Joaquín Chacón - San (1995)

"Coming from the same school of guitarists as John Scofield, Joaquín Chacón is a deft composer and arranger as well as a monster guitarist who has taken the jazz tradition and moved it forward in his native Catalonia. His arrangements cover the bases from solo and trio to sextet and the result is always the same: a swing-fest that relies heavily on modern tonalities, ethereal chord leads, and an ostinato sense that never plays itself into the ground. The most notable cut here, "Politikos," with a gorgeous bass clarinet solo by Uffe Markussen and an open-chord lead by Chacón, offers a different picture of the guitarist as leader. There is a democracy inherent in these compositions that belies the six-string as an automatic leading instrument. Chacón is also a very atmospheric player; he doesn't rely heavily on arpeggios in his leads check the solo on "Segundo Plano" so much as the right combination of those and chord voicings to open up his compositions harmonically to the other players in an ensemble. This is a solid effort with original tunes, a smoking band, and a variety of settings to satisfy almost all jazz guitar fans." Thom Jurek -All Music Guide

Joaquín Chacón (g),
Uffe Markussen (ts),
Jorge Pardo (ss),
Alejandro Pérez (ts),
Iñaki Salvador,
Chano Domínguez (p),
Carlos Ibáñez (b),
Juanma Barroso (d)