Nelson Riveros – The Latin Side of Wes Montgomery (Zoho, 2021)
Nelson Riveros, an excellent American guitarist born to Colombian parents, reimagines the music of influential jazz guitar virtuoso Wes Montgomery with a Latin American edge. “I started to hear all kind of rhythms, bass lines, and melodic variations to some of his tunes,” describes Riveros. “The next day, I started writing arrangements, and this very project began to take shape.”
Riveros and a band featuring top Jazz and Latin Jazz musicians play familiar Wes Montgomery pieces using irresistible rhythms and styles from various countries in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking America such as son montuno and tumbao from Cuba; Colombian porro; samba, afoxé and baiao from Brazil; and joropo, which is found in both Colombia and Venezuela.
The band: Nelson Riveros on guitar; Hector Martignon on piano; Andy McKee on bass; Mark Walker on drums; and Jonathan Gómez on percussion.
Buy The Latin Side of Wes Montgomery
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.