DAVE SCHUMACHER & CUBEYE

AGUA CON GAS

Cubeye Music

Dave Schumacher, baritone saxophone/composer; Manuel Valera & Silvano Monasterios, piano; Alex Apolo Ayala & Luques Curtis, bass; Yusnier Sanchez, congas/quinto; Mauricio Herrera, congas/cajon; Joel Mateo, drums; Chegϋi Metralla, clavé; Alex Norris & Jesus Ricardo, trumpet; Peter Brainin, tenor & soprano saxophones; Roger Rosenberg, baritone saxophone.

For over forty years, Chicago native Dave Schumacher has been a woodwind fixture on the New York scene and beyond. As an independent baritone saxophonist, he has performed in more than 465 cities across 41 countries on five continents. He has worked with such luminaries as Lionel Hampton’s Orchestra and Art Blakey’s Big Band. In 1990, he became an original member of Harry Connick, Jr.’s Orchestra, touring worldwide.

As an arranger, composer Dave Schumacher has recorded four albums. On Cellar Records, he released “Smoke in the Sky” with his Afro-Latin Jazz Septet, Cubeye.

Their former album release, and this brand new release called “Agua Con Gas,” solidifies Schumacher’s love and appreciation for jazz and Afro-Cuban music. Their title tune was composed and arranged by Schumacher and exemplifies his directive to “Swing on both sides of the rhythm.”  The song floats seamlessly between rumba and jazz, always swinging hard!

Schumacher’s original composition called “Al Rosé” is another Straight-ahead tune that features his strong rhythm section and lets Dave’s baritone saxophone sparkle in the spotlight.

On a tune called “The Gypsy” Dave Schumacher continues to show us his incredible talents on the baritone saxophone.  It’s arranged in 6/8 time with the cajón adding spice to the arrangement and played by Mauricio Herrera. I also enjoyed the improvised solo by the pianist Silvano Monasterios, who arranged this piece. The percussionists play an integral part in this presentation.

“Amosaya” is another original composition by Schumacher.  It’s not a new piece of music, but Dave and Cubeye have refreshed and revitalized it from its original birth back in the mid-1980s when it was written following a U.S. State Department tour of South America with Lionel Hampton.  Dave first heard these percussive rhythms during a local jazz jam session after that concert.

Dave recalls being introduced as a teen in Chicago to the music of Eddie Palmieri.  This introduction led Schumacher to dive into Latin rhythms and their importance in jazz. On a tune called “Cubism” the bandleader invites another baritone sax man to join him in celebrating Cuber and his legacy. Roger Rosenberg is added to this tribute, a baritone man who has been inspired by his work with Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente, Chet Baker, and Steely Dan. They close with “Prince of Darkness,” a composition by Wayne Shorter.  This tune has been one of Dave’s favorites since the 1970s when he was a teenager.  He reimagined the Shorter tune as a rhumba and it works! The percussionist, Yusnier Sanchez, infuses this tune with energy and excellence. Here is an album that exudes joy, Latin American spirit, and spotlights the beautiful energy and tone of the baritone saxophone.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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