A Little Bit Of Havana in Paramus
Twelve miles away from the legendary Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs where many of the greatest albums in jazz history were recorded including those by Monk, Miles, ‘Trane and Diz, sits Trading 8s in Paramus. It’s where the new Circles In A Yellow Room (VOF Recordings), by the Mike Freeman ZonaVibe, was created. Freeman, who wrote all 10 tracks and self-produced, plays Vibraphone, Marimba, Triangle, Tambourine, Bells, Whistle and African Thumb Piano, even adding an extra layer of hand-clap percussion.
Freeman’s main influence, from back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, is Cal Tjader, an American vibraphonist from Missouri, whose Latin Jazz heavily inspired Freeman to record 2015’s Blue Tjade. Two of the musicians from that session, tenor saxophonist Jim Gailloreto and bassist Ruben Rodriguez, return for these Circles… They are joined by trumpet, congas and drums to create a real true-blue state-of-the-art Afro-Cuban Salsa Mambo mash-up of enthusiastic proportions. One can get lost in the tribal rhythmic clave so much, you’d think it was recorded in Havana.
The percolating percussion alone is enough to hold interest. Gailloreto switches to Bass Clarinet on the title track. Trumpeter Guido Gonzalez also blows some Flugelhorn. Freeman and his ZonaVibe have kept this tradition alive while, at the same time, adding subtle futuristic tinges of modernity. Let us hope this funky cat from Nebraska, living in New York City since 1981, comes back to Jersey for more recordings like this.