Javier Limón's Refugio Del Sonido is a solid 3:06 hours or 49 tracks worth of purely instrumental music with a cross section that puts the focus on soloing flügelhorn, cello, violin, guitar, Brazilian clarinet, piano, recorder and more whilst powerful low electric bass and heavy drums lock down modern grooves or shift gear into sophisticated club Jazz far away from experimental abstraction. As producer of albums like Mujeres de Agua—an eclectic collection of world music divas from Eleftheria Arvanitaki to Aynur, Mariza to Montse Cortés—and Promeses de Tierra plus work with Buika and other mostly Spanish musicians, Javier Limón acts as ambassador for gifted artists who deserve broader exposure. Refugio in particular seems dedicated to shining such a spot light on quite a roster of mostly unfamiliar collaborators. The result are terrific high-contrast tunes across an unexpectedly broad swatch of styles and geographical markers. And this Refuge of Sound is a fabulously generous affair on length, being essentially three albums in one.
