Cultura

“I wanted to make an album that was centered around melody,” says David (pronounced da-VEED) Gomez. “I wanted it to be a jazz record that was accessible, that brought people in to the music.” True to intention, the Panamanian- born multi-instrumentalist and his ensemble- David Cultura- have done just that; delivering a seven-song debut- simply and aptly titled, Cultura- loaded with melodic hooks, taut musicianship, and infectious, insistent grooves begging for a dance partner.

Emanating from a literal crossroads- its canal welcoming a myriad of cultures and commerce- Gomez grew up in Panama City, Panama learning saxophone, guitar, flute, and percussion, first under the musical tutelage of his father, then accenting his natural abilities with formal training. He moved to the United States, settling in another gateway locale- St. Louis and performed with various bands, including Tonina, where he developed a friendship with guitarist Jackson Stokes.

Stokes would introduce Gomez to Devon Allman- singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, and founder of Create Records. Allman, whose trusted ear for burgeoning talent had been honed over decades as a bandleader with The Allman Betts Band, the Devon Allman Project, and Honeytribe, among others, invited Gomez to join the Project in 2022. Two years later, Gomez and his group would decamp to Sawhorse Studios, and with Allman as producer, track the lucky seven that comprise Cultura.

With a panoramic scope widely informed by Latin and Caribbean rhythms, the set opens with the title track. Ironically, not a representative of Gomez’s home country, Cultura was written years ago in St. Louis, and is instead a breezy nod to Stevie Wonder, and to L.A. soul. “I’m always inspired by my surroundings,” says Gomez, now a Southern California resident, having transplanted to San Diego. “My songwriting often reflects a place, or a moment in time.”

Next up is “Murga,” seducing with a smoldering sax intro, only to shift into a fifth gear of groove that bops away on a looping, relentless theme. On to “Margarita,” lighter fare as evocative of a sun-kissed cocktail on a Caribbean shore as anything in the collection, again the beat pulsing, pushing sunset into night sky.

On “Vidrio,” Gomez’s flute rides the trade winds, dancing on delicate keyboard flourishes and a locked-in, percussive pendulum, while “Jefferson Gravois” takes us back to intersecting streets in St. Louis, alternating between angular jazz riffs and polyrhythmic stabs.

Closing out the album is a pair of odes to love, coincidentally both initially composed on guitar. First, there’s the exotic swing of Gomez’s homage to his daughter on “Mia’s Lullaby,” that begins as bedtime ballad, only to morph quickly into an up-tempo swell of repeating figures and furious, resounding drums. The finale is “Ring,” drawing its motivation from the symbolic piece of jewelry, and marries the lilt of Gomez’s nimble ensemble with a stretch of horn-work that crescendos as confidently and as buoyantly as anything on the set; a parting burst of expression before resolving, once more, in the melodic spirit that runs throughout Cultura.

Track List:

Side A

1. CULTURA 5:11
2. MURGA 6:22
3. MARGARITA 4:36

Side B

1. VIDRIO 5:57
2. JEFFERSON GRAVOIS 3:41
3. MIA’S LULLABY 5:12
4. RING. 4:13