koonse: guitar
Lionel Louke: guitar
Juan De La Cruz (Chocolate): percussion
Recorded December 19 – 22, 2003, at Avatar Studios, New York, NY
Arrangements by Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Produced by Charlie Haden, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Ruth Cameron
Recorded and mixed by Jay Newland
Review:
Most of the Latin jazz offerings out there seem to be focused on the
sounds of Cuba and Brazil. Charlie Haden’s Land of the Sun pulls
us into a musical trip to Mexico with his takes on a set of eight songs from
the pen of Mexican composer Jose Sabre Marroquin and one each from Augustine
Lara and Armando Manzanero.
Bassist Haden teams up once again with pianist
Gonzalo Rubalcala, his collaborator on the Grammy-winning Nocturne.
Rubalcala—a facile and fluid pianist, with a penchant for delicate beauty—wrote
the arrangements here, and proves himself a superlative artist in that arena,
too. He weaves flute, saxophones, guitars and trumpet into the piano trio sound
with an extraordinary grace and suppleness; and the individual soloists,
Rubalcala included, rise to the occasion. This music flows like a dream,
anchored by drummer Ignacio Berroa, with a good deal of subtle brushwork; and
Juan De La Cruz, who delivers a soft and succinct bubbling of bongo percussion
to the mix.
The set’s opener, “Fuiste Tu (It Was
You),” tinkles in on the pianist’s light touch, a music box delicacy in
his notes as Marroquin’s melody floats along into a slightly tart and
introspective alto sax solo by Miguel Zenon. And that sets the tone for the
sound. Gorgeous ballads delivered in a dreamy time suspension, with elegance
and grace.
This sound is a long way from my first encounter with Charlie Haden on
Ornette Coleman’s Free Jazz, that fervid, fractious, fabulous
cacophony from 1960. On Land of the Sun his bass is suffused
with a great expansive substance and insistent yet gentle and unobtrusive
weight, anchoring a work of understated, shameless loveliness strewn with
supple soloing from tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano, alto saxophonist Miguel
Zenon, flautist Oriente Lopez, trumpeter/flugelhornist Michael Rodriquez, and
guitarists Larry Koonse and Lionel Louke.
Charlie Haden has brought together a group of
first-rate musicians and a batch of elegant Marroquin songs (plus two), and
he’s made magic.
Dan McClenaghan (All About Jazz)
