Latin All Stars

Latin All Stars

Fresh from a world tour, McCoy Tyner's Latin All Stars headed straight to the studio to preserve the memory. The nine-member powerhouse includes Steve Turre on trombone and shells, Gary Bartz on alto and soprano, Avery Sharpe on bass, Ignacio Berroa on drums, Giovanni Hidalgo on percussion, Johnny Alemendra on timbales, Claudio Rodito on trumpet and flügelhorn, Dave Valentin on flute, and the maestro on piano. The opener, "Festival in Bahia," is a great showcase, complete with a vamp tailor-made for solo stretches of improvisatory machismo. Tyner's rendition of "Poinciana" (a tune so immortalized by Ahmad Jamal that almost no one else courts it) is done sans horns and sounds fresh. Unfortunately, the direct-to-two-track mode of recording does not do justice to such a capacious ensemble: the percussion loses much of its depth, the trombone sounds by turns strident and muddy, the clarity of the sax is inconsistent, and the shells fare even worse. Even this lamentable circumstance does not rob the album of its momentum: Kenny Dorham's classic "Blue Bossa" is taken at a tempo that would burn a dancer to dust, and Mongo Santamaria's "Afro Blue" is mined for all it's worth. The pianist is, of course, the crowning glory: singularly thrilling in approach and execution, he remains inimitable. <i>--Karen Bennett</i>