Mac Gollehon & the Hispanic Mechanics
(True Groove)

With his mix of futuristic EDM, salsa beats, and driving songwriting, horn player Mac Gollehon & the Hispanic Mechanics shoot the listener into high gear on their 10-tune album. “No More Drama” opens with swirly, metallic sounds leading into Gollehon’s blaring trumpet, giving us the melody and some kinetic congas. The repeated, spoken title of the track is fun floating over the top of this almost instrumental song. “Exito Obscuridad” leads with that thick percussion bed again (percussion players here are Miguel Valdez, Baba Don, Ronnie Roc) and a real mature, studied melody from some incredibly played moments by Gollehon. This is a tune where you hear the man’s well-honed chops, having played/arranged for such notables as David Bowie, Duran Duran, Latin legend Ray Barretto, and Soca superstar Arrow, to name a few. “Il Aceite” features a spiky interplay between percussion, Gollehon’s horn and some fine driving from bassist Mike Griot. Things get as loud and wild as they do on any of the tunes here with a funk-salsa mix. Later on, we get David Ben Jack remixes of three tracks, with the whole album ending with “If Time Allows,” a single-note trumpet solo (or at least it opens this way), roiling, quick-paced, percussion work and computer-like blurping that all remain parallel to one another in the mix, but never really come together. I would have preferred just a simple Gollehon solo horn piece here. Mac Gollehon & the Hispanic Mechanics certainly presents the soundscape where modern salsa and EDM meet, played by some experts.