CELEBRATING DIVERSITY IN RHYTHM.

• Author: Holston, Mark

Calle 54

(Blue Note 32000)

On Calle 54, the soundtrack to the Miramax film of the same name, Academy Award-winning Spanish film director Fernando Trueba taps a wealth of Latin American talent for this joyful exploration of the Latin jazz movement.

Trueba became infatuated with the style while directing his 1995 feature film Too Much, which boasted an original score and performance by Dominican pianist Michel Camillo. Calle 5.4, the film, is the result of Trueba's highly personal investigation of his newfound love of improvised music with a Latin tinge. The one-hundred-minute feature is built around twelve exquisitely filmed performances, each treated to its own highly distinctive, elegantly crafted visual interpretation. The soundtrack, which reflects the same high standards in its audio qualities, is of particular interest both for its effective blend of styles that are not typically featured on the same recording and the inclusion of definitive performances by a handpicked cast of world-famed artists.

The late Tito Puente, renowned as the King of the Mambo and a leading exponent of Afro Cuban-style Latin jazz for half a century, is featured in one of the last documented performances of his life with such all-stars as flutist Dave Valentin and conguero Giovanni Hidalgo. The renowned Brazilian pianist and Sao Paulo native Eliane Elias presents her culture's perspective on this stylistically inclusive genre, while Camilo, Argentine saxophonist Leandro "Gato" Barbieri, and Cuban woodwind artist Paquito D'Rivera bring their own highly evolved personal visions to this ingratiating style.

Trueba visits his homeland to sample Spain's exhilarating nuevo flamenco movement through the charismatic performance of Chano Dominguez's group. A reunion of Cuban pianist Jesus "Chucho" Valdes and his legendary father, Bebo, now a resident of Sweden, and the presentation of Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill's Latin Jazz Orchestra are emotional and artistic high points of both the film and its accompanying soundtrack.

Ricardo Arjona Galeria Caribe

(Sony Discos 195537)

Guatemala native Arjona celebrates the diversity of Caribbean culture on this smooth, exquisitely crafted collection of pop-flavored ballads and dance tracks, each given its own distinctive personality through the participation of such guest artists as Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, the Venezuelan salsa group Guaco, and Puerto Rican singer Ednita Nazario.

Arjona is a persuasive vocalist and accomplished...