Marking vibes player Mike Freeman’s fifth recording as a leader, The Vibesman thrives on its multicultural beat. Grounded in jazz, Latin jazz, and salsa, Mike offers a unique group sound through his music, playing, and instrumentation. Along with the vibes, the group features conga master Papo Pepin (who has recorded and performed with many of the greatest musicians in the history of Mambo/Salsa music); Harry Adorno on timbales (a fixture on the New York salsa scene); and bassist Ruben Rodriguez (who has performed and recorded with numerous Latin legends, as well as top-name jazz and pop groups). The fabric of the music here is bolstered by the flute of Mauricio Smith Jr. and the tenor saxophone of Chicago’s Jim Gailloreto. For the surprise grand finale, Mike is joined by highly regarded salsa singer and longtime colleague Julio Salgado.
The Vibesman follows the path of Mike’s previous recordings of his original music. Those recordings charted nationally on several different radio charts, aired on syndicated radio shows, were added to cable radio, United Airlines in-flight playlist, and also received international airplay in Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, South America, and Australia. Mike is also widely known by fans and audiences for his work on Ray Mantilla’s Good Vibrations; Lucho Cueto’s all-star salsa group Black Sugar; and Son Boricua’s Fabulousos 70’s with Jose Mangual Jr. and the late Jimmy Sabater (one of the architects of Boogaloo). cdbaby http://www.jazzvibe.com
