Ray Mantilla's Space Station
is his regular group and works mostly in Europe. Although tied to the
bebop
tradition,
Mantilla
's soloists are actually much more modern, closer to
post-bop
than to
hard bop
. Because the septet works together often, they have developed their own fresh material which consists mostly of originals by
and pianist
Eddy Martinez
. The only standard on the date is a
ballad
version of
"The Man I Love."
The horn solos are a natural part of the arrangements and vice versa with plenty of fine spots for baritonist
Enrique Fernandez
,
Willie Williams
on tenor and soprano, and trumpeter
Guido Gonzalez
. In addition there are some percussion solos for the leader along the way. And while the music is modern and often complex, the rhythms generated by
and drummer
Bill Elder
keep the proceedings fairly accessible and danceable.
Mantilla's New Space Station
is a band worth exploring. ~ Scott Yanow