Richie Zellon - Metal Caribe (1998)

Zellon's 1998 outing finds him taking on both familiar and unfamiliar directions in jazz performance -- applying Latin twists and jazz notions to such pieces as an excerpt from Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf," Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love," "The Twilight Zone" theme, and Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water." Much of the time, the originals are the starting point for improvisation in time signatures not originally associated with those songs, but it is enough to make the performances interesting to hear. Zellon also lets loose briefly on the title track, though his guitar and cuatro work elsewhere tends to be more restrained, with a lot of solo time being handed over to other players on the disc. An enjoyable disc with a nice sense of humor.