Remember Afro Medusa’s ‘Pasilda’ or Negrocan’s ‘Cada Vez’? These were defining Latin House cuts which accompanied us all throughout many summers, and they still get the hands in the air reaction being dropped on today’s floors. So, if executed in style Latin House is a serious option, but history has told us, that only a handful of producers are able to get the right but necessary balance between commercial influences and underground attitude. DJ Spen’s Quantize Recordings is going for exactly that with this all new release from Nova Fronteira. Musician and producer Michele Chiavarini shows his passion for Latin music, highlighting styles of Brazilian origin. He provides listeners with an eclectic blend of musical sounds including House, Jazz, Electronica, Brazilian and House. The project started in early 2000, with the release of several dance singles through Dave Lee’s Z Records. The release of the acclaimed album ‘Full Fronteira’ in 2003 was followed soon after by a few sporadic releases. Nova Fronteira is now back on the scene with a purely Latin EP to celebrate the Rio Olympics and Latin Music (hence that EP name) and Michele Chiavarini does so in perfection. Title track ‘Samba Is Waiting’, vocalised by Lady Bunny is a huge Latin House cut with superb instrumentation and loads of percussion while ‘Jogo’ (Rhodes To Brazil) comes complete with a huge Rhodes solo and vocal overdubs that do some trick! With ‘Fanatica’ Michele shows why he is a veteran in the Latin music world. With classic vocals and a great sax solo that push it to perfection, this track is a celebration of the original sound of Nova Fronteira.
Finally, ‘Seasons’ is the most housey track of them all thanks to a great remix from Reggie Steele and DJ Beloved (Logix) who serve a slice of no nonsense House Music with a serious touch of Latin here and there. Huge!
4.5 out of 5
Reviewed by Mannix
