Downtown Tumbao: In a Latin Groove on the Harbor
[photo credit: Nick Moreland]
On several occasions recently, I’ve had the great pleasure of listening to Downtown Tumbao at the Maximon Restaurant in The Four Seasons Hotel on the harbor in Baltimore. A very good Latin jazz group, they have been appearing there on Friday evenings for the past four years.
A gig that has lasted for four years is quite an achievement. And it’s no wonder why. “Tumbao” refers to rhythms in a Latin groove, and “Downtown” suggests sophistication. And Downtown Tumbao indeed provides sophisticated Latin jazz.
Featuring Sarah Taylor Cook, an excellent, easy-going singer; Michael Paxton, an accomplished sax player; Chuco Mendoza, a bass player who appears to have mastered every Latin rhythm; Joshua Jenkins, a skilled and energetic keyboard player; and Bruno Lucini, a solid drummer, this group plays a mix of traditional Latin music from all over Latin America and traditional jazz tunes played with a Latin rhythm.
For example, the show on October 3 opened with “Along Came Betty”, an iconic jazz tune composed by Benny Golson and made famous by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Featuring Paxton on soprano sax, Downtown Tumbao played it as a “guaracha”, a musical genre native to Cuba. New to me but infectious. If Latin can swing, it swung.
The show continued with Cook singing “Vanidad”, which began as a slow Bolero and morphed into a fast Latin. She also sang several other traditional Latin songs with subtle variations of rhythms, including “Sopa de Pichon” as a cha cha, which is also how she does the jazz standard “Lover Man”. Her voice is gentle, beguiling, and always accurate.
Cook’s songs all featured extraordinarily subtle duets between her and Paxton, sometimes on soprano sax, sometimes on tenor. Her songs also featured very strong and inventive solos by Jenkins, who gets a remarkable amount of sound from a very small keyboard. Mendoza and Lucini provide consistently solid solos.
Downtown Tumbao began in Mexico City, where Cook lived for many years before relocating to Baltimore. She is classically trained and learned jazz in New Orleans.
Chuco Mendoza has almost 40 years of performance experience and has played with many leading Latin jazz musicians.
Joshua Jenkins is a recent graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and was the Jazz Ensemble Director of the Coalition for African Americans in Performing Arts.
Michael Paxton has a BA in jazz performance from Towson University and has toured with several jazz and Latin groups.
Bruno Lucini is a Brazilian drummer who performs frequently with various Latin groups.
Downtown Tumbao performs on Fridays beginning at 8 PM at Maximon, an upscale Mexican restaurant with good food and service.
I strongly recommend that you drop in one Friday. Sit in the dining room where the music is played, which is a spacious, comfortable room. You can also hear the music in other dining rooms or in the inside or outside bar. The music, as I’ve said, is a wonderful mix of traditional Latin and traditional jazz tunes played with an array of Latin rhythm. Always a pleasure.
— By Michael Friedman
Michael Friedman is a retired social worker who plays piano and who has become a jazz photographer in his old age. He is the house photographer for Keystone Korner. Michael Friedman Photo Exhibit — Keystone Korner Baltimore). He also plays piano regularly at Benny’s in Baltimore’s Little Italy.