Spain Forever

This is the latest in a very occasional series of duo albums by the Dominican pianist Michel Camilo and Andalusian guitarist Tomatito, following 2000's Spain and Spain Again in 2006. This time they have cast their net wider for material, with songs from Brazil, Argentina, France and Italy. There are two tracks from Ennio Morricone's Cinema Paradiso film score, which gives a clue to the feel of this album: Camilo and Tomatito talk about seeking a cinematographic approach. The style of cinema that would be most analogous to their music, however, would be generic romance. All but one of the ten songs here are played as a slow, romantic ballad and, with the exception of the French contributions (Django Reinhardt's ‘Nuages’ and Erik Satie's ‘Gnossienne No 1’), they are fairly predictable choices. What's more the improvisations are pretty tame: you would never guess that Camilo is among the most virtuosic of Latin jazz pianists, nor that Tomatito even plays flamenco. Take any one of the tracks on this disc and you’ll hear a beautifully played, well-balanced duo, but taken together it's too much of the same. An alluring album but, after such a long wait, a disappointment given what the pair are capable of.