This Is Book’s Music

Bassists are the core of many bands, or at least the anchor. At least that’s what a bassist will tell you, and Gabriel Espinoza is someone who will tell you this not only face to face, but amp to face. From Yucatan To Rio (Zoho) tells the story of the music perfectly: the music sourced from his Mexican roots looking towards the world and reaching Brazil.

The songs that stand out the most are the ones with vocals, each of which are drenched in the old styles of Brazil that made a lot of those Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 albums so great. No Lani Hall this time around, but we have Darmon Meader, Kim Nazarian and Alison Wedding who bring to the speakers the beautiful sound of tropicalia. It’s Latin jazz at its very best, listen to Espinoza’s rendition of Antonio Carlos Jobim‘s “Agua De Beber” and tell me you’re not thinking of cool summer nights and Brazilian waxes. The rest of the album is borderline smooth jazz, but not completely so as the saxophone work of George Robert and trumpet playing of Claudio Roditi are impressive enough to be enjoyed by jazz enthusiasts.

This is how I see this album. The Brazilian-flavored songs are for the CD buyer, while the jazzier songs are for radio airplay,and if people are moved to buy this after hearing it on the radio, they will be immensely surprised.

An album before the album: it’s a trend in hip-hop known as the “mix tape” or “mix CD” where a collection of random songs are combined to create momentum for the big project, and in a way to test the waters in the hopes it will create a buzz. Naledge has not had a problem with any kind of buzz as one half of Kidz In The Hall. But this is different, this is an attempt at establishing himself under his own name, as a solo artist. The release of the mix CD Chicago Picasso (Major League/Duck Down) shows that he’s ready for the big leagues.

Chicago Picasso is a 20 track album that is done at a fast pace in that songs come and go, being thrown at the listener for the sake of attacking. On the album he says he calls himself a Picasso because like the celebrated artist, Naledge is about not delivering the same thing with each new song. The album has the dope hip-hop, and even features a few modern styles that some of his fans may be hesitant to believe he’s doing, but he’s doing it, and quite well. I think he’s better off with the real cuts, but if something new takes him to a new avenue, who am I to say “this is not good for him”?

Tracks like “Southside Shit”, “Futuristic Shit”, and “Standing On Sofas” bring to mind the celebration of words and wordplay, and when was the last time you could say that about any song, an album, by any rapper? I’m curious to know what this guy is molding for his proper album, because if one is to judge by this, he could easily come up with an album to set the trends for the next ten years.