40 Years of Cuban Jam Session

by Scott YanowDespite its title, this CD does not offer one a sampler of Cuban jams of the past 40 years but it does contain a recent session featuring 25 of the top Cuban expatriates. Organized to a large extent by altoist Paquito D'Rivera (who is only actually on six of the 11 selections), these performances utilize a wide variety of instrumentations. Carlos Gomez has a vocal, there is a laidback feature for Jose Silva's tenor, Juan Pablo Torres takes a couple of impressive trombone solos and, on "Descarga Para Banda Y Combo," there is a humorous blending of circus music, Dixieland and a boppish blues. With D'Rivera in fine form on alto and clarinet during his appearances, this is a continually interesting and stimulating set.