Alí Bello & The Sweet Wire Band: Inheritance
Tiger Turn

Alí Bello separates himself from his jazz violin-playing colleagues by grounding his music in the rhythms and musical traditions of Venezuela and the Caribbean. Joined by his Sweet Wire Band and guests Regina Carter, Jaleel Shaw, and others on his sophomore effort Inheritance, the New York-based Bello draws heavily on both the music of his native Venezuela and his adopted country for a set of nine originals filled with the joy of music-making. He's performed with figures such as Johnny Pacheco, José Fajardo, and Paquito D'Rivera and recorded with bands such as Orquesta Broadway and Africando but has extended his reach beyond Latin into tango, flamenco, and salsa too. That broad scope helps make Bello's follow-up to 2013's Connection Caracas – New York the melting pot it is.

Key to the album's sound is the playing of his Sweet Wire crew, keyboardist Gabriel Chakarji, electric bassist Gabriel Vivas, drummer Ismael Baíz, and percussionist Manuel Márquez. Bello himself plays electric and baritone violins in addition to the standard acoustic. His soloing is a constant delight on the album, and one comes away as impressed by his virtuosity as his gift for sweetly lyrical melodies. In addition to co-producing the album with Bello, Kabir Sehgal also contributed informative track-by-track details to the package that identify the particular rhythms and influences at play.

As central to the music as melody and violin are, rhythm is as key, and to that end the bottom end is thoroughly accounted for by the instruments played by Márquez (fulía, cumaco, clarín, paila, bumbac, congas, bongos, güira, bell, maracas) and the maracas Jeremy Smith and Manuel Rangel contribute to a couple of tracks. The critical role rhythm plays is asserted when “Kaleidoscopic Sunset” initiates the album with a driving Afro-Venezuelan groove that sets the stage for the leader's singing violin. Vivas's pulsing electric bass and Chakarji's electric piano flesh out the arrangement before the first of many soaring solos from Bello. Helping him take flight is the enlivening thrust Baíz and Márquez bring to the performance. Slightly less feverish though no less singing is “Heartbeat,” whose warm breeze sees Bello joined by Shaw on soprano sax.

After “Caracas” settles into its Onda Nueva style (which combines elements of jazz and bossa nova), Bello and Chakarji elevate the tune with engaging solo statements. “Jojo” is distinguished by its Caracas-derived Merengue Caraqueño style (in 5/8) and the clarinet and Venezuelan cuatro contributions by Jeff Lederer and Jorge Glem, respectively. An undeniable album highlight is “Song To Marina” for its pairing of Bello with Regina Carter and for the way its relaxed, bolero-styled groove grants the violinists ample opportunity to converse. Rather than approach it as a cutting contest, the two engage in a sultry dance that makes one long to see them re-enact the dialogue onstage.

A subtle hint of jazz fusion seeps into the San Millán rhythms of “Bello's Blues” in Chakarji's careening electro piano and the wah-wah the leader coaxes from electric violin, and don't be surprised if you're reminded of New Orleans when “For All Saints” arrives, even if Afro-Venezuelan rhythms are the primary foundation. The vibe's celebratory, a feel trombonist Eddie Venegas, tenor saxist Javier Olivencia, and, of course, Bello do much to instill. Olivencia returns on the closing “Ousia” to help send the release out on a Calypso-inflected high.

July 2021