HOT HOUSE

HOT HOUSE

With his brassy sound, Arturo Sandoval is a glorious throwback to a tradition of big-band trumpeters who cast their voices over pumping horn sections, from Swing Era greats like Bunny Berigan and Harry James to bop players such as Dizzy Gillespie and high-note specialist Maynard Ferguson. Sandoval is most adept when he's fusing the rhythmic vitality of his Cuban heritage with the complexities of bebop, invoking the spirit of Gillespie's pioneering 1947 big-band efforts. It's in sharpest relief on the masterful take of Tadd Dameron's bop classic "Hot House," but the rhythms are churning and the brass are wailing elsewhere as well, as "Sandunga" and "Tito," named for the presence of timbales great Tito Puente. <i>--Stuart Broomer</i>