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Gino Amato \u2013 Latin Crossroads 2 (Ovation Records, 2025)<\/p>\n
Gino Amato doubles down on his passion for Latin Jazz on Latin Crossroads 2<\/a><\/em>, co-produced with four-time Grammy winner Oscar Hern\u00e1ndez, a fantastic pianist who also steers the music direction. The concept remains disarmingly simple. Amato collects classic songs from various traditions, ranging from western classical music and the American songbook to rock and jazz. He adds masterfully crafted arrangements for instruments and vocals; and tops it off with Latin spice and pulse.<\/p>\n Amato\u2019s \u201cold-school\u201d style favors melody and counterpoint, built to lock with the clave rather than ride on novelty. The vocalists are all wonderful jazz singers with clean voicings. The awesome band features a mix of musicians from the fields of jazz, Latin music and world music<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reimagined standards such as \u201cTangerine\u201d and \u201cSomeone to Watch Over Me\u201d gain fresh lift through smart reharmonization and rhythmic inflection, while Paul Simon\u2019s hit \u201cMe and Julio Down by the Schoolyard\u201d and Rimsky-Korsakov\u2019s \u201cScheherazade\u201d turn into sly groove vehicles without losing their storytelling heart and soul.<\/p>\n