Michael Spiro and Wayne Wallace: Canto América

When approaching the development of the next album in their continued long-running collaboration, percussionist Michael Spiro and trombonist Wayne Wallace purposely set out to create a record that pushed the boundaries pre-ordained by the Latin jazz industry at large. Fusing classical jazz persuasions with Afro-Caribbean flavor and tinges of modern-day funk, it can be said without a doubt that that goal was achieved on a consistent level throughout the album, even introducing spots of electronic synth to compositions such as “La Propaganda de Hoy” to expand their musical outlooks to greater limits and surprise long-time appreciators. With that said, the mileage that this album receives on a listener-to-listener basis will depend on the person; this isn’t one of Spiro and Wallace’s master-craft contributions to their respective scene, but rather a demonstration of proof positive that the scene is capable of expansion. There are beauty and exuberance to be found on this latest record and it still remains a worthy listen, but its more chaotic outbursts refrain it from being a tremendous overall addition to their catalog.