On 1995's
Arturo Sandoval & the Latin Train, the Cuban-born multi-instrumentalist and his enormous band continue the unfortunate trend toward reducing the Latin part of their Latin jazz. Although guest stars on the caliber of the immortal
Celia Cruz show up for
Sandoval's 11th album, they're largely wasted on a slate of too-polite, overly slick slabs of crossover-oriented jazz-pop with only the most minimal Latin content.
Sandoval and crew do perfectly acceptable versions of standards like "I Can't Get Started" and
Dizzy Gillespie's "Bebop," and
Sandoval's originals are generally pleasantly tuneful, but they're roughly equivalent to
Pérez Prado's lightweight exotica of the '50s. The nadir is a terrible version of "Colors of the Wind," the treacly theme from the animated film Pocahontas given an utterly unswinging, sluggish reading that makes the song sound even worse than it already did. This album is to Afro-Cuban jazz as Taco Bell is to Mexican food. [This edition includes a bonus track.] ~ Stewart Mason