Album Notes

Sonando by Houston duo LJazz is a lively mix of tropical classics featuring a variety of genres, including cumbia, merengue, chachachá and salsa. The CD features Vick "Nash" Espinoza on guitar, el tres, accordion and vocals -- and singer Vangie. Arranged and produced by Espinoza, the 12-track collection offers fresh takes of cumbia favorites such as "La Rajita de Canela," "La Pollera Colorá" and "La Múcura." "La Cosecha de Mujeres," a cumbia made famous by Mike Laure, is rendered as salsa spiced with vallenato accordion. "María Isabel" is also a salsa adaptation of a cumbia featuring a distinctive Cuban tres solo. "La Negra Tomasa" kicks with rhythmic vitality, its playful lyrics sung with abandon attuned to the song's love theme. "Melao de Caña" aspires to Celia Cruz's early style in a son guajira marked by saucy, soulful synthesized horns in arrangements reminiscent of the sixties. Espinoza's rendition of Santana's classic "Samba Pa Ti" is formidable and exquisite, faithful to the original yet embellished with melodic nuances in the interpreter's own signature lyrical style. The CD's title cut "Sonando" is a cool chachachá with a deep percussive Latin jazz groove. "La Colita," an original by Espinoza, is a suggestively sensual energized merengue, a hot dance number with a touch of techno. Rounding off the collection is "El Bodeguero," a smooth and sublime chachachá, and a romantic bolero classic, "Solamente Una Vez." If you're in the mood for some cool, jazzy lively dance music, this is it -- Sonando!