Music arranger Gino Amato strikes Latin-jazz gold with Latin Crossroads 2. Co-produced by Gino Amato and Oscar Hernández, the 11-track album features a wide range of musicians. The important aspect here is that Latin Crossroads 2 features select classics from the Great American Songbook newly revived with a decidedly Latin, Salsa and Merengue beat. These are songs that have weathered ages and eras and this new spin is both stimulating and exhilarating.

Central to Latin Crossroads 2 is the wide range of singers featured. Another aspect is that these singers not only take lead vocals but also harmonize voices with impressive precision. Believe it or not, one of the first images that came to mind is the 5-part vocal harmony that Brian Wilson often directed with the Beach Boys and also on his solo projects. Of course, most of the songs here are timeless standards, composed before the Wilson pop-rock era of the 1960s and ‘70s. The wide-sweeping vocalizations on the album can be best appreciated on the tracks “Moonlight In Vermont” (written in 1944) and “Tangerine” (1941).

Another stacked vocal approach can also be appreciated on the Latin Crossroads 2 cover of the Gershwin brothers classic “Someone To Watch Over Me”, written in 1926 and featuring singer Janis Siegel, an early member of Manhattan Transfer. Interestingly, the album starts off with a rousing Latinized cover of “Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard”, from Paul Simon’s self-titled first album from 1971, here featuring trading lead vocals from Arnold McCuller and Matt Cusson.

Many vocalists appear, and the cast of supporting musicians is amazing, including Joe Locke (vibes) and Randy Brecker, who adds trumpet to the only instrumental here, a cover of “Scheherazade” composed by Russian composer Rimsky-Korsakov, (written in 1888). Producers Amato and Hernández are also excellent pianists and appear throughout. The drums by Vince Cherico is also first rate.

Latin Crossroads 2 is a masterpiece of timeless classics, proving the Latin sound is still among the most colorful, easy-going sounds on the global music scene.  ovation-records.com

 

RMR presents an interview with Gino Amato

RMR: How did you meet Oscar Hernández and what was your combined approach and mission to Latin Crossroads 2? How would you compare the first Latin Crossroads with the second?

Gino Amato: I was introduced to Oscar through two mutual friends we had Bob Mann and Allan Schwartzberg. They owned Deep Diner Studios where I was working at the time. I had brought in several of my arrangements and they suggested that I contact Oscar because he was the man to see regarding Latin music. They were correct. We got along right away and have been friends ever since.

Our intention for the entire Latin Crossroads project is to make this wonderful Latin genre of music more accessible to the general public. There are so many people who enjoy Latin music, just the sound of it, but can’t understand a word of Spanish. This is part of the reason we use American standards and sing in English.

Our focus and approach to Latin Crossroads 2 was to take the next logical step after our first release and take it to the next level so to speak. My thought was to explore more vocal harmony as I love it so much. There is certainly vocal harmonization in the first release, but Latin Crossroads 2 takes it to the next level. I believe you would enjoy our first release. It got great critical reviews and a lot of airplay. It was also picked up by SiriusXM.

 

RMR: Tell us about your piano you and Oscar play on the album, what make and model and do you play other keyboards? How long have you been playing piano and what other instruments do you play?

Gino Amato: The piano Oscar and I used was a Yamaha Conservatory C7 Grand Piano. It is an absolute joy to play. The piano action is smooth as silk and it has a beautiful warm sound yet still able to cut through for that Latin sound. We do play other keyboards, of course, but that particular Yamaha C7 at Mozart Studios is absolutely beautiful.

I myself have been playing the piano since I was about 14 or 15 years old. I have experimented with different instruments during my college years such as saxophone and the trumpet, but never really got that far so I just focused on the piano.

 

RMR: It’s amazing how well the standards are revived, or Latin-ized so to speak, on Latin Crossroads 2. What tracks stand out the most for you? I was pleasantly surprised by the Paul Simon cover of “Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard”. It’s one of his lesser known classics but sounds very revved up on the Latin Crossroads 2 version.

Gino Amato: It is hard for me to say which particular track stands out the most for me because as far as I’m concerned, they’re all my children. If you were to press me on that issue, I guess I would have to say “I Only Have Eyes For You” as I think that is such a unique and different take on a standard. It’s just something that came to me as I sat at the piano and tinkled with it. I thought “Mmmm…..this could work.” I’ve never heard that song presented that way before.

That said, they are all my favorites as they are all unique and special in their own way which was my intent when I created the arrangements.

I’m a huge Paul Simon fan and “Me and Julio” was always one of my favorites. I thought it would be great if I could turn an already great song into something different and fun. I wanted “Me and Julio” to be a fun party type song. By the way, what were he and Julio doing down by the schoolyard that required a radical priest to get them released? Guess I’ll have to ask Paul.

