“An
earnestly grooving statement from Bay Area trombonist Wayne Wallace…great.”
— Brad
Farberman, DownBeat
“Gorgeous
playing dominates along with highly inventive arrangements. Wallace’s trombone
shifts easily
from a seductive, warm ballad style to powerful statements on uptempo tunes.
Every track
offers a
surprise and plenty of chops to back them up.” — Marc Myers, JazzWax
World-renowned
trombonist, composer, arranger, and producer Wayne Wallace
has earned a GRAMMY nomination for “Best Latin Jazz Album”
for his CD Latin Jazz / Jazz Latin his seventh CD on the Patois label.
The CD, which topped the radio charts and earned rave reviews and a
place on numerous top CDs of the year lists, displays all the thrilling
interplay, melodic invention, and blazing improvisational flights that
distinguish his music. Every tune reflects the flow of rhythmic currents
between Caribbean and African-American communities. The project
features The Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet with special guests
including 77-year-old percussion patriarch Pete Escovedo and 17- year-old
rising flute star Elena Pinderhughes, plus violinists Mads Tolling and
Jeremy Cohen.
This is
the second Grammy nomination for “Best Latin Jazz Album” which The Wayne Wallace
Latin Jazz Quintet
has earned and the sixth time Wallace — a San Francisco native now splitting
his time between the Bay Area
and the Midwest where he’s a professor at Indiana University's Jacobs School of
Music — has been
nominated for a GRAMMY for one of his own projects.
"This
is a tremendous honor,” says Wallace. “All the members of the quintet and I are
deeply thankful for the
consideration of the Recording Academy, as well as the support of our families,
musical peers, and our extended
family in the community. We very much appreciate your continued support."
In a
career spanning four decades, Wallace has collaborated with a dazzling array of
artists including Count
Basie, Ray Charles, Joe Henderson, Carlos Santana, Lionel Hampton, Earth Wind
& Fire, Sonny Rollins,
Aretha Franklin, Tito Puente, Lena Horne, Stevie Wonder, John Lee Hooker, Earl
“Fatha” Hines and
cellist Jean Jeanrenaud. Wallace was a driving creative force behind some of
the Bay area’s most creative
ensembles, including the Machete Ensemble, and Anthony Brown’s Asian American
Orchestra. One of
his generation’s most eloquent trombonists, he’s been named in DownBeat polls
as a leading force on the
horn. Known to many as “The Doctor” for his production skills, Wallace is also
a lauded composer
and
educator. He heads up Patois Records, which has released a rapidly growing
catalog of acclaimed CDs.
The
Grammy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, January 26th, 2014, in Los
Angeles. For a complete
list of nominees for the 56th annual GRAMMY Awards go to
http://www.grammy.com/nominees Latin
Jazz / Jazz Latin has earned wide acclaim:
“Trombonist
Wayne Wallace and his Latin Jazz Ensemble have a well-oiled record-making
machine that seems
incapable of turning out a subpar album… Wallace's trombone recalls the great
trombone sections of the
great Latin conjuntos, while his solos have the panache and lyrical
intelligence of the late trumpeter Clifford
Brown's improvisational style.” – Jeff Dayton-Johnson, All About Jazz
“Wallace's
dazzling and spirited arrangements of both his own substantial compositions and
four jazz classics
help to make this album one of the most significant in Latin jazz so far this
year.” – Scott Albin, JazzTimes.com
Five
stars. “For the Latin jazz scene it is a pleasure to have a new piece from the
brilliant composer and musician
Wayne Wallace. This time around the five-time Grammy Award nominee brings us
Latin Jazz / Jazz
Latin, a powerful and tremendous ten-themed album where he showcases his
incredible knowledge and his
great playing, composing and arranging.” – Oscar Montagut, Latin Jazz Network
“Wallace…
seems to have concocted the right formula to keep you moving while slipping in
a little education
too. Latin Jazz / Jazz Latin is an absolute joy from start to finish.” – Stuart
Kremsky, Mr. Stu’s Record
Room
“Yet
another triumphant project from trombonist, composer, and bandleader Wayne
Wallace, whose quintet continues
to display a quality that is the holy grail of Latin jazz ensembles: the
fiendishly difficult juxtaposition
of utter tightness and rubbery looseness that makes Afro-Latin grooves
possible… Highly recommended
to all fans of Latin jazz.” – Rick Anderson, CD HotList
“San
Francisco-based trombonist Wayne Wallace had the cojones to call his latest
album Latin Jazz / Jazz Latin.
That’s okay, because Wallace has the musical talent to back it up.” – Curtis
Davenport, Jazz Inside
“If you
have a hankering for Latin music that will set you soul on fire and cause you
to dance around the house,
Latin Jazz / Jazz Latin is what you want. As he has done throughout his career,
Wayne Wallace hits all the
right notes, ably supported by his fine Quintet.” – Richard Kamins, Step
Tempest
“Horns,
percussion and danceable rhythms are an essential combination for Latin jazz.
Add to that stellar performances
from all players, including guest musicians, and a biographical sketch of each
song, and you get
Latin Jazz / Jazz Latin.” – Woodrow Wilkins, The Jazz Writer
“The
repertoire, instrumentation and even the generations of participants speak to
the whirling, cyclical energy
of the genre. A deft blend of jazz standards and originals provides the
platform for Wallace’s soaring and
soulful artistry.” – Jim Byers, Port of Harlem
“Wallace
has been perfecting the small-combo Latin-jazz vibe for many years, and each
new album is a delight.
The ensemble’s 2013 release is called simply, and accurately, Latin Jazz / Jazz
Latin. Once again, the
group displays a mastery of the various rhythms of the Latin side of their
double helix, while soulfully bringing
jazz with the other strand.” – Jeff Dayton-Johnson, KUSP Featured Album August
2013
