Jaime Valle – ‘Round Midnight – Top Music

by | Oct 9, 2007 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews | 0 comments

Jaime Valle – ‘Round Midnight – Top Music Stereo-only SACD TM-SACD1013.2, 38:36 ****:

Hadn’t heard of this guitarist before, but he shines in the 9 tracks here, and is backed up by ten top sidemen, including people such as Ernie Watts on sax and Alex Acuna on percussion. Valle arranged all the tunes himself except one, and dedicated the album “to all the great musicians whose soulful and inspirational sounds captured my heart…”

Most of the tune arrangements have a Latin beat, with congas and other such percussion. Valle has a straightforward style without any wild flights or digressions, sailing along above the pervasive Latin groove. The choice of tunes is a bit pedestrian. Ernie Watts takes a great solo on Here With You, and Alan Phillips and half the band really shake up Tapachula with congas and various vocal sounds. Sonics are extremely clean and transparent.  With all the varied Latin percussion it would seem that 5.0 surround would be a natural for this SACD.  However, I found that ProLogic II provided an excellent surround field if you want more envelopment and are set up for it.

TrackList: Cry Me a River, Here With You, ‘Round Midnight, Over the Rainbow, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Equinoz, Angel Eyes, Tapachula, Mambo Zero.

 – John Henry

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