02.She's Dirty as a Boy
03.Anodyne of Muddledom
04.Nuyorican Son
05.Whatever You Want from Me
06.Paradise in Trouble
07.Your Inside Out
08.On Whatever Day of the Week Saturday Happens to Fall
09.Jazzy
10.Dr. Syo
11.Money Is the Future Tense - (Remix, remix).
Chris Washburne - trombone and percussion
John Walsh - trumpet and flügelhorn
Ole Mathisen - tenor and soprano saxophone
Barry Olsen piano, electric keyboards, trombone
Leo Traversa - bass
Vince Cherico - drums and percussion
Wilson "Chembo" Corniel - congas and hand percussion
Bobby Sanabria percussion on all tracks, drums on tracks 8 and 10
Renato Thoms - bongos on tracks 3 and 6
Special Guests:
Valerie Dee Naranjo - gyil, djembe, and kpanlogo drums on tracks 1, 7, 10, 11
Bernard Woma - Gyil on tracks 7 and 10
Ruth Sergel - bells and hand claps on tracks 1 and 11
Roberto Jose Sanabria hand claps on tracks 1 and 11
Gary Dallaire hand claps on tracks 1 and 11.
Recording information: Bennett Studios, Englewood, NJ (08/20/2002-08/22/2002).
Chris Washburne and his Syotos Band are very special. This would be just an opinion — however accurate — if it weren't for the fact that they've maintained long-term weekly gigs at a top jazz club (Smoke) and a top Latin club (Nuyorican Poets Cafe), the latter for eight years. Recently, they added Tuesdays at a top blues club (B.B. King's). These gigs are notable for two reasons: one, in the current dismal climate of New York's clubs, getting one weekly date is a major accomplishment, even for the very talented. And two, the breadth of the venues — jazz, Latin, and blues — reflects this band's appeal across conventional musical borders.
Paradise in Trouble is an exciting, crackling, danceable mix of Latin rhythms and percussion with jazz, funk, R&B, hiphop, gospel, Caribbean, and Afro-Cuban, with occasional Slavic and Middle Eastern moments. Ten tracks are catchy, varied Washburne originals; one, the powerhouse "Jazzy," is by legendary Willie Colon. All of them are expertly arranged and delivered, swinging and gleeful. The stage is set by the infectious opener, "Money is the Future Tense," which returns in a driving house-music remix as the closer. The combinations are intriguing: "Dirty as a Boy" (Cuban son and hip-hop), "Your Inside Out" (with its nine-beat rhythm from Zimbabwe), "Dr. Syo," (jazz and the African gyil, a mallet instrument made from gourds and wood), "Paradise in Trouble" (funk meets mambo). With its blazing horns, great percussion, joyful energy, and memorable melodies, this is a great party disc.
Note: SYOTOS stands for "see you on the other side," a wry and triumphant reference to Washburne's recovery from cancer.
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