Far Away

Album Review

With a pedigree of influences that includes straightforward Venezuelan percussion, progressive rock, and the Berklee College of Music, Jose Duque's latest album is a mass of Latin jazz with touches of everything from jazz-rock fusion to modern electronica. The core of the album is essentially modern jazz with influences of Latin music in general, but of Caribbean-Venezuelan music specifically. Although the compositions are originals, the standard pieces of comping and riffing native to Latin jazz make portions of the album seem derivative. This is, of course, somewhat the case with most new Latin jazz outings. Also as is the case with most new Latin jazz outings, the performances are what save the album from being cast into oblivion otherwise. Here, there is strong playing from pianist Dan Shure (which progresses into Moby-esque ambient sounds when called for), some otherworldly guitar solos courtesy of Phil Sargent, and some very nice flamenco-inspired percussion (cajon and handclaps) from both Duque himself and guest Annegret Baler. The end result is an album which is not particularly groundbreaking, but is still worth a listen for fans of modern jazz and Latin jazz. It walks the line between the two genres well without quite making waves in either.