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Luis Bonilla | “I Talking Now”: Recommended Listening With Damian Erskine
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Luis Bonilla
“I Talking Now”
With a title like, “I Talking Now” you can’t help but be curious… What does trombonist Luis Bonilla have to say?
With a list of band credits including Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, Lester Bowie, Tony Bennett, Freddie Hubbard and a list of studio credits including Mary J. Blige and Marc Anthony and being on faculty at both Temple and the Manhattan School of Music… As you might imagine.. He’s got a LOT to say and is says it loud and clear here.
Flexing a range of human emotion, the listener is pushed and pulled throughout a heady mix of hard swing, rocking numbers, free jazz, funk & lush ballads. These are some of NY’s finest. John Riley on drums, Andy McKee on Bass, Arturo O’Farrill on piano and Ivan Renta on Sax lend masterful support and dynamic interaction to Luis’ prodigious trombone work.
It was hard not to imagine myself at the Village Vanguard listening to this band in awe of the complete mastery of both the performance and compositions. Displaying remarkable creativity from front to back, any jazz lover would be remiss not to check this release out.
This is no standard, head-solo-solo-solo-head out quicky jazz release. This band is stellar and the compositions are rich and full of inspired interaction. Bonilla is an astounding trombonist and there are no weak links in the band or lulls in this music. This is the high-art form of jazz in it’s beauty and complexity represented in full.