| |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
(www.matanza.com.au)
Matanza are a group of local musicians performing under the leadership
of saxophonist Paul Chenard who produced Hot and plays saxes on
all the tracks. It features 12 songs from various latin and Brazilian
artists such as Los Mocosos, Irakere, Airto or Edu Lobo performed
in a jazzy Brazilian vein with Cuban and funk elements.
One of the big problems with covering other people’s music
is that, unless you somehow alter the arrangements and improvisations
of the pieces and reinterpret it in an individual manner your
music ends up being compared to the original versions in a highly
critical manner.
The arrangements on Hot are competently played with pianist Mike
Pensini contributing some nice solos while Paul’s sure-footed
sax work notches up the energy level when his turn comes. Much
of the band’s playing, however is too much by the numbers
devoting excessive concern to getting the notes right at the expense
of the groove.
Even though this musical ground has been furrowed a million times
before there are still countless ways to surprise by focussing
energy and imagination on the off-beat and creating highly disciplined
interplay, coupled with enthusiasm. There’s plenty of the
latter but not enough of the former.
Carping aside, I did enjoy a lot of the record. It’s a good
local effort and the band would go down well at a party. What
Matanza need to do is work on their own music and drill it over
and over again bit by bit so that it becomes part of the band’s
collective psyche and then they can concentrate on the performance.
There you have it. A recipe for master chefs. Richard Jasiutowicz
|
|
|
