Label: Sunnyside Records, 2021
Personnel - Pete Rodriguez: trumpet; John Ellis: tenor and soprano saxophone; Luis Perdomo: piano; Ricky Rodriguez: bass; Rudy Royston: drums.
Fast-rising star trumpeter Pete Rodriguez, who was raised in the Bronx and Puerto Rico and now lives in Austin, Texas, convenes a powerful quintet that shows undeniable chemistry across 11 originals. Although channeling optimistic vibes, the compositions resulted from challenging real-life episodes.
The group’s elasticity is promptly felt on the uplifting “50”, a contrafact on Coltrane’s “Moment’s Notice” that served to commemorate Rodriguez’s 50th birthday. There’s killing synchronous playing between bassist Ricky Rodriguez and saxophonist John Ellis as well as wonderful contrapuntal polyphony with the bandleader involved. The nimble, eloquent soloing - by Ellis, Rodriguez and pianist Luis Perdomo - occurs over exciting tapestries with swinging motions, transient pedal-point vamps and other exuberant rhythmic details.
Vouching for a strong modal flair and an exceptional odd groove, “Abraham” begins with solo trumpet and advances into a witty sax-trumpet-piano interplay that glistens and shimmers. Perdomo then switches to keyboards, announcing a new passage and a contrastive ambiance.
Rudy Royston’s high-quality drumming is critical for the kinetics of “El Proceso”. Anchored with a firm pulse, this piece showcases the sharp, wide-ranging trumpetism of Rodriguez, and then is softened up with a mellower soprano sax statement, ending with a latin-infused vamp for the drummer.
A vamp in six concludes “Mi Ritmo”, a grooving number whose theme - with parallel piano/sax melodies alternating with equally parallel trumpet/bass - is a nod to Monk and Parker as bop lines mix with some angularity. Here, bass and drums provide a churning swinging blast with minimal accompaniment from the piano. This combination of straight-ahead jazz with crisp modernity also comes to life on the hectic, uptempo “FU John” and the bracing “Obstacle”, which is based on saxophonist Gigi Gryce’s “Minority”. The infectious locomotion inflicted to the latter piece and most of the album’s tracks comes to an appeasement during the velvety-textured “Triple Positive”, a song with a soul-jazz bend written for a close family friend who passed away from breast cancer.
It’s impossible not to react to what these players have to offer, and Rodriguez, whose father was the salsa singer Pete ‘El Conde’ Rodriguez, demonstrates to have much more under his sleeves than just Latin groove.
Grade B+
Favorite Tracks:
01 - “50” ► 02 - Abraham ► 08 - Obstacles