Rating:
Genre:
Latin
Release Date: 03/14/2006
The June 2003 reissue of late
Mongo Santamaria's 1976 album
Sofrito -- he died in February 2003 -- by
Vaya brings many questions to the fore. While the record was greeted by somewhat lukewarm press reviews at the time of its release given its preoccupation with
groove-jazz-oriented sonics and production, and was considered a minor work by many. But on compact disc and with the new look at the era's recordings by virtually everyone, from
Willie Bobo,
Willie Colón,
Ray Barretto, and other jazzmen of the time, such as
Deodato,
Lonnie Liston Smith, and
Herbie Hancock,
Sofrito is, perhaps, a timeless
Latin soul-jazz classic. Recorded in New York by
Jon Fausty with a killer band of
salsa and
jazz musicians,
Sofrito is a wonderfully mixed bag of laid-back Latin-flavored
jazz tunes such as
"Cruzan," drenched in a beautiful baritone solo by
Roger Rosenberg, with
Armen Donelian's electric piano and beautiful timbales and traps by
Steve Berrios, and
Santamaria's congas. On
"O Mi Shango," the lone traditional song on the set, killer bata drums by
Angel "Cachete" Maldonado work well in juxtaposition to the modern synthesizer and
funk backdrops. The gorgeous
son rhythms on
"Spring Song," lend it a timeless,
Nuyorican Soul-feel as an Afro-Cuban orchestra is playing it on a Harlem street corner. Simmering, shimmering,
soul-jazz harmony with gorgeous Latin percussion informed by age-old Cuban melodies and funky basslines make this one of the most beautiful tunes on the set. In all, there are no weak tracks on
Sofrito, and it offers a near-perfect view of the seamless kind of transcultural music-making that was happening at the time that so informed virtually everything in both genres now.
~Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
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