Chesky Records - The Body Acoustic (2004)

This album is a bit of a time capsule artifact dating back to approximately 1960 when small combo jazz with Afro-Cuban influences was all the rage. The mood is celebratory and cohesive as it was when jazz was regarded as the ”thinking man's” music. The assembled players seem to fit the bill. Randy Brecker, playing entirely with muted trumpet, gives a pretty good impression of Dizzy or Miles. Bob Mintzer provides a “bottom” for the horns and is just slightly off-center on bass clarinet. Pianist David Chesky supplies the comping and solos needed. Latin percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo adds the ongoing ritmo caliente, working closely with Andy Gonzalez, a primarily Latin jazz bassist.

These eight tracks are a mood piece all composed and conceived by David Chesky, offering only minor differences in melody and tempo. The title The Body Acoustic is taken from a mid-career Weather Report and has the following mind-boggling quote on the jewel box:

…The Body Acoustic is an organic polyrhymic entity: A chorus of disparate voices chanting in a contrapuntal round robin: A form of rhythmic call and response that celebrates the body acoustic as a dance, a multi-tiered amalgamation of grooves…

Tracklist:
01 - 52nd Street
02 - East Harlem
03 - Bronxville
04 - Hell's Kitchen
05 - New York Descargas
06 - Acoustic Metal
07 - N.Y. Cool
08 - Club Descarga