Alex Acuna is a prolific drummer, percussionist, composer, and bandleader who has amassed more than 900 recording credits. After touring with
Perez Prado during the '60s and playing with
Elvis Presley in Las Vegas, he became a member of
Weather Report from 1975 to 1978, playing on
Black Market and
Heavy Weather. He has been a recording and touring sideman to a dazzling array of artists ranging from
Paul McCartney and
Joni Mitchell to
Andre Crouch and
Blondie. In addition to releasing half-a-dozen albums under his own name,
Acuna has played on more than 900 recordings, including soundtracks.
Gifts marks his debut for
Le Coq Records.
The album reunites the drummer/percussionist with his longstanding band
the Unknowns, which includes Venezuelan keyboardist
Otmaro Ruiz, Peruvian guitarist
Ramon Stagnaro, and Nuyorican bassist
John Pena. They are joined by a newcomer, Peruvian saxophone powerhouse
Lorenzo Ferrero. The lineup is buoyed on select tracks by cellist
Giovanna Clayton, trumpeter
Michael Stever, and vocalists
Diana and
Regina Acuna.
Groove is the name of the game on this ten-track set. Opener "In Town" is jaunty as a Fender Rhodes, bumping bassline, and breaking snares create a foundation for the frontline instruments to deliver a sweeping, nearly transcendent lyric line. They rhythm section adds a funky backbeat as
Ferrero delivers a pastoral solo. "Postlude" is rendered with lilting instrumental backdrops along the illustrative head, recalling some of early
Weather Report's smoother moments. The third track is a cover of
WR co-founder
Joe Zawinul's immortal "Mercy Mercy Me" composed while a member of
Cannonball Adderley's legendary sextet. The
Adderley version was a hit single, while this one is deep but fingerpopping, relying more on funky R&B than soul-jazz and offering a killer guitar break from
Stagnaro. Other highlights include "Chuncho," a Latin groover with syncopated horn charts, soaring Afro-Cuban chorus vocals from
Diana and
Regina Acuna, and interlocking percussion from the bandleader. There is also a wonky 12/8 version of
Herbie Hancock's early classic "One Finger Snap" (from 1964's
Empyrean Isles) with elastic swing provided by
Diana's vocal twins with tenor sax as breezy guitar and piano ride above layers of rumbling bass and hand percussion.
Clayton's cello takes the lead in "Divina" with glorious asides from
Ferrero and
Stagnaro. "Regalo" is an atmospheric ballad with sparse yet kaleidoscopic percussion that serves to ground the spectral, shimmering keyboards. On "Melancia"
Stagnaro uses a nylon-string guitar in conjuring a breezy samba, as
Diana's wordless vocals float above
Pena's tumbao bassline while sax and guitar offer a lyric head and melodic fills. Set-closer "Aletin Aletin" weds jazz fusion and slick New York salsa amid a swinging tempo and glorious interplay from the horns. On
Gifts, the 77-year-old
Acuna is a somewhat reserved bandleader; he never longs for the spotlight. Instead, he has his band carry the message in the music on this wonderfully conceived, expertly performed offering. ~ Thom Jurek