All Music Guide
Adam Greenberg - 2006
Here's an interesting item. A Latin jazz release from Seattle. What
makes it interesting is that Sonando is able to incorporate both the
idioms of Latin jazz and the subtlety and grace that's fast becoming
the hallmark of the Northwest jazz scene. The pieces here are a mix of
originals and pieces from around the jazz world (Wayne Shorter, Horace
Silver, Abdullah Ibrahim), rearranged as needed to fit the desired
style. It's the seamless combination that makes it complete here
though. There's no screaming horn section, no overpowering congas, but
the horns are most certainly there, the congas ever present. Instead of
the same tropical piano playing in every Latin release, there's a
well-designed modern jazz piano solo. Instead of the blaring frontline,
there's a post-bop sensibility in the horns. They can show off speed
and skill in their solos, but ever so fleetingly and in service to the
larger work. It's understated Latin jazz, punched-up post-bop, not
something you'll find everyday. But certainly something worth finding.