The Alec Castro Octet
Paseo
The Alec Castro Octet is an accomplished ensemble of talented musicians exploring various currents of jazz music. Their creativity pushes them to experiment with different styles and sonic textures come up often going outside the lines of what people normally sees and hears in this genre.
The outfit’s most recent release is a very kaleidoscopic studio endeavor which features eight original songs for a grand total of 43 minutes of music. The opening title track is the perfect beginning come up creating a very warm mood. The recordings have a smooth, vintage vibe, which echoes some of the greatest heyday jazz recordings. The track list is extremely diverse, and the band shows its diverse dynamics on songs such as “Waltz for Carmen,” as well as “Funkallero,” only to mention but a few. “Freckles” is one of my favorite moments on this album, which highlights the band’s ability to play off of each musician’s skills and feature so many dynamic variations to their music.
