Sonando : LA RUMBA ESTA BUENA Victory Review, Sept 1998

          This septet of heavily jazz steeped musicians deliver true Latin Jazz. The music is crisp, flowing highly rhythmic without swallowing you as in the lyrical "Nice Genes" by Hoadley with the flute and sax of Jim Coile and Jay Thomas. Pianist Fred Hoadley leads us to the warm head of Coile's "Four Winds" with Coile and Thomas on sax and trumpet. Note the taste in the percussion of Tom Bergersen, Mark Ivester and Brian Rice working Latin and Afro Cuban that transports with solid timbales, congas, bongos and other tasteful percussion. The band has been together since 1991 which cements the quality of their musicianship. Sonny Rollins "Pent-Up House" is driven by a dancing bird like piccolo by Coile and percussion. While the vigorous dancing "Arabia" is introduced by Miguel Garrido's always steady bass and Thomas's snappy trumpet. Improvisation is light but not mundane as in Coile's sax on his "Pokey's Big Surprise." Thoroughly enjoyable set of cleanly recorded accessible Latin Jazz tunes that deserves looks from Concord's Picante label. (Chris Lunn)