There’s nothing like an in-house support system to inspire artists to great performances, and the Rodriguez Brothers benefited from just such an advantage on the final night of their engagement at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. The siblings’ drummer father was in attendance, as were a pair of Latin-jazz bass legends, Andy Gonzalez and John Benitez. As if the lush environs of the packed 140-seat club, on the fourth floor of the Jazz at Lincoln Center complex next to Columbus Circle, with its picture-view backdrop of Central Park and twinkling Manhattan lights, weren’t inspiration enough.
Pianist Rob Rodriguez sounded the first notes of the set opener, a simmering “Gitmo’s Groove,” which he penned for his dad; trumpeter Mike Rodriguez took the melody. Following a piano solo which included a quick quote of “If I Only Had a Heart,” and a trumpet solo, the tune broke down to a rhythm section groove with bassist John Patitucci and percussionist Pedrito Martinez before rebuilding with Jeff “Tain” Watts’ solo. “Guayaquil,” another Rob Rodriguez composition, a nod to the Ecuadorean hometown of the brothers’ mother (“which makes us Cubadoreans,” he said), opened with Patitucci bowing, then plucking his way into a punchy groove. Rob’s solo was a gem-lush chordings shifted into short question-like phrases segueing into a climb up the keyboard, and some contrapuntal left-hand action; the tune evolved into a feature for Martinez, and closed with a long fade-out.
