I'll bet Yvette Summers and Chekere's "Live at the Jazz Bakery" is driving record store owners nuts ... at least the ones smart enough to stock it. At the base, I suppose, is Afro-Cuban jazz. But there also are heavy dollops of traditional jazz, African folk music and funk. And if you listen carefully, you'll also hear some classical influences. In many ways, the music reminds me of that of Los Hombres Calientes, a great big melting pot of a band. That's to be expected because Summers recorded with Los Hombres Calientes, adding her excellent percussionist and vocal skills.
Credit trumpet player Luis Eric Gonzalez, too. His horn chops are both lively and sensuous. (You really should check him out on "It's About Time," the new album by the great timbalero Orestes Vilató.) He has an especially tender solo on the ballad "Profundo [Deep]," which he dedicates to his wife, who'd just had a baby.
In fact, the whole band is terrific, as is the album. Whether they're playing a pulsing dance tune or a sweet jazz ballad, the music's all sensuous.
Check out this video:
CHEKERE Band
