Search - Buyu Ambroise :: Blues in Red

Just Great Music!

02/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Buyu Ambroise's Blues In Red is a gem. Buyu's music encompasses elements of traditional Haitian popular music and modern jazz. The cd is absolutely refreshing. Selections like Konbit Zaka, One Note Rara, and Kote Moun Yo are strongly and rhytmically driven by drummers extraordinaire Obed Calvaire and Tiga Jean-Baptiste. The horns are just senational with riffs that are well executed at both ends of the instruments. The Latin piece Minouch is beautifully played with superb soloing by pianist Frederic Las Fargeas. Buyu's lyricism can be heard throughout all ten selections on this cd. Trombonist Dion Tucker also blends well with the leader's tenor saxophone. This cd is a must have! Discover the beauty of Haitian music through jazz by buying this cd. Haiti's national anthem is played with a blues-like feeling Buyu salutes his country's bicentennial in 2004. I strongly recommend it!!!



Martine Adorno"

Joyous folkloric jazz

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 10/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Haiti, the birthplace of Alix "Buyu" Ambroise, leader and saxophonist of the marvelous five-piece band on this disc, is one of the poorest nations in the world. How is it that such bubbly, jolly, festive music can come from such a depressed and oppressed place? Yes, there is a very real strain of melancholy (referenced in the blues of the title) that often leaks through these otherwise upbeat numbers, most of which are based on traditional Haitian tunes, but the overall mood is triumphant, not somber.



Many of the tunes have their roots in peasant labors, and thus they share a commonality with American rural blues, one of the streams that fed into American jazz. So there is not only a similar recognizable structure but also a shared sensibility with the pre-jazz of nineteenth century America. I also hear echoes of a wide variety traditional Caribbean musics--zouk, rara, calypso, merengue, konpa, salsa, danzon--all brilliantly mapped onto an authentic jazz sensibility.



For me, this kind of meeting of genuine folkloric music with a sophisticated jazz sensibility represents one of the sublime achievements of modern music. You can hear it in the music of masters like Egberto Gismonti, Jan Garbarek, Chucho Valdes, Babatunde Lea, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Cyro Baptista, Ben Allison, Michael Blake, to name but a few. With Blues in Red Buyu Ambroise joins this select company. And closer to the front of the column than the rear. Very much worth checking out if you have any affinity for music of this type."

Jazz a l'haitienne

Catcat | New York | 03/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The art form has truly been taken to another level . Most certainly, this very interesting mixture of tones and melodies are not only transporting in effect but divulge the possibilities of the energies and rythms which articulate and demonstrate the dimensions of its essence. Buyu Ambroise's Blues in Red is interesting, energetic and prvocative. This should be among the collection of all music lovers . It is talent and creativity epitomized. Fine craftmanship! The reharmonization of traditional popular Hatian and African chants intensified by using contemporary jazz improvisations. Thus a unique genre. Un mélange potent et extraordinaire! C'est du vrai jazz a l'haitienne!"