Jonathan Powell celebrate the release of their new album "Mambo Jazz Party"

                                                               MAMBO JAZZ PARTY

Musicians: Jonathan Powell: trumpet [1 – 9, 11, 13], flugelhorn [2, 3, 10, 12] and EVI [8]; Andrew Gould: alto saxophone [1 – 3, 6 – 8]; Jeremy Powell: tenor saxophone [1 – 8, 10, 13] and flute [3]; Jimmy Bosch: trombone [solo on 1]; Doug Beavers: trombone [1 – 8, 11, 13]; Itai Kriss: flute [2, 11]; Louis Fouché: alto saxophone [solo on 1]; Nir Felder: electric guitar [2]; Axel Tosca: piano, Fender Rhodes and synthesizer [1 – 3, 5 – 10, 12, 13]; Manuel Valera: Fender Rhodes and synthesizer [4, 11]; Luques Curtis: bass; Camilo Molina: drums and timbales, shekere and claves [1], maracas and güiro [3], bongos [3, 6, 7] and batá [10]; Marcos López: congas [1 – 3, 6 – 8, 11]; Marcos Torres: congas [4, 5, 8 – 10, 12, 13]; Luisito Quintero: bongos [4, 5, 8, 9, 11 – 13], güiro [4], campana [4, 4, 8] and miscellaneous percussion [2, 9 – 12]; Ariacne Trujillo: lead vocal [3]; Anthony Almonte: lead vocal [7] and coros [3, 7]; Jeremy Bosch: [coros [3, 7]

Tracks List: Juancito; Hope; You’re Everything; Butterfly; Inner Urge; Un Día Bonito II [intro]; Un Día Bonito II; Frogwala; Alone, Alone and Alone; Paramahansa;  Yogananda; Juegeton; Totem Pole

"It is encouraging when one sees progress in people's musical development. Where creativity arises spontaneously, naturally, when you hear this album your ears and feet "gozando" (enjoying). There is a work of musical art that invites enjoyment"

From the first seconds of the opening track, trumpeter Jonathan Powell immediately signals that his new album Mambo Jazz Party is no ordinary record. With irresistible layers of groove and the indomitably danceable feels of Latin Jazz spurred eternally forward by the campana (cowbell), the audience is instantly hooked. Drawing on two decades of expertise as a sideman for Latin Jazz legends such as Eddie Palmieri, Arturo O’Farrill, Miguel Zenon, Oscar Hernandez and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, and Tito Puente Jr., Powell assembles a rotating 18-piece ensemble that brings the party of great, danceable Latin Jazz and Mambo and combines it with the aesthetic of modern electric jazz on Mambo Jazz Party.

The ideas that inspired Mambo Jazz Party began with a conversation with a colleague, a bongocero who was leading a masterclass to a group of students. In this lesson, the bongocero explained the importance of the campana in salsa and mambo music and said simply that “when you see and hear the bongocero player swap to the campana, you know it’s party time.” The simple truth and joy of this statement struck Powell and stuck with him thereafter. Powell remarks, “I always loved the montuno/descarga part of the tune where the band goes beyond the notes written on the page and just makes the party and energy happen.”

Mambo Jazz Party derives its name from the noble quest to capture the essence of that “party time” of which the bongocero spoke. Aligning himself firmly within the lineage of Latin Jazz  -Mambo Jazz-, Powell pays homage to the masters with whom he’s had the privilege to work, both through the authenticity of the performance and the song selection. The difference on this album, however, comes with that which is not typically found on a Latin Jazz record. Enthused by the sounds of modern electric jazz and the great history of electric jazz fusion, Powell draws directly on the sounds of artists like Chick Corea and Return to Forever, Headhunters, Weather Report, Kneebody, Snarky Puppy, and even Thundercat. Add to this the sonic textures of the tabla from the Carnatic music that Powell studied during his teens and the contemporary harmonic concept of crossover jazz artists and one begins to understand the intricacies of the layers that are present in how Powell takes the genre and, in his own words, “bends” it.

