A Jazzar No Zeca

Album Review

One suspects, in hearing the trio of tenor saxophonist Jesus Santandreu, bassist Ze Eduardo and drummer Bruno Pedroso, that they normally play very adventurous music. For this CD, they stick to the compositions of Jose Afonso, tunes that are often folk songs with passionate melodies. The material keeps the musicians respectful before they engage in advanced improvising. Santandreu can play with the intensity of Coltrane while at other times he displays a slightly whimsical nature closer to Sonny Rollins. Bassist Ze Eduardo has the authority of a Charles Mingus and usually directs traffic, taking almost as much solo space as Santandreu. With Pedroso offering stimulating support, the trio often jams these songs in a free bop manner à la Ornette Coleman or Dewey Redman. Despite the name-dropping, Santandreu, Eduardo and Pedroso have individual voices of their own and deserve to be well-known in the U.S. Their interpretations of Jose Afonso's music is swinging and logical yet utterly unpredictable.