(June 26, 2023) If music really is one big melting pot of sounds, then the enemy of discovery is artificial categorization. So, while we at SoulTracks typically cover what we would generally call soul music aimed at adults, we also appreciate hearing great music outside of those constraints.
Such is the case with the music of Angel Roman, the Milwaukee-born, Austin-based guitarist who is a rising star in the world of Latin Jazz. With his band Mambo Blue, he is pushing the edges of that category, delivering a style of music that is as joyous as it is accessible.
I first discovered Roman’s music during a recent trip to Austin, and I’ve been listening consistently since. As someone who reveled in the horn-filled instrumentation of Earth Wind & Fire and Tower of Power, I found myself captivated by the Mambo Blue album Festive Interplay, a gloriously melodic disc that gives this Northern boy a smile-inducing feel of summer in a land far south of Michigan. And its analogy to what many soulheads came to love in the most expansive R&B bands of the 1970s is tough to ignore.
Check out Festive Interplay below. It’s not something that would be in the R&B section of your record store, but it is definitely something that may fill your soul.
By Chris Rizik
