Aaron Aranita, Segunda Vista (Sugartown Records)
There’s a certain irresistible smoothness to saxophone jazz, as you know, whether your tastes run to small combos or big conglomerates like this, wherein this Hawaiian sax-player and composer, who’s written for the Brent Fischer Orchestra, is joined by them here. Aranita switched his preference to alto after seeing Gabe Balthazar play at a Burt Bacharach show, and that’s very much the feel of this breezy, relaxed, sometimes tumultuous collection, but with a bit of a twist, especially at the second tune, “Coração da Natureza,” which follows a “Girl from Ipanema” bossa nova formula and adds some chromatic anything-goes-ness to it. Big loud brass pocks “Epifanio,” a salsa-infused romp that’s over-inflated but perfect for what it is. This stuff is too big for casual background and really deserves full attention; Aranita’s nuanced work on here is often smart and subtle. A
— Eric W. Saeger
