Jose Duque's ZUMBATRES: Press

For the majority of listeners, the title of this album will perfectly describe the sensations of listening to these tunes, which conjure another place. By taking the traditional jazz trio -- piano, bass and drums -- and adding guitar, drummer and leader Jose Duque paints impressionistic and experimental post-bop musical pictures with a very Latin base. "Danilo" echoes 1960s Blue Note together with the rhythms of Cuba. The title cut is not reminiscent of any specific place, but it causes musical travel to somewhere warm and breezy.

Recorded at Waterway Production Studios in Dover, New Hampshire (practically neighbors of mine), Far Away sounds as lush, rich, and expansive as the music on it. Each instrument is well represented in both style and tonal balance. Image placement is also well handled. I have found that the fewer instruments recorded, the easier it is to get them down correctly, and this disc proves that point. Three additional live tracks sound different from the studio ones while sharing the same overall sonic quality.

Small labels such as this one are beginning to become the place to look for new jazz recorded in realistic sound. You'll have to search some to find such recordings, but they're out there -- and worth finding.

As implied, the music on “Far Away” bridges the gap between the very different musical environments of New England and Duque’s home country of Venezuela. Upbeat Latin rhythms recall the drummer’s South American roots, while an assemblage of local musicians and odd time signatures bring a unique edge to the tunes.

The result is an album with a richness of culture and emotion that surprises even the artist, who wrote the songs in a spirit of longing for home.

A drummer struggling to succeed thousands of miles from his home, Duque said he recorded “Gathering in Blue” at a time when he was feeling angry, but surprised himself by creating a smooth and melodic album. This time, he approached the songwriting process feeling sad and nostalgic. The peppy rhythms that resulted left him baffled.

“This album I was definitely feeling homesick, feeling sad, and the actual music that came out is really, really, upbeat music, so it’s really funny,” he said. “I will have to think of different moods and see what comes out,” he added with a laugh.

The new CD also features an entirely different lineup of instrumentalists from the previous release, with Dan Shure on piano and keyboards, Nate Therrien on acoustic bass and Phil Sargent on guitar.

The group helped bring to life six compositions, and the drummer was invigorated to discover that the songs he wrote sounded as good in the studio as they did in his head.

Midwest Record Recap.

JOSE DUQUE'S ZUMBATES/Far Away: Progressive jazz by way of Venezuela and
detoured through France is the vibe that propels the work of this South
American drummer that has the world at his fingertips. The kind of jazz
that seems right at home on the dance floor, this is party music for people
that want more than booty tracks to groove to. With a upbeat vibe that just
keeps coming, the emotional playing here reaches out and grabs you making
you stay til the end of the party. Fun stuff that opens the ears.

Zumbatres is a seasoned Latin Jazz group led by Venezuelan-born percussionist Jose R. Duque who penned seven original tunes for this second album of upbeat Latin Jazz rhythms influenced by Venezuelan grooves. The CD contains three bonus tracks recorded live at the Press Room in Portsmouth, NH. The last two tracks being repeat live versions of the first two studio recorded tunes.


Zumbatres was originally a trio of Duque on the drums, pianist Dan Sure and bassist Nate Therrien. The band later expanded with the addition of renowned jazz guitarist Phil Sargent and on this particular recording also includes a special guest appearance by Annegret Baier playing the congas on three selected numbers.

Don’t expect a typical Latin jazz sound because the music here is somewhat special as the press clippings indicate “…concept of blending borders and crossing boundaries…” You will not hear the sounds of the timbales, saxophone, the horns or the bones, it’s the basic rhythm instruments like the piano, guitar and of course the drums that produce the classy Latin jazz music that distinguishes this recording.

The music opens up with the heavy Latin/salsa beat of “Danilo” that sets the stage for the rest of the album. Duque takes charge with pronounced and forceful pounding of the skins and cymbals on the percussive title cut. By far the most outstanding composition on this disc has to be the light and jazzy “At Last,” where pianist Sure leads the band with an intricate dance on the keys wrapped around a simple Latin rhythm diced by the drum beat of Baier’s congas culminating in a wonderful rhythm-based romp. This cut is so good that I play it often.

Guitarist Sargent weighs in with an exquisite performance on the spicy “El Gato Enmo-Chill Out.” The album rounds out with “Gathering In Blue,” the last original and one of the three tracks recorded live and the live encore performances of “Danilo” and the title tune. Far Away is a unique percussive expression of some beautiful mellow Latin Jazz music played for the soul, with a touch of salsa and to the heart. Mr. Duque and his Zumbatres crew provide an engaging performance.


Year: 2006
Label: ZumbaoArt Productions
Artist Web: www.zumbaotrio.com

Intriguing compositions that eschew French Impressionism and Latin culture, “Far Away” is free jazz with organic flow and soft harmonies. Extraordinarily gifted musicians, their energy lends “Far Away” a propulsion of a high magnitude. You gotta love the salsa flavors stirred in.
- J-Sin

With a pedigree of influences that includes straightforward Venezuelan percussion, progressive rock, and the Berklee College of Music, Jose Duque's latest album is a mass of Latin jazz with touches of everything from jazz-rock fusion to modern electronica. The core of the album is essentially modern jazz with influences of Latin music in general, but of Caribbean-Venezuelan music specifically. Although the compositions are originals, the standard pieces of comping and riffing native to Latin jazz make portions of the album seem derivative. This is, of course, somewhat the case with most new Latin jazz outings. Also as is the case with most new Latin jazz outings, the performances are what save the album from being cast into oblivion otherwise. Here, there is strong playing from pianist Dan Shure (which progresses into Moby-esque ambient sounds when called for), some otherworldly guitar solos courtesy of Phil Sargent, and some very nice flamenco-inspired percussion (cajon and handclaps) from both Duque himself and guest Annegret Baler. The end result is an album which is not particularly groundbreaking, but is still worth a listen for fans of modern jazz and Latin jazz. It walks the line between the two genres well without quite making waves in either.

