Luis Martelo has been playing trumpet professionally for years, picking up awards and stages across Portugal and beyond long before this single existed. “Sabroso” came out July 19 as the first taste of a full album he’s got coming, and it’s his first real swing at salsa, though you can still hear the same player underneath it. Nuno Correia, who plays bass for UHF, sits in on the track, with production handled by Nuno Junqueira and Dinis Silva co-producing. Martelo has pointed to Arturo Sandoval as the reason this song exists at all, and he’s talked about it as a real turning point for him as a writer, not just another single.
Sabroso
The song grew out of shows Martelo played on Pico Island in the Azores, and that beachy, summer-night feeling is all over it, ocean air, a crowd that’s already having a good time, that particular looseness that good Latin music tends to carry with it. He’s not cosplaying salsa here either. You can tell he actually sat with the tradition before writing this, because none of it feels bolted on.
His trumpet carries the whole thing, honestly. It’s warm, it’s a little playful, and it never turns into a technical flex for its own sake, every run and phrase is in service of the groove underneath it, not showing off over it. The percussion stays lively without crowding him out, and the mix keeps things clean enough that you can actually hear what everyone’s doing, which isn’t always a given on tracks this busy.
What I like about “Sabroso” is that it’s fun without being empty. There’s clearly some real thought behind it, about travel, about crossing cultures, about music doing the thing music’s supposed to do, bringing people together who don’t share a language otherwise.
Final Thoughts
“Sabroso” is a good sign of where Martelo’s headed next, sharp playing wrapped around a genuinely good time. Stay tuned to MusicOnTheRox.com for all your music news and reviews.
