Search - Wayne Wallace :: Echoes In Blue

"Echoes In Blue" maintains continuity with the powerful musical devices of Wayne Wallace's critically acclaimed CD, "Three In One", yet it goes in new artistic directions, revealing more dimensions in Wayne's immense musical personality. "Echoes In Blue" honors some masters in Wayne's musical pantheon with Latinized covers of jazz classics. The Cuban/Jazz/Funk of "Take The A- Train" is Wayne's interpretation of the influence of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington on Afro-Caribbean music. The Cuban/Jazz of "Silver's Serenade" pays tribute to Horace Silver's pioneering contributions to the development of Latin Jazz. Wayne uses the Rumba form to highlight the simple timeless quality and harmonic potential of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage". The CuBop of "The Bird" combines the rhythmic and harmonic freedom of Charlie Parker's composing, with the legendary groundwork of Latin Jazz developed by Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo. The Wallace original "Azure Blue" is a reflection of Wayne's love of Brazilian culture, and his appreciation of the influences of Milton Nascimento and Antonio Carlos Jobim on jazz and popular music. "Fan-tan" is an original tribute to the harmonic genius of Wayne Shorter -- whom Wallace rightly regards as one of our greatest contemporary composers. "Gingerbread Girl", one of Wayne's best-known originals, uses Mozambique, Soca, and Funk to celebrate the variety of styles in the art of the dance in American and Caribbean cultures. "Testimony" explores the joint influence of sacred Gospel and secular Blues on the development of Jazz. Wayne's search for spiritual identity through music is majestically expressed in his arrangement of the traditional Afro-Cuban "Koriomale" - a chant for Elegua, the Yoruban deity of the crossroads. "Santa Africana (for Yemaya)" pays homage to the Yoruban Goddess of the seas, with a beautiful composition accompanying a vividly mystical poem by Irene ! Moosen, recited by the great Brenda Boykin.