Dave Schumacher & Cubeye: Agua con Gas

As the name Agua Con Gas suggests, Chicago-born, New York-based baritone saxophonist Dave Schumacher and his Cubeye ensemble favor jazz with an unmistakable Latin accent. Schumacher's fourth album with the ensemble leans south of the border all the way, harbored in a sharp and buoyant rhythmic groove that suits them like the proverbial glove.

Schumacher's brusque and brawny baritone leads the way on most numbers, kindling memories of such masters of the horn as Ronnie Cuber, Gary Smulyan, Pepper Adams, Cecil Payne and Nick Brignola, among others. He is aided and abetted on the front line at various times by trumpeters Alex Norris or Jesus Ricardo, pianists Manuel Valera or Silvano Monasterios, and tenor saxophonist Peter Brainin.

As to the rhythm, it rests for the most part in the capable hands of bassists Alex "Apolo" Ayala or Luques Curtis, drummer Joel Mateo and percussionists Yusnier Sanchez or Mauricio Herrera, with Chegui Metralla's clave added on the snug and metronomic "Yambu." Their groundwork is pivotal, as rhythm lends the album its heart and soul.

That starts with the brisk and swinging "Agua Con Gas," the first of Schumacher's three new compositions. The others are the vigorous "Al Rose," written for his longtime friend and musical collaborator, Jerry Weldon, and equally robust "Amosaya," which blends jazz swing with Afro-Cuban songo rhythms. Cuber wrote and Schumacher arranged two of the album's last three numbers, "Cubism" and "Barra-Cuber," which lead to the high-octane finale, Wayne Shorter's "Prince of Darkness." Monasterios composed (and solos on) the graceful "Letters from Paris," while Valera arranged Tatá Güines ' "Yambu." One of Schumacher's favorite ballads, "The Gypsy," rounds out the handsome program.

Agua Con Gas is another strong and spirited outing by Schumacher and Cubeye, one that should be especially well-received by listeners whose jazz antennae aim southward.

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