ABOUT "CHIVA'QUARTET" With a long career as a double bassist to back him up Juan Pablo Balcazar now turns his attention to a project based on Columbian folk music, as seen through the perspective of contemporary jazz; a language he is particularly akin to. On Chiva’Quartet (undp18) we find an equal number of original compositions and popular songs written by the great masters of Columbian music, with arrangements by Balcazar which tap into the wealth of traditional rhythms such as “el bambuco” or “los passillos”, along with African rhythms from the Atlantic coast of the South American country.In recording this project, J. P. Balcazar was able to rely on the collaboration of Juan Berbin, a drummer and percussionist well acquainted with the Latin American tradition of rhythm, as well at the well known pianist Marco Mezquida and the talented flautist from Malaga, Fernando Brox. ABOUT "REVERSIBLE" "Gimmicky, right? Cute lower-case device for Juan Pablo, backwards lettering on cover art, palindromic structure? Actually, no. This is Balcazar's fifth CD for FSNT, if one includes two excellent discs on which he and Pintxo went out as Ballcock and The Heckler. Jordi Pujol has a gift for finding great bassist-led groups and this is one of his genuine coups, an irresistibly swinging modern jazz record where all but the central theme enjoy two distinct outings, one with trio and one with quartet.