 

RMR: Who assembled the musicians that appear on Latin Crossroads 2? It seems like you have the cream of the crop including Joe Locke, Ira Siegel and Randy Brecker to name a few. How did you record these great players? Was some done live or was there overdubbing?

Gino Amato: The musicians we used on both the first Latin Crossroads and Latin Crossroads 2 are all the top notch musicians in the country. Each one great in their own way. They are an aggregate assembly of people that both Oscar and I have worked with down through the years. People that we know are totally professional and will come to the studio always bringing their “A” game. So we do have a history of working with them and a history of trust on both sides, of course. Randy wasn’t able to be at that session so he did record his part later.

Oscar and I are both old school as far as recording goes so we like to record with everyone at the session and recorded all the instrument tracking live. The majority of songs on both projects were recorded in one or two takes. There was some fixing here or there, but we moved through the songs fairly quickly in the sessions. The vocals, of course, were recorded later after we had mixed the instruments. Both the lead vocals, and the background vocals came in on later sessions.

 

RMR: How do you and Oscar share the piano sound and can you compare the shared production and arrangements on the album? What is the difference between producing, arranging and musical direction on the album?

Gino Amato: Oscar and I shared the piano duties because as I do enjoy playing, but I also enjoy conducting. Oscar is such a great piano player with a great feel for the music. These arrangements are right in his wheelhouse and I think his musical acumen and his piano playing abilities brought quite a lot to the table. He has lived this music his entire life and has a very organic feel to his playing.

All the arrangements on the CD are mine except “Windmills Of Your Mind.” Oscar and I both love that song and I thought he would do a killer arrangement which he did, and Matt Cusson‘s vocal on it is just off the charts.

The difference between producing, arranging, and musical direction on the album is a long answer, but I’ll try to be brief. Arranging, technically is the business of putting the notes on the paper that is to tell each individual player what to play, and when to play it, you also choose the instrumentation and the feel and direction of the song of how you want to present it. So certainly arranging can include musical direction because you are deciding how to present an old song in a new way.

The “producing” of music is a very broad definition. In our particular sense here, producing means choosing the right players that will give you the sound you’re looking for. Soloists that you know will be great and add a special magic to the track. Maybe adding various percussion instruments or parts that will change the direction of a song, change the feel of it. Deciding what songs should have a fade out ending, deciding what vocalists are best for that particular arrangement. Maybe changing various nuances throughout the song such as the way a vocalist sings a line, etc. In our project when I was playing the piano, Oscar would conduct, and vice versa.

 

RMR: What were some of your early musical influences including jazz, rock and pop? What are a few of your favorite classic albums?

Gino Amato: Some of my early influences were Bill Evans, Errol Garner, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Papo Lucca in Latin, Joe Sample. In pop music, Steely Dan was a big influence on me. They also used great players and were very precise about their music. There is virtually nothing that Donald Fagan and Walter Becker did that I don’t like.

They really stand out to me as icons of the industry. I must’ve worn out two vinyl records of Aja listening to it ad infinitum. I also thought Elton John had a very unique style of playing. I remember enjoying “Ticking” quite a bit. I remember listening to the album Friends by Chick Corea over and over. It was such a great album with such great players, Joe Farrell, Eddie Gomez, Steve Gadd.

 

RMR: The Rimsky-Korsakov cover of “Scheherazade” is the only instrumental on Latin Crossroads 2. How did you rediscover that track as it’s 125 years old? Do you have a different approach to recording vocal and instrumental music? Would you consider more instrumentals on future albums? Do you see Latin Crossroads 2 as an ongoing series and what other future plans are on the table?

Gino Amato: A good portion of my life was devoted to playing classical music and I still love it today. “Scheherazade” has always been one of my favorites as I find the melodies that Rimsky-Korsakov uses are so beautiful and haunting. I still listen to it today. I thought “I wonder if I could take one of his melodies or portions of them and create a new piece of music yet still retain respect for the original beautiful composition.” I like the way it turned out. Randy did a fabulous job.

I do have a different focus for both vocal and instrumental music as they are different genres, yet my basic approach is still to give each instrument, whether it be a voice or a trumpet, and let them “speak” with their own particular personality. Each voice has something to say, it is its own character, and the general common ear will follow and respond to that throughout any given composition or piece of music.

I certainly may consider another instrumental or two on a future album, but we haven’t talked about it yet. That said, I do see Latin Crossroads as an ongoing series/franchise as I feel I have so much more to say. Could there be a Latin Crossroads 3? We’ll see…