Calle 54 is an old music doc by today’s standards. It came out in 2000 so it’s no longer news. But I just watched it recently and there were some clips in it that were just mind blowing.
The doc is very nicely put together, it’s object is to present in one group the giants of Latin Jazz. Each innovator gets a few minutes of camera time talking about this or that, and then they play one song live in a controlled studio environment. The results are mostly outstanding – excellent recording quality, great camera work, and when the performances are “on”, it is truly a thing of beauty.
I will say, however, that I am not, nor have I ever been a huge fan of Latin Jazz, for many of the same reasons I’m not a fan of Fusion Jazz. I don’t exactly dig virtuoso displays or music so fast and complex that I can’t wrap my head around it. I’ll watch one of the many virtuosos out there and although i can appreciate the skill, it all strikes me, as Mr. Cramer once said, as nothing more than an athletic display.
However, a few of the performers in the Calle 54 doc really blew me away, not with their virtuosic skills, but with the emotional range displayed in their music.
Here’s my top three choices:
Chucho Valdes steals the show. If you watch nothing else, watch this clip.
Jerry Gonzalez is my personal favorite, because he talks and walks and acts like so many Puerto Ricans I’ve known and know, and I listen to him play and his voice and his walk and his personal style are all right there on the horn and the congas. It’s really like listening to someone I know very well.
Michel Camilo was a total surprise. It’s hard not to be a little turned off by his demeanor (he knows he’s a genius), or his and his band’s style (the hair, the shirts, the expressions), but when they get cooking on this clip, you can’t deny them.
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