A seamless blend of musical styles that delivers on its promise
Jose Duque's drums and compositions (he wrote six of the seven songs in the album) managed to seamlessly blend a host of musical styles and influences in his recent album 'Gathering in Blue', with the aid of some great musicians. The sound of Chris Weisman's guitar reminisces of Pat Metheny as much as it brings other great guitarists to mind, such as Bill Frisell and Ry Cooder. The sax of Chel Illingworth doesn't lag behind, putting the stamp of great jazz music to Jose's production. Jeff Auger's delivers chords that range from outright latin-flavored (with the aid of percussion) to straight up jazz, fusing with Jesse Stern's impeccable bass work and Chel's horn in a way that brought to mind some of King Crimson's flirting with jazz during their 'Islands' period, or Bill Bruford's 'Earthworks'.

All in all, the album, with a very acoustic flavor all throughout its seven solid tracks, leaves you with a feel of completeness and knowing you've heard some music that not only breaks style boundaries in a succesful fashion, but also brings Venezuelan Jose Duque's to the front of the jazz territory. My favorites, hands down: the opening theme, "Where The Heart Is" and the contagious last song.