Afrodysia - A Mi Tierra

Afrodysia is a new Latin jazz band based in Long Island, NY. It features dynamic vocalist Deborah Aviles and a quintet of instrumentalists who know jazz as much as they know clave and montuno. This is their debut album with Mario Cazenueve as the band's leader and keyboard player, plus backup by clarinet/saxophonist Mark Gatz, flute/saxophonist Paul Kendall, bassist Stephan Held, and drummer/percussionist Danilo Aviles. Other musicians also supplement the band with chekere, bata drum, congas and guiro. The CD has 12 tracks, four of them with vocals and a great version of Sonny Rollins' "St. Thomas." It's a great set of Latin and Caribbean music.