The bulk of Hart McNee’s recorded work is as a saxophonist, including sessions with blues icon Mike Bloomfield and one of the patron saints of the freak folk movement, Karen Dalton, in addition to his New Orleans recordings. Like many saxophonists, McNee doubles on flutes, his instruments for this album. Though you might notice some affinities with pre-Castro Afro Cuban music and very early fusion a la Return to Forever’s Light as a Feather, for the most part Mimi’s Rumba is that precious musical rarity, a unique idea. The combination of McNee’s flutes, Brain Coogan’s electric piano and a rhythm section of David Sobel on drums, Matt Perrine on bass and the mighty Michael Skinkus on conga and bata drums is unusual enough, but the conception these players bring to the mix puts the stamp of personality on the package. Skinkus, a magician of a percussionist, is at his elusive best here, driving the proceedings without ever overpowering them, maintaining subtle patterns behind McNee’s often surprisingly understated flute playing before erupting with a passionate flow that defines the composition’s soul without obscuring its nuance. This rhythmic cat-and-mouse game, expertly joined by Sobel and Perrine, gives the music an airy playfulness, especially when Coogan splays thoughtful, dissonant chord patterns against the beat while simultaneously maintaining harmonic confluence with McNee. The overall effect is music that is pleasant without being banal, yet affords a challenging aspect to the listener without being too abstract or difficult to follow. Good stuff.