Chembo Corniel Latin Jazz Quintet Entertains Todd Barkan on His Birthday!

Roberta on the Arts

Chembo Corniel Latin Jazz Quintet Entertains Todd Barkan on His Birthday!

Chembo Corniel Latin Jazz Quintet Entertains Todd Barkan on His Birthday!

- Jazz and Cabaret Corner

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Chembo Corniel Latin Jazz Quintet
(Chembo Website)
Chembo Corniel on percussion
Ivan Renta on tenor saxophone
Enrique Haneine on piano
Carlo DeRosa on bass
Vince Cherico on drums
Special Guests: Grady Tate on vocals
Freddy Cole on vocals
John DiMartino on piano
Oriente Lopez on flute
Hector Martignon on accordion

At
Frederick P. Rose Hall
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola
Broadway at 60th Street
NY, NY
212.258.9595
(Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola Website)
Todd Barkan, Artistic Administrator
Scott Thompson, Press

Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
August 13, 2007

This CD release event (For the Rest of Your Life) for Chembo and his band coincided for the warm and jovial birthday party for Todd Barkan, Artistic Director of Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. Todd’s lovely wife, Ilene Glick Barkan, personally invited me and other guests, and the extra feature was hearing this superb Quintet, plus surprise performers. But, prior to the set, Todd’s staff rolled out an enormous birthday cake, and the entire Club celebrated Todd’s special day along with Ilene and her guests.

The set began with new age-inspired sound, slowly building to wild momentum. Enrique Haneine held the interior piano strings for extra effect, before the keyboard soared with propulsive power. Chembo was on four congas, in full control of this Latin-infused piece, adding maracas and musical mischief, as Ivan Renta fused a smooth sax to this dynamism. Carlo DeRosa added richness with his bass talent. Hector Martignon joined in on accordion, for the second piece, and he is certainly an artist to watch. Martignon plays with persuasion and passion, with a hint of Piazzolla. The magnetic moment came with Chembo riveting the crowd toward his fascinating conga rhythms. Chembo never rushes, but keeps the beat driven and devilish, always leading toward an explosive result. Martignon and Renta soon played a blended and smooth theme, soaring with the mellow embellishments of Chembo’s percussion.

The guest for the third piece was Oriente Lopez, on flute. The music began with the congas and echoing flute. Melody abounded, replete with clavé and brimming with pulse. Both flute and sax combined in this Salsa-infused music, and the heat was on. For the next piece, Grady Tate, who was reviewed at Dizzy’s in July 2006, came to the stand and crooned a bouncy It Might as Well be Spring. John Di Martino, reviewed at Dizzy’s this March 2007, backed Grady on piano with spunk and personality, using improvisational technique. Grady sang with full-throated lyrics, switching keys in tight timing with the band. Di Martino played with further expression and scintillating solos.

Full Latin Jazz returned, with Renta back on sax, and the music fused brass and percussion, with a lot of help from Vince Cherico on drums, taking Dizzy’s by storm. For the next piece, still Latin Jazz, Chembo left the stage to generously feature his trio of drums, bass, and piano. DeRosa took a solo theme and contrasted it to Haneine’s rapid piano work, with Cherico’s percussion adding a sharp beat, before a full drum solo, metal, sticks, and all. For the encore, the renowned vocalist, Freddy Cole, sang Goodbye, in a soothing wrap-up to a sensational CD-Birthday-Latin-Jazz event. Check the Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola Website for future dates and artists.