(Latin Jazz) Chembo Corniel & Andrea Brachfeld - Beyond Standards - 2006, MP3, 320 kbps

Brachfeld returned to Latin jazz in a session entitled Beyond Standards, co-led by conguero Wilson "Chembo" Corniel, where they give the Hispanic musical treatment to various jazz standards, accompanied by pianist Hilton Ruiz and trombonist Steve Turre among others of various note. They turned out a decidedly solid recording with many bright areas.
As expected, Ruiz and Turre fulfilled their duties impeccably as soloists and ensemble members in what might have been Ruiz's last recording before dying. They supported the writing with their characteristic encyclopedic panache and meshed superbly with the flutist. Their bolero interpretation of Billy Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge" is lusty lushness itself with muted trombone, violins, piano and flute oozing deeply felt emotion.
"E.S.P.," on the other hand, becomes a dashing and jamming conga. "African Flower" is much more Africanized than it could ever hope to be in Duke Ellington's privileged hands. "My Little Suede Shoes" affords the rare opportunity to hear the flutist dealing with a Puerto Rican bomba, and she jazzes her way through rather well.
The co-leader's conga playing is a welcome respite from the dominant trap drum rudiments-influenced, rapid fire diarrhea-of-the-hands style still in vogue among many contemporary conga players, perhaps best exemplified in "Freedom Jazz Dance," "Interlude" and his marcha ethic.