City of Dreams is easily the most unique CD I've listened to this year. It is a mixture of spoken word poetry, Latino, jazz, and coffeehouse style music. At different times, it demonstrates the influences of Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Gil Scott-Heron, Neruda, and Mike Myers in So I Married an Axe Murderer.
The "City" in the title refers to New York City, and City of Dreams is a celebration of NYC, a backdrop of nationalities, races, politics, and the cornucopia of cultures that make up that city. "El Barrio" is a spoken word piece against a Latin background, and comes off as a Tito Puente/Santana meeting.
"Cross Bronx Expressway" is a political critique, discussing the (inferred) crimes of New York's past mayors. "Yankeelandia" rearranges the jazz standard "Take the A Train", while reveling in the rich history of the baseball team.
"Gathering Waters" features a gospel vocal in the background. "Cry Out Phoenix", demonstrating New York's ability to regroup after disaster (inspired by 9/11?), is a departure, sounding like a lost Vince Guaraldi outtake.
The liner notes of this CD describe it as "musico, poeta, y loco - de todo un poco." Translated, this is "music, poetry, and crazy - a little of everything". City of Dreams is a rare CD in that it lives up to its own billing, at least in this regard. I can't say it will be in regular rotation in my CD player, but it is an interesting enough project that I would pull it out from time to time. A throwback to the days of jazz clubs, beat poetry, and a little bit of Xavier Cugat.
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