Various Artists - Concord Picante 25th Anniversary Collection / Var (CD)

All Music Guide

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Concord Picante, one of the major Latin jazz labels since 1970, a fourCD set has been released containing highlights from that company's catalog. This singledisc sampler has some of the better tracks from the larger release. Unfortunately, the personnel for each group is not listed, but all of the CDs from which this music is drawn (which are listed) are currently in print and the music is programmed in chronological order. Starting with Cal Tjader's "Mambo Mindoro" from 1980, the other selections date from 19852003. Heard from along the way are some of the giants of AfroCuban jazz (Tânia Maria, Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Pete Escovedo, Poncho Sanchez, and Eddie Palmieri), the Caribbean Jazz Project, some Brazilian jazz from Charlie Byrd (costarring clarinetist Ken Peplowski on "Meditation"), and a couple interesting units led by Monty Alexander and Chick Corea (teaming with Poncho Sanchez, Pete Escovedo, and Dave Samuels on "Guach...i Guaro"). Obviously, this is just a small sampling of the Concord Picante legacy, but it does hold together well as a unified set and should please listeners and dancers alike who want to groove to some highquality Latin jazz. - Scott Yanow, All Music Guide Read more Less