As I am sure we all know by now, history loves to repeat itself. Popular music revels in this cycle. Classic songs are routinely reborn, captivating new audiences through the skill and imagination of transcendent artists channeling the enduring agency of timeless compositions.

None more so than Gino Amato, whose masterful arranging, passion for Latin music and life-long love for vocalists shape the fascinating perspective behind his remarkable new musical adventure, Latin Crossroads 2, co-produced with four-time Grammy Award winner Oscar Hernández, who was also the album’s musical director.

Following up on the success of his Latin Crossroads album of 2022 comes the sequel, Latin Crossroads 2, which finds Amato utilizing an 11-piece band along with some notable guests. Indeed, I count eight top notch singers, an excellent trumpeter and even an a-cappella group.

1. Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard (featuring Arnold McCuller and Matt Cusson)
2. I Only Have Eyes for You (featuring Kandace Springs & a Vocal Ensemble)
3. I Fall in Love (featuring Kings Return & Lou Marini on tenor-saxophone)
4. Moonlight in Vermont (featuring Kevin Osborne)
5. Tangerine (Vocal Ensemble)
6. No Moon At All (featuring Janis Siegel)
7. I Love Paris (featuring Veronica Swift)
8. What a Wonderful World (featuring Arnold McCuller & Leonardo Suarez Paz on Volin and Joe Locke as the vibraphonist)
9. Someone To Watch Over Me (featuring Janis Siegel)
10. Windmills of Your Mind (featuring Matt Cusson & Alex Norris on flugelhorn)
11. Scheherazade (featuring Randy Brecker on trumpet)

This wondrously crafted new recording opens on the vibrant Latin-hued hipsway of Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard (featuring Arnold McCuller and Matt Cusson) and the luxuriant I Only Have Eyes for You (featuring Kandace Springs and a vocal ensemble) and then we get the splendidly harmonized When I Fall in Love (featuring Kings Return and Lou Marini on tenor-saxophone), a velvety Moonlight in Vermont (featuring Kevin Osborne) and the delightful vocal ensemble and piano piece Tangerine.

Up next is the soulful No Moon At All (featuring Janis Siegel) and that is in turn backed seamlessly by the free flowingly grooved I Love Paris (featuring Veronica Swift), the all-embracing, Latin-imbibed What a Wonderful World (featuring Arnold McCuller & Leonardo Suarez Paz on violin and Joe Locke as the vibraphonist), a quite formidable Someone To Watch Over Me (featuring Janis Siegel), the album rounding out on the melodically rhythmic Windmills of Your Mind (featuring Matt Cusson & Alex Norris on flugelhorn), coming to a close on the sheer elegance of the Rimsky-Korsakov instrumental Scheherazade (featuring Randy Brecker on trumpet).

I Only Have Eyes for You (feat. Kandace Springs) - Gino Amato [Official Music Video]

www.latincrossroads.com