Healer

A jazz/blues guitar opens this production. It saturates my listening room with a blues 'riff.' Then voices enter, chanting the title of this album, "Healer." Bobby Rozario plays guitar, timbales and is the lead singer on this tune. He is of Indian and Brazilian-Portuguese descent, as well as a third-generation musician. This is his second album recorded on the Origin Label. The first was called "Spellbound."

Mentored by his parents in Hindustani Classical music, he has discovered a way to blend blues and jazz into his cultural training, to bring a fresh new sound and style to the jazz genre.

As I listen to this new release, "Healer," I also hear traces of funk and rock music. This new album is meant to showcase Rozario's awareness of contemporary issues. It's a plea to tap into the universal vibration of our planet, using his music. It features world rhythms and a guitar that sings of fusion jazz and blues in a profound way.

"Jingo" is the title of Track #2. It starts off rubato, but soon morphs into a rhythmic, medium tempo tune that engages the drums of Greg Gonzalez and the rich percussion of Bobby Rozario's timbales, with Rozario's guitar leading the ensemble forward like an Olympic Torch carrier. The choir sings a message of unity. Their voices reverberate with a come-together-message. Neil Nail Alexander's organ is tenacious.

"Life to me is magical with unlimited potential, the awareness of my surroundings and being in the present moment, my life experience, world affairs, and the promise and beauty of nature kept me motivated to bring these vibrations to reality in the form of music, which takes our imagination to the unseen world," says Bobby Rozario in his liner notes.

The composer, arranger, guitarist and singer is concerned about healing the world and his music radiates that theme throughout this production. Rozario has a very soulful voice that leans heavily towards R&B. However, his productions are bright and alive with Latin grooves.