Now in his early 40s, Bonilla comes from Costa Rican parents living in California. Frank Rosolino, along with Jay Jay and Curtis Fuller, was one of his earliest heroes and in the '80s, he worked with Gerald Wilson. I well remember his 1991 Candid debut as a leader on an exciting Latin jazz album called Pasos Gigantes ("Giant Steps"). A consistently busy sessioneer since then, he's also a member of virtually all the NY-based big bands and was most recently featured on tenorist McCaslin's terrific CD called "Soar". On this new Bonilla album, recorded 'live' at The Jazz Gallery two years ago, his main influence in the arrangements and the freedom they leave for the soloists seems to be his erstwhile boss, Lester Bowie, of whose Brass Fantasy he was a key member. All the compositions are loose, but with tight colouring and exciting rhythmic grooves, each featuring different sidemen. McCaslin and Brainin are remarkably similar in conception at times on tenor, especially on "Where's Sepia?", after Brainin takes the first half on intense, out-of-tempo soprano. The longest track, "That's How They Get You" is over 16 minutes long and ends up with the percussion-driven feel of a joyous Rio Carnival celebration. Rodriguez is totally in control on bass throughout (especially on his feature, the final track "Home", with its dissonant free-style sombre African mood), locking in with Forero and Saturnino. But it's Bonilla's record. Fine compositions and arrangements, a big majestic rounded tone (the Rosolino effect?), playing bristling robust solos. The clarity of recorded sound is superb and enhances the contagious exuberance of the music. Tony Hall - Jazzwise UK A trombonist who has played in jazz and Latin groups, Luis Bonilla is interested in exploding the usual structures of both kinds of music. So Terminal Clarity (Now Jazz Consortium), a live CD by his sextet TromBonilla, opens up each piece for fresh, exploratory improvising by the musicians, including Mr. Bonilla and the saxophonists Donny McCaslin and Peter Brainin. Sometimes the songs become raw and skeletal; sometimes they accumulate a thick pile of melodic lines, while the rhythm section keeps each piece steady. Ben Ratcliff - New York Times Luis Bonilla's third disc as a leader, recorded live at New York's Jazz Gallery, draws extensively on the trombonist's time with Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy to create an environment of loose-limbed improvisation and fertile harmonies, tempered with a large dollop of Latin soul. Along with saxophonists Donny McCaslin and Peter Brainin, Bonilla slips, slides and scurries around some mesmerizing patterns from the rhythm section, neatly balancing the cerebral and the down-and dirty. Forrest Dylan Bryant - Jazz Times Luis Bonilla, longtime collaborator with the Mingus Big Band and underacknowledged sideman for great jazz and salsa bandleaders alike, shows his remarkable creativity and versatility with his new album, Terminal Clarity (New Jazz Consortium). Recorded live more than two years ago at the Jazz Standard with his group TromBonilla (featuring Donny McCaslin, Peter Brainin, Ricardo Rodriguez, Patrick Forero and Pernell Saturnino), Terminal Clarity is an exhilarating exercise of free-spirited yet disciplined harmonic, melodic and rhythmic brilliance. Bonilla's exquisite work on the trombone is the lead voice of a multivocal chorus engaged in a long-winded conversation with the possibilities of jazz improvisation. McCaslin and Brainin take turns blurting out saxophone truths (listen to the interplay on "That's How They Get You" and the ethereal "Up Easy"), pushing the rhythm section until Bonilla puts the often-elusive theme into perspective. For the purist Machito-ista in your crew, "Mambostinato" deconstructs the mambo break into a simple repeated melodic figure and allows the horns to flow rhythmically until your brain is dancing as hard as your feet. Ed Morales - New York Newsday