AZESU featuring Orestes Vilato and Maria Marquez
A unique collection of latin standards and originals that blends exquisite vocals , rhythms from all over the americas and percussion work from the legendary Orestes Vilato.

11 MP3 Songs in this album (60:37) !
Related styles: World: World Traditions, Latin: Latin Jazz, Type: Acoustic

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Details:
Orestes Vilato, one of the giants of latin percussion called me a year ago with the idea of putting a group together. i jumped at the chance. I had not played with Orestes for over ten years after having held down the piano chair in a second incarnation of Los Kimbos(Orestes' seminal NY salsa group) in the 90s.We thought about it and decided that that it should be a small group. No big salsa horn sections . A real conjunto which would combine originals and also the gems of the Latin American songbook . Orestes wanted the material to be accessible , intimate and groovy, with flavors from all over latin america. Who to call? Maria Marquez and David Pinto were the first obvious choices. Maria , a native of venezuela, because of her utterly distinctive voice ,dark , rich with overtones of flamenco cante jondo, brazil and mercedes souse. David,who, through his work as band leader for Susana Baca, brings the rich tradition of Afro peruvian music as well as a deep understanding of salsa and jazz to the project. Omar Ledezma, another Venezuelan, was the next call. Omar , a wonderful percussionist also has a voice which has been compared to the young ruben blades. Sheldon Brown who Orestes had recorded with on another project was the logical choice for reeds. Sheldon, a jazz virtuoso and composer is equally adept at clarinet, flute and sax and learned his latin chops playing in Omar Sosa's band for 5 years. Everyone was excited to work with Orestes , given his musicality and immense reputation and we were happy to find that when we first rehearsed that we all shared a musical sensibility :a love for songs and melodies and straight up grooves presented simply and from the heart. This album is a true collaboration .David said that Azesu is a meeting of tribes. The tribes of the Americasâ¦. Venezuela, Peru, Cuba and the US. Hope you enjoy this meeting and mixing of our musical influences.