Francisco Aguabella

From the Latin jazz imprint of San Francisco-based groove merchant Ubiquity Records comes the latest in a reputable catalog of CDs guaranteed to satisfy. Ochimini is Latin percussion legend Francisco Aguabella's fifth release on the Cubop label. Despite decades of professional performances and a rangy discography that includes dates and...

By Victor Cruz

February 5, 2004

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From the Latin jazz imprint of San Francisco-based groove merchant Ubiquity Records comes the latest in a reputable catalog of CDs guaranteed to satisfy. Ochimini is Latin percussion legend Francisco Aguabella's fifth release on the Cubop label. Despite decades of professional performances and a rangy discography that includes dates and recordings with everyone from Tito Puente to Frank Sinatra, he is not the first name that comes to mind when one thinks of congueros of gravitas. He no longer has the youthful physicality of a Giovanni Hidalgo, the iconic "wood block" hands of Poncho Sanchez, or the laurels that go to forefathers like the tragic Chano Pozo or the formerly ubiquitous, recently deceased Mongo Santamaria. But he does have a high-powered résumé peppered with eclectic adventures, including a stint banging the conga drum on the French Connection II soundtrack. He retains the luminous aura that radiates from a bona fide bata, and therefore revered, drummer. And he makes good choices about which numbers he chooses to record.

Throughout Ochimini's arc, he slowly unveils his conga powers, setting them against a steady beat, retreating into the sly and shy tones of mournful incantations, then finally surging through a jaunty and nakedly danceable original, "Te Olvide." But it is the Arturo Sandoval composition "Tumbaito," the sixth of nine pieces on the disc, that dazzles the most with its elegant and plucky rendering of a melody that is a gem of simplicity.

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