Recorded in NYC with an all star band, Bassoon Goes Latin Jazz! was released on the Summit label world-wide in March of 2011.

Along with pianist Daniel Kelly, bassist Michael O'Brien, drummer Vincent Ector, and Latin percussionist Neil Clarke, the album features as special guests famed Brazilian guitarist Sandro Albert and multi-award winner (Downbeat, Jazz Journalists Association, Village Voice, etc.) Roswell Rudd on trombone.

THE MUSICIANS

DANIEL KELLY: PIANO

Award winning composer and virtuoso jazz pianist Daniel Kelly is an innovative musical voice in the New York City jazz and improvised music scene. He has collaborated in performance and on disc with a wide range of major artists, including Michael Brecker, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Don Byron, Dave Murray, Candido, Ray Barretto, Donny McCaslin, Oliver Lake, Bobby Sanabria, John Zorn and many others. Daniel Kelly has toured throughout the US, Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and Central America as well as recording as a leader several highly acclaimed CDs, including ‘World’, ‘Duets with Ghosts’, ‘Portal’ and ‘Emerge’. His ensemble received the prestigious Chamber Music America/ASCAP ‘Adventurous Programming Award’. Daniel Kelly has been a Lincoln Center Institute Repertory Performing Artist since 2002.

MICHAEL O'BRIEN: BASS

Michael O’Brien has been performing and composing internationally for over a decade with such notables as Harry Connick Jr., Ruben Blades, The Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Gene Pitney, Dave King, Ted Nash, Ari Hoenig, Matt Wilson, Joshua Breakstone, Elliot Zigmund, Todd Reynolds, Bruce Barth, Marc Anderson to name a few. He has performed at many major festivals including the Lincoln Center Festival, IAJE (International Jazz Educators conference) PASIC (Percussive Arts Societies International Convention) and the American Composers Forum. His compositions and arrangements have been recorded by leading figures in the jazz and music world while his string quartet arrangement of ‘Pine’ was performed at the Kennedy Center. Michael O’Brien has taught at clinics and master classes throughout the United States and in Europe.

VINCENT ECTOR: DRUMS

Vincent Ector is one of the leading drummers on the jazz scene today. A listing of major artists he has worked with in concert and on recordings reads like a ‘who’s who’ in the world of jazz. Among these are such as Freddie Hubbard, Randy Weston, Hank Jones, Charles Earland, James Moody, Slide Hampton, Jimmy Heath, Gloria Lynne, Bobby Watson, Lou Donaldson, Grover Washington Jr, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Joey DeFrancesco, Pat Martino, Ron Carter, Claudio Roditi, The Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars and Shirley Scott. He performs regularly in New York City with ensembles such as The Charles Mingus Orchestra and Big Band, The George Gee Orchestra and his own band in such venues as The Iridium, Dizzy’s Coca Cola and the Jazz Standard. Vicent Ector has performed at the world’s leading jazz festivals and jazz clubs.

NEIL CLARKE: LATIN PERCUSSION

A legendary performer of percussion instruments for over 40 years, Neil Clarke’s skill and artistry has taken him on numerous occasions to North, West and South Africa, Latin America, The Caribbean, Europe, Asia, the South Pacific, and much of the USA. In addition to his long association of more than 13 years with Harry Belafonte, Neil Clarke has toured and recorded with such notable artists as Randy Weston, Benny Powell, Dianne Reeves, David Sanborn, Miriam Makeba, Paul Winter, Arthur Prysock, Alex Blake, Talib Kibwe, Onaje Allen Gumbs, Letta Mbulu, Carlos Garnet, The Spirit Ensemble, Noel Pointer, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The International African American Ballet and many others. He performed in the Broadway production of Timbuktu and the feature film Beat Street as well as numerous television appearances on both network and cable presentations.

ROSWELL RUDD: TROMBONE

A major figure in the world of jazz and other music genres, Roswell Rudd was voted as ‘Trombonist of the Year’ several times by the Jazz Journalists Association. His many albums have been nominated for Grammy awards and by Downbeat magazine’s annual critics poll as one of the best releases of the year. In the 1960s, Rudd was a key player in the free jazz movement, working with such legendary artists as Archie Shepp, Steve Lacy, Cecil Taylor, Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Larry Coryell and Gato Barbieri. His albums as a sideman include recordings with such as Carla Bley, Robin Kenyatta, Albert Ayler, Gary Peacock, John Tchicai, Charlie Haden, New York Art Quartet, Eddie Gomez, Ben Riley, Richard Davis, Mal Waldron, Barry Harris and numerous others. He has performed throughout the world as leader, in master classes, workshops and lectures. His current activities include performances in the Latin field with Hispanic musicians, tours and performances in such exotic places as Mali, recording and touring with the Mongolian Buryat Band;  and as a featured guest with a myriad of musicians, not always ‘jazz’ musicians. In 2000, Rudd was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in composition.

SANDRO ALBERT: GUITAR

Mostly self taught, at the age of 14 Brazilian guitar virtuoso Sandro Albert bought his first guitar from an ice cream vendor in the Brazilian city of Porto Allegre. Not long afterwards, a friend began to share his jazz collection with him, resulting in some of his early influences such as Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis, and Brazilian icons Milton Nascimento and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Equally gifted as a composer as well as guitarist, his activities over the past decade include performances with his quartet at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scott’s in London, the Catalina Bar and Grill, Yoshi’s and the Blue Note. He has performed and recorded as a sideman with such notable figures in music as Airto Moriera, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Garrett, Rita Cooledge, Flora Purim, Milton Nascimento, Herb Albert, Bill Charlap and Claudio Roditi. Sandro Albert recently released his fourth album, ‘Vertical’, showcasing his incredible writing talents as well as his solo skills, His earlier albums as leader include ‘Soulful People’, ‘The Color of Things’ and ‘A Beautiful Cloudy Day’, all of which received outstanding praise from music critics.

Here's a brief video of the recording session for BASSOON GOES LATIN JAZZ!

Reviews of Bassoon Goes Latin Jazz!:

Click the quotes below to read the full review:

'Smith turns in another excellent showing'

‘One of the most intriguing CDs'

'SMITH'S BEST ALBUM YET!'

‘This CD is no novelty!'

‘Debuts out of the box chartbound!'

‘Proves this unlikely woodwind a worth jazz solo instrument'

‘Brings the bassoon into the mainstream of solo jazz instruments'

‘Allows the beautiful sound of the bassoon to be fully appreciated’

‘Latin jazz at its best’

‘Bassoon rarely seen but delightfully heard in jazz’

‘Popularized the bassoon like Eric Dolphay popularized the bass clarinet’

‘Ramps up his accomplishments in jazz’

‘Bassoonist Daniel Smith offers a Latin jazz feast’

‘When Smith catch fire …… the results are inspiring’

‘Smith can swing, flow fine improvisational lines, and make his bassoon seem right at home in jazz!’

‘A great CD!’

‘Compels while maintaining its drive’

‘Smith steals the show...... the man plays the hell out of the bassoon’

‘His improvisations are fearless’

’Shows how he can synthesize mainstream jazz playing and adapt it with success to his instrument’

'At the forefront of using the instrument in the front line...... highly recommended’

‘Smith makes the case that the bassoon is a bona-fide instrument of jazz’

‘An artist whose future will be awaited with bated breath...... Bassoon Goes Latin Jazz! is a magnificent recording’