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AKA "Cinnamon Flower," a rose by another name

Mark N. Russell | Rochester, N.Y. | 04/24/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Unless my ears are totally deceived, this is a reissue of the 1977 Alan Douglas/Charlie Rouse produced "Cinnamon Flower' which "explored Brazilian roots music with an American R & B foundation." (This is a quote from the notes on the original disc reissue on Rykodisc.) Rouse, with a mixture of American and Brazilian musicians, applies his raspy tone to originals either written by pianist Dom Salvador or guitarist Amaury Tristao as well as Salvador's arrangement of Milton Nascimento's Crava Canela/Cinnamon Flower. The Americans include Ted Dunbar on guitar and rhythm section stalwarts Ron Carter on bass and the superb drummer Berrnard Purdie supplying his unstoppable groove. (He is assisted in this by Portinho on drums and percussion.) How does it all sound, you ask. The opening "Backwoods Echo" is a pastoral fantasy and "Disenchantment" is a samba. "A New Dawn" and the ending tune "Waiting on the Corner" will have one dancing, at least in the imagination. "Quiet Pictures" has, what is to these ears, Rouse's best solo which follows the evocative cello intro. The trumpeter Claudio Roditi is a splendid second voice to Rouse's tenor on all but one tune. Only the album's brief running time (it was quick even for the vinyl era,) and the slight disco gloss that tints an arrangement or two keeps this from being given five stars. I owned the vinyl after first hearing it in Simeon's bar in Ithaca N.Y. in the late seventies and another copy of that was frequently played by an early eighties housemate who mainly listened to the Grateful Dead (!) It's good to have this on disc; it always cheers me with its tropical ease."