Andy James - Tu Amor (CD)

Release Date: 10/22/21

'Tu Amor' is the perfect expression of both my styles of work: jazz and Flamenco. It enabled me to touch on all the rhythms of both styles.

All-star is right. Tu Amor explodes with dynamic stereo surround sound, the kind of music our parents would crank up on hot summer nights, slow dancing with goblets of wine spilling in all the right places. Singer Andy James floats and flirts through English and Spanish to slip into the rhythm and mood somewhere between here and there, where the air is scented by floral tradewinds and the sea always rushes eagerly to shore.

The former Flamenco dancer easily slips on the jazz life as if born to the role. She's surround-sounded by an all-star cast of ace musicians, including collaborator/percussionist Alex Acuña, drummers Vinnie Colaiuta and Marvin 'Smitty' Smith, pianist/arranger Bill Cunliffe, bassist John Patitucci, organist John Beasley, and a slamming horn section (trumpeter Terell Stafford, saxophonist/woodwinds player Bob Sheppard, tenor saxophonist Rick Margitza, and trombonist Michael Dease, among others).

The 11-track album features jazz and pop covers ('Night & Day,' 'Call Me,' 'Perfidia,' 'Papa Loves Mambo'), and one original tune, the title track, by Acuña -- all expertly executed, with all the bells, whistles, and scintillating syncopation expected when Latin hits jazz.

Ms. James refuses to sink into sadness when addressing the traditionally somber 'But Not For Me.' She's helped by the light-footed orchestra, curves, brassy colors, and innuendos, horns and a cha-cha-two-step.

She sharpens the softly romantic 'Charade,' a favorite of movie soundtracks back in the days of wine and roses, coming around the bend, panther-sleek, as the piano and horns flutter -- a breath away from breathless bliss.

The show-stopper, 'In The Still Of The Night,' opens the album with a funky, frisky, slick Latin sleight of hand, a sophisticated percussive courtship that seamlessly gives way to stealthy vocals and then, a shadow-ban of a saxophone solo that holds fast to the essence of this timeless melody.