How many things can you do with a five-string bass and a human voice? If you're Dino Dinicolo the answer is an infinite amount. On the bass he runs the gamut from Jaco Pastorius-like harmonics to Victor Wooten-esque rhythmic slapping. As far as his voice goes, singing is merely the start. His beatboxing seems to include a full drum set. A host of other special effects seem to come from somewhere deep inside. And when he combines a bizarre vocal sound with an unusual bass pattern, the effect can be otherworldly. Dinicolo may look like a mild-mannered man, but he's really a one-man heavy-metal jazz band.
“Tango Caliente,” the new album by The Jay D’Amico Quintet, is so good it may make you wonder why D’Amico is not better known. Over his four decade career he’s collaborated extensively with bassist Milt Hinton, and from 1984 to the night before 9/11, D’Amico was pianist in residence at Windows on the World, the restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center.