Afro Cuban Jazz

Track Listings

1. Oya Ye Ye

2. Aguacero

3. Interlude

4. El Campeon del Mambo

5. Blues Para T

6. Straight from the Gate

7. Ofrenda

8. Descarga Angixi

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
In the past, percussionist Snowboy (a.k.a. Mark Cotgrove) took mambo, rumba, and Afro-Cuban jazz and juiced it with modern-day touches of house, hip-hop and lounge for acid jazz audiences. Here Snowboy and the Latin Section stick a little closer to the tradition, instead going for a jazzier vibe filled with Afro-Cuban rhythms and searing solos. While Cotgrove and his two percussion partners keep the music at a rhythmic boil, the three horn players skip across the top with snappy charts and brash solos that add new rhythmic layers. The secret weapon, however, is keyboardist Neil Angilley, who adds some dusty funk grooves to the proceedings with slammin' B3 and Fender Rhodes work. Another fine addition to the great Cubop catalog, Snowboy and Co. never let the party die down, and this high-energy disc is one that would make both Machito and Mongo proud. --Tad Hendrickson

From Jazziz
He's perhaps the first club DJ to make the jump from spinning disks to leading his own Latin jazz group and winning international renown as a hard- hitting Afro-Cuban percussionist. But it all seems perfectly logical to Mark Cotgrove, a 39-year-old Brit known to the Latin jazz world as Snowboy. His love of old-style Cuban music and deep involvement in London's Acid-Jazz dance scene have proven to be the inspiration for some of the most energetic, raw-edged Latin jazz since the Palmieri brothers, Willie Bobo, Mongo Santamaria, and Cal Tjader, the music's most important standard-bearers.

On Snowboy's current release, Afro Cuban Jazz, and its predecessor, Mambo Rage, the influence of vintage early '70s Latin jazz is as evident in the recording technique as it is in the arrangements' minimalist style. Snowboy favors the sound of organ and Fender Rhodes keyboard over the traditional acoustic piano.

Still much in awe of the pioneering Latin artists whose artful blend of traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms and funk-influenced, urban elements have guided his personal style, Snowboy has, nonetheless, crafted his own distinct rhythmic identity. He uses a mixture of three rhythms, that makes a kind of big groove sound on four congas. It comes from a style of bata [sacred Afro-Cuban] drumming called chachalokafun, rumba, and mozambique [a 6/8 rhythm]. Although the eight-member Latin Section includes only one Latino, it's closer to the vibe of benchmark, '50s-style Cuban descargas (jam sessions) than much recent Latin jazz and salsa.

Afro Cuban Jazz,Snowboy & the Latin Section,Cubop Records,Acid Jazz,Afro-Cuban Jazz,Club/Dance,Jazz,Pop

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