I had the honor of working with guitarist Neff Irizarry and his band on this very special Latin Jazz project entitled "Nepenthe". I was attracted to the compositions immediately and I was very interested in the context that is was being presented. Latin music, in general, is not centered around the guitar.  The piano is usually the main melodic instrument with the bass and percussion in rhythmic support.

Here with Neff Irizarry and Nepenthe,  we have a unique blend of structure and improvisation with the guitar playing the role of the main melodic structure with the support of the bass, percussion and to add yet another unique element, we have a solo saxophonist, Jamie M. Harris, embellishing the melodicism of the guitar with the hot swirling grooves of drummer, Jartsa Karvonen and percussionist Pete Korpela. To that we added an atmospheric element, provided by electronic keyboards. This, in my opinion, was the icing on the cake and brought a mysteriously open and fresh cinematic coloring to this infectious and alluring recording.

With that in mind, I was extremely excited and interested to visit Finland and record at Millbrook Studios in Helsinki with a very talented recording engineer, Juha Heininen.

All in all, I hope that you enjoy this very innovative Latin Jazz creation by Neff Irizarry and Nepenthe which combines the earthy and rich Latin rhythms of Cuba and Puerto Rico surrounded by a vibrant panoramic score.

Peace and Harmony

Jimmy Haslip, producer

SOUND BYTES

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