Bassist Alexis Cuadrado was born in Barcelona and is now part of the New York jazz scene; he has a likeable, vibrant approach to his instrument, and writes a good tune to boot. On Visual his arrangements take full advantage of the three-horn front-line (Bauman and Ellis again, plus trombonist Alan Ferber) and guitarist Steve Cárdenas. It’s the big sound of the ensemble and the richly colored writing that make an impression on the first couple of tracks; the solos are well-turned but hardly striking, especially with Ellis confined to piping soprano rather than his meatier tenor and bass clarinet. “El Perro,” a yearning Frisellian serenade, is much more like it, and the churning blues “El Gran Profeta” is downright hot, with a spirited brawl among the horns and a roughhouse guitar solo. Cuadrado’s interest in unusual musical textures leads him to a couple intriguing experiments with studio overdubbing. “Mario’s Pencil” is a mysterious free-form collage constructed by overdubbing the entire band over the original take of the tune. Even more striking is Cuadrado’s feat of overdubbing on the Víctor Jara song “Te Recuerdo Amanda,” a gorgeous, heartfelt arrangement for five basses (two pizzicato, three bowed). Visual is consistently good music by a smart, lateral-thinking musician, and just occasionally – as on the Jara song – something really special.
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Alexis Cuadrado heads a pianoless sextet for Visual (Fresh Sound New Talent). Along with drummer Mark Ferber, Cuadrado takes up much of the space usually occupied by a keyboardist, giving the frontline players more room to maneuver on such pieces as "Black Tulip," "Camperdown Elm" and "Mario's Pencil." Trombonist Alan Ferber plays some jaunty, humorous and rich solos, aided by multireedist John Ellis and alto saxophonist/clarinetist Kris Bauman. Ellis' versatility gives the group a wider range of colors, as he not only offers some bluesy tenor sax and soprano sax solos but also chimes in on bass clarinet and flute. Guitarist Steve Cardenas adds harmonic flair and some interesting colors and textures. While they are better on the extensive works than on the shorter ones, Cuadrado's sextet makes a good impression on Visual.
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