The album features a curated blend of original compositions and arrangements, both of which come together to acknowledge the various traditions and pioneers who paved the way for Powell, directly and indirectly. “Juancito” is an ode to the great Puerto Rican trumpeter Juancito Torres, and features a solo by living legend trombonist Jimmy Bosch. “Hope” is an original by Powell that was written during the pandemic and uses meditative and chant-like elements within the melody to create a mantra evoking the idea of hope. Atop this musical cogitation comes guitarist Nir Felder’s searing solo that fans into flame the entire work. The album’s co-producer Doug Beavers contributed the arrangement of Chick Corea’s “You’re Everything”. In this version, the melody is reworked in spanish and the piece is presented within the salsa idiom. Powell’s arrangement of Joe Henderson’s timeless “Inner Urge” uses ever-shifting time signatures to emphasize and reimagine the harmonic structure in newfound ways. The great Eddie Palmieri is actively acknowledged by the band through the arrangement of “Un Dia Bonita II”, reworked by Angel Fernandez and featuring vocals by Anthony Almonte.

Mambo Jazz Party features a scintillating personnel list in varying combinations throughout the album. Featuring the bandleader, Jonathan Powell, on trumpet and flugelhorn, Mambo Jazz Party comprises Andrew Gould (alto saxophone), the bandleader’s brother, Jeremy Powell (tenor saxophone, flute), Jimmy Bosch (trombone), Doug Beavers (trombone), Itai Kriss (flute), Louis Fouche (alto saxophone), Nir Felder (electric guitar), Axel Tosca (piano, rhodes, synthesizer), Manuel Valera (rhodes, synthesizer), Luques Curtis (bass), Camilo Molina (drums, timbales, percussion), Marcos Lopez (congas), Marcos Torres (congas), Luisito Quintero (bongos, campana, percussion), Ariacne Trujillo (lead voice), Anthony Almonte (lead voice, choir), Jeremy Bosch (choir). Of this group of exemplary musicians Powell remarks, “They each brought their personal voice, experience and really personified the title. We were just a group of friends having fun in the studio.”

Jonathan Powell:

Jonathan Powell was born in Largo (Florida) and began playing the trumpet when he was twelve years old. He was a star member of the All-State Band, All-State Jazz Band, and advanced under Raymond Mase’s guidance at the North Carolina School of the Arts. There, he met three other like-minded students and founded Quantum. They won the Downbeat Student Awards award for Best Student Jazz Group (1998, 1999). Jonathan returned home to Florida to experience the local music scene. He performed with numerous groups including Bogus Pomp, an All-State Band and All-State Jazz Band, SHIM (avant-garde) and Rocksteady @ 8 Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady, as well as his own bands. He moved to New York in 2001 and got a gig with La Creacion, a Colombian band. He was praised for his participation with Sam Rivers Fluid Movement in 2003 and was awarded the Latin Jazz Corner’s Best Latin Jazz Trumpeter award in 2007. He also formed Nu Sangha in 2003, which means “community”, in Tibetan. In 2007, he released Transcend, an electronica-infused fusion of Rock, Jazz, and Electronica. Jonathan’s latest recording, Beacons of Light, draws inspiration from jazz legends past and present such as John Coltrane and Freddie Hubbard. It is a meditation that pays tribute to the spiritual and revolutionary minds of today, such as the Dalai Lama (the Sufi poet, mystic, and Rumi), and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Jonathan is a member of many artists when he’s not performing with his group. These include Eddie Palmieri and his Latin Jazz Septet and Salsa Orchestra as well as Arturo O’ Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and Darcy James Arche’s Secret Society, Miguel Zenon and Ricky Martin, as well JT Taylor from Kool and the Gang. Jonathan summarizes his musical philosophy as “The new album was a tribute to those who have done incredible things.” If people enjoy the music and are open to hearing from people they don’t know, I feel that I have done my part. Jonathan Powell is an artist on the rise and a bandleader. In the years ahead, expect great things from Powell.

Viva The Latin Jazz!!

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Note: If you are interested in learning more about the illustrious career of Jonathan Powell and all the musicians who perform Latin Jazz, I invite you to consult and read the book "The Bible of Latin Jazz" whose author is the specialist in this musical genre: Luis Raul Montell .Jonathan Powell is a man on a mission, an artist on the rise, a name to watch. Expect great things from him in the years to come