Roxana Amed: Unánime
Sony Music Latin
To appreciate Unánime, Roxana Amed's follow-up to 2021's Ontology, some familiarity with its background is warranted. Asked repeatedly during interviews for Ontology about her connection to Latin jazz, the singer came to realize that ‘Latin' is an open concept amenable to interpretation. Whereas an Argentinean would associate it with the Caribbean area, a South American might have a very different take on a Latin-jazz fusion. A natural creative avenue thus opened itself up to Amed: a project featuring collaborations with Latin artists but one unbounded by traditional thinking and styles. To that end, she recruited musicians from Latin America and Spain to perform works by, among others, South American composers and chose the title to emphasize the love all involved share for jazz and Latin, regardless of how the latter's interpreted.
Unánime finds Amed partnering with pianist Martin Bejerano, bassist Edward Pérez, and drummer Ludwig Afonso, that core augmented by distinguished players such as Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés, Flamenco guitarist Niño Josele, Argentine bassist (and one-time Pat Metheny Band member) Pedro Aznar, Brazilian guitarist Chico Pinheiro, Venezuelan trumpeter Linda Briceño, Australian guitarist Tim Jago, Peruvian percussionist Tony Succar, and Columbian pianist Julio Reyes Copello. As dynamic is the set-list, which includes pieces by Ignacio Cervantes (Cuba), Miguel Pous (Mexico), Luis Alberto Spinetta (Argentina), César Prato (Venezuela), Egberto Gismonti (Brazil), and Julio Reyes Copello (Colombia). Such audacious cross-border pollination comes naturally to the singer, who was born in Buenos Aires but has called Miami home since 2013.
If “Flamenco Sketches” from Miles's Sketches of Spain seems a surprising choice for an opener, her dramatic reading immediately demonstrates how radical Amed is in her reimagining of familiar material. Luscious woodwind textures and her vibrant vocalizing enhance the Spanish-flavoured treatment, as does a strong solo by Flamenco guitarist Josele. As memorable are Spinetta's “Nueva Luna, Mundo Arjo,” for its passionate vocal duet between Amed and Aznar and romantic ballad style, and Parto's “Nostalgia Andina” for pairing Amed with Briceño, who not only sings beautifully but sweetens the performance with lovely flugelhorn flourishes. The range of Amed's delivery is shown in her fragile hush in Gismonti's “Agua y Vino,” her voice heard with maximum clarity when paired with Brazilian guitarist Pinheiro.
On the bright and breezy tip is Bejerano's “Dos Tribus,” which sees Amed soulfully engaging in unison lines with soprano saxophonist Mark Small, and with Bejerano's piano a significant part of the equation it's possible to hear echoes of the early Brazilian-flavoured Return to Forever model in the tune. Something similar might be said when Valdes joins a scatting Amed and his own trio partners, bassist Armando Gola and drummer Dafnis Prieto, for a furiously swinging take on Cervantes' “Los Tres Golpes.”
The playing of Bejerano, Pérez, and Afonso is a source of endless delight from start to finish, but it's hardly the album's sole appealing element. Many details enhance the ten tracks, but it's Amed's vocalizing that towers over all others. The sensuality of her voice, the softness of her tone, the control of her delivery, her phrasing—all such details elevate the album and make emotive, ballad-styled pieces such as “A Veces No, Siempre,” co-written by Amed and Pérez, and Pous's melancholy “En Mi Soldedad” so patently irresistible.October 2022