by Scott Watchler--

Make no mistake, Carlos Henriquez’s album A Nuyorican Tale is heavily influenced by its Latin music roots. However, there are threads of Straight Ahead Jazz, Afro-Jazz and even some Big-Band winding through the 9 songs that help broaden its appeal to a wider audience.

Bassman Henriquez’s bonafides are long and deep. The Juilliard trained Henriquez has played with all the great Jazz players —— contemporary and classic. From Tito Puente to members of the Marsalis family, to pop stars like Lenny Kravitz and Nobel Prize winning songwriters such as Bob Dylan.

The album starts out with the track "Nuyorican Soul" that sets the pace of the album. Tight Latin beats, and vocals with enough space for solid solos from the band give the listener a taste of what’s to come.

Both Bodega Groove and Latin Gemini show off the band and their ability to fuse together various styles that come together into a nice grove with Henriquez laying down a fundamental funk while flutist Jeremy Bosh provides a Latin voice to his vocals and his flute.

Henriquez's bass work and Robert Rodriguez's piano show off their Thelonious Monk influences on the aptly title "Afro Monk". The rest of the band colors the track with their own take on Monk that gives it a very fresh and new feel.

Henriquez’s A Nuyorican Tale is a great listen that shows a band in their prime and able to tackle various music styles with ease.

AAF Rating: 4/5 Trumpets