José Duque's Zumbatres, Far Away (2006)
Who knew Portsmouth, New Hampshire, was home to a quality Latin jazz band? Venezuelan-born percussionist/leader Duque wrote all nine tunes, and while most of them are fairly lively ("Rumbatres"), he shows a talent for sensitive but not sappy ballad composition on the dreamy verse section of "Far Away." At the same time, the tunes can be lacking in originality ("El Gato Enmo" sounds a lot like "Nature Boy" - until the acid jazz "Chill Out" outro, at least). Pianist Dan Shure has a sure hand on the salsa vamps, and is equally deft as a soloist, where he comes out of a more-or-less straight jazz bag. While the acoustic bass can get buried in Latin jazz, the lack of a horn section and Duque's light touch leaves room for Nate Therrien to be heard, and he claims his space without showboating. Electric guitarist Phil Sargent plays in the Wes Montgomery-inspired style of eighth notes in a steady cadence and unvarying tone; it's not my cup of tea but he's up to standard. The disc comes with three live performances as bonus tracks; the band (Sargent especially) really shines on "Gathering In Blue") though they get a bit lost on the ensemble sections of "Danilo." Find out more at Duque's web site. (DBW)

Surrounding himself with a new ensemble than in his previous Gathering in Blue project, Venezuelan-born and New Hampshire-based Jose Duque, comes back with a great new album that brings out his Latin roots to the surface. In spite of the nostalgic theme of the album, where he longs for friends, family and city, the overall feel of Zumbatres (to be available for sale online very soon through CD Baby) is much groovier than Jose's previous work. Six new studio tracks cement his love for Latin and Venezuelan grooves and blend them impeccably with his equally powerful influences stemming from Bill Bruford, Pat Metheny and other jazz legends. Three live tracks recorded earlier this year wrap up the album in style leaving you with a fun flavor in the mouth and itching for getting up and dancing. When you listen to Zumbatres, you just feel you are listening to some of the best Latin jazz today.

Reviewer: Juancho Gil / Musica Ilimitada - 107.7 FM - Merida, Venezuela
When Jose told me that his latest production is about to be released, I asked him if is as good as "Gathering in blue" and he answered "Is BETTER". Now that I heard "Far Away" for the 6th time in 6 hours, I couldn't agree more; I called him to congrat the band for that fine work and to told him that he surely is a good teacher: the musicians play like latinos...! An excellent ensamble of rhythms and sounds. PS: Jose, while I'm writing this, my 2.5 years old dauther just told me, dancing, "Papito, que bella esa musica - quien es?"

What do you get when you combine the subtlety of French Impressionism with the rhythmic flare of south american culture?

Jose Duque's drums and compositions (he wrote six of the songs in the album) managed to seamlessly blend a host of musical styles and influences in his 'Gathering in Blue', with the aid of some great musicians. The sound of Chris Weisman's guitar reminisces of Pat Metheny as much as it brings other great guitarists to mind, such as Bill Frisell and Ry Cooder. The sax of Chel Illingworth doesn't lag behind, putting the stamp of great jazz music to Jose's production. Jeff Auger's delivers chords that range from outright latin-flavored (with the aid of percussion) to straight up jazz, fusing with Jesse Stern's impeccable bass work and Chel's horn in a way that brought to mind some of King Crimson's flirting with jazz during their 'Islands' period, or Bill Bruford's "Earthworks".All in all, the album, with a very acoustic flavor all throughout its seven solid tracks, leaves you with a feel of completeness and knowing you've heard some music that not only breaks style boundaries in a succesful fashion, but also brings Venezuelan Jose Duque's to the front of the jazz territory. My favorites, hands down: the opening theme, "Where The Heart Is" and the contagious last song.

The recording has a nice, warm , live-in-the-studio vibe that is often missing from studio recordings these days. The tunes evoke a variety of moods and, overall, they’re very tight. Tunes like “horizonte’ and “counterpoint café” have a nice Pat Metheny-influenced sound, while the title cut, “gathering in Blue” sounds like it’s straight out of the book of Bill Bruford’s Earthworks band, with its use of odd meters before settling into a burning Songo or Afro-Cuban groove. Yet these influences are more implied than derivative. “Where the heart is” a beautiful ballad on the Spanish Tango Flamenco(not to be confused with the Argentinean Tango) features some of the deepest and most meaningful writing on the CD. The recording closes with a burning samna, “azucar pa’l alma”. Overall this is a fine debut from an equally fine group of musicians. And it serves as a notice that the future of the local jazz scene is in assured and capable hands-those of musicians like Jose Duque and his ZumbaTres. Alan Chase, The Wire, Portsmouth NH