MILTON CARDONA
CAMBUCHA (CARMEN)

MILTON CARDONA, JOE SANTIAGO, ROBBY AMEEN, JOSE MANGUAL jr. , JOSE FERNANDEZ, SERGIO CARDONA, JOE TORRES (PROF.), JAMES ZOLLAR, MICHAEL BRECKER, PAPO VASQUEZ, PHILLIPE VIEUX, BILL O'CONNELL, ANDY, JOHN (YOMI) ROBINSON, CAROL ROBINSON, SANDRA (FELA) WILES, IMANI
ROBINSON-FALU, THEODORE (WOOGGIE) HOLLIDAY, JOSE FERNANDEZ, ABI HOLLIDAY, KEN ROSS, GUS ONNA

Prelude To Elegba;  Cambucha;  Goddess Of Sweet Waters;  Freedom Of Expression;  A Kiss;  Obatala Macho;  God's Work Is Indestructible; Playing With Myself (Inner Thoughts); Rumbera Soledad; Prayer to Ebioso Kabiesi Thunder); Malas Palabras

produced by Milton Cardona
executive producer: Kip Hanrahan
recorded January - April 1999
released November 1999
photography Ritchard Rodriguez
AMCL 1028


"in the sumptuous Cambucha (Carmen) Cardona again explores the rhythms and chants of the religious ceremonies of Santaria, but this time mixing them with the doo wop of his teenage years and with Jazz. 'If I play the most difficult rhythms to play, it'because of their simplicity' says Cardona..."
- Pierre-Jean Crittin, Latino (France)

"Milton the Magician!  An unexplainable record: unexplainable because it's magic. Magic because after the pleasure of listening, you realize this is the miracle you always asked of the most sophisticated New York Jazz.   Magnificent!"
- AM Magazine (France)

New York percussionist Milton Cardona is a mystical figure in the ranks of percussionist-leaders working at the juncture of jazz and Latin concepts, as heard on his first solo album, Bembe, and Cambucha (Carmen), the follow-up.  Cardona and a percussion-rich entourage, also including Michael Brecker and bassist Andy Gonzalez, create a kind of allusive musical narrative (i.e. poetry in motion)....a hypnotic musical flow."
- Josef Woodward, Jazz Times