Snowboy presents the Hi Hat
A 10 track pop album () — released July 3rd 2006 on Freestyle Records
The music appearing on this, the third in the Hi-Hat series, aims to reflect the dancefloor-destined sound that the renowned jazz night has championed since its inception in 1978. It?s difficult to speculate on how successful the enterprise has been without being a jazz dance expert, but familiar names like Brazilian percussion extraordinaire Airto Moreira and a Miles Davis cover suggest an authentic attempt. The tracks are relentlessly upbeat and this is a compilation that improves with each and every listen. - Sarah Chapman Notion
Mark "Snowboy" Cotgrove is the epitome of the Essex soul boy. Having DJed and run a series of clubs around London, his Hi Hat nights having occurred on a regular basis pretty much since the explosion of Latin music that took place in the capital in the early 1980s. He made his name through an association with Acid Jazz, having signed to the label at the height of their popularity with his Latin Section. Still hugely influential within the close knit Latin Jazz scene, he follows a string of compilations with this selection for Freestyle. It serves as a good starter for those new to the music, the album parenthesised by Airto Moreira and Peter King, the album opening with Moreira's infectious "Fica Mal Com Deus" and closing with King's well-regarded live rendition of the title track from "Speed Trap" recorded at Ronnie Scotts. In between it's a mix of rarities and big names, the pick of the bunch coming from McCoy Tyner and Jon Lucien. - KM IDJ
Review - Jazzwise
The home of jazz is obviously Southend-on-Sea, or neighbouring Canvey Island, right? Well yes actually, Mark ?Snowboy? Cotgrove?s does have the spirit of the Essex backwaters plotting his latest intrepid adventures through the J-word. With an unsurpassable back catalogue and scene knowledge, a passport that has taken him everywhere and a bottomless pit of experience truly making him jazz aristocracy (without forgetting his funk, soul and Latin dabbling), listing all of his accomplishments would take some sort of super computer that hasn?t been invented yet. Let?s just say the fires are still burning hot enough for him to release another necessary, pulse-racing jazz document from his seminal club with its roots down by the seaside. The Hi-Hat, now unsurprisingly housed at Camden?s Jazz Caf? via The Blue Note, takes pride in showcasing the fastest jazz in the world, and selected dragsters rev up to test the speedometer. The McCoy Tyner Latin Big Band?s ?Blue Bossa? gets flutes to make impossible noises and displays guitar work so nimble it must?ve come from six-fingered hands. While the tunes show a clean pair of heels, by no means do they burn themselves out. Bobby Sanabria & Ascension?s ?Caribbean Fire Dance? shows stamina in abundance, keeping on right to the last just when you think it couldn?t possibly take one more breath. Showing similar staying power, the World Saxophone Quarter leave you gasping, displaying extra-large endurance levels on ?Seven Steps to Heaven?. Peter King?s aptly titled ?Speed Trap? tinkles the ivories until every one of the 88 keys is doused in sweat while the skins gets slapped senseless across 12 minutes of up-down, loud-into-quiet-into-loud wheelies. Jon Lucien adds vocal guidance without being caught up in the tempos to easily direct ?Sunny Day? while grasping a mean semi-baritone and some scat late on. A fast and furious collection of summer colours and Latin lustre made to make you giddy; watch the sparks fly. - Matt Oliver One Week To Live
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