Patchwork


    There is a universal flow to this refined album that sees Jerez-Texas team up some outstanding guests such as the vocalists Ester Andujar and Abdoulaye N’Diaye, the percussionist Osvaldo Jorge and the accordionist Carlos Sanchis. The French-Hispanic mixture at the band’s core is thus enhanced in a tapestry that claims to follow the architectural design of an Andalucian patio, “bursting with light, blending the heat of the sun with the coolness of the water, the finely sculpted stones and the luxuriance of the vegetation.”
    Grandiose words penned in by Gabriel Omnès for the sleeve notes, yet not pretentious ones when put side-by-side with these eleven original compositions. They harmonise jazz and flamenco with effortless grace, enhanced by crystalline vocal exercises in Spanish or Wolof in songs like “In-finito” or the title track. Esteve, Saglio and Gimeno thus instil a feeling that a new folklore is being re-invented around the time-and-tested repertoires from southern Spain. Ester Andujar’s scats and N’Diaye’s sober poems from Senegal project the classic compositions onto an international stage that has recently become sensitive to the pioneering dimension of this group.
    The first album by Jerez-Texas, Sao, already woke up the critics to the band’s capabilities after its release in 2005. Patchwork is likely to confirm their first impressions with its confident kaleidoscope of influences. Added to this, there is a certain degree of audacity that the trio displays when, for example, they put classic solos like “Bajo los Naranjos” side-by-side with a traditional song like “Sarao Mediterraneo”, belted out by the folklore singer Josep Aparicio ‘Apa’. And, like the discreet entrances to the patios around the Mediterranean, do not be misled by appearances: a sober and unimaginative outside wall (the album cover) can hide a treasure-trove of sensations, guided by new and surprising architectural designs (the lyrical and compositional innovations in this 47 minute CD).

March 19th

Daniel Brown

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