Album Notes

The Ramirez Brothers and Callado present "Jazzonia"…a mix of solo piano jazz; standard trio numbers; and an exciting quartet featuring violin in the style of Stephen Grappelli. Enjoy all your favorites in a fusion of flavors from hot jazz to beautiful love songs, from jazz standards to show tunes and pop music; from Mexican and Brazilian classics to even a gospel surprise!

Diego Ramirez is an exciting young jazz pianist and Mexican composer. His last CD, "El Ultimo Chilam Balam", won an award for "2008 Best Jazz Album" from the LA Music Awards, for Diego's original Mayan compositions. At his Premiere US Performance at the Portland Jazz Festival, the critics recently described Diego as: “spectacular”, with “pianistic brilliance and staggering creative energy”, “remarkable”, “virtuoso…with tempestuous improvisations driven by Mexican rhythms”, “exciting…extraordinary…and full of passion”…he “simply mesmerized the audience.” Diego touches his audiences, playing modern or traditional jazz standards, with Latin influenced melodies and rhythms, indigenous explorations, a wide variety of his own compositions, and memorable improvisations. Listening to Diego at the piano is always a beautiful experience.

In this new CD, "Jazzonia", Diego demonstrates his gift for bringing new life to jazz standards and pop music. Diego also introduces his brother, the incredibly talented Arturo "Tito" Ramirez from Mexico City, who plays the violin in the style of Stephen Grappelli. The Brothers are intuitively in sync musically, and along with their musical brother, the great Brazilian drummer, Luciano Callado, you have the perfect fit!

Luciano began as a musician at the Brazilian Conservatory of Music in Rio de Janeiro, studying music and theory; always exposed to the great Brazilian musical tradition, while perfecting his skills as a drummer and percussionist. As Diego Ramirez and Luciano Callado collaborated on "El Ultimo Chilam Balam", they again work together masterfully in "Jazzonia", along with Arturo.

Langston Huges wrote the poem, "Jazzonia", and to quote a portion, "Oh, shining tree! Oh, silver rivers of the soul! In a whirling cabaret. Six long -headed jazzers play." In this musical version of "Jazzonia", you will enjoy the magical fingers of Diego Ramirez on the piano, the incredible rhythms of Luciano Callado on drums, and the virtuosity of the violinist, Arturo "Tito" Ramirez in some unique and beautiful interpretations of your favorites!