Rob Hochschild | March 6, 2013

Spanish student guitarist Javier G. F. Escudero came to Berklee a few years ago after studying classical music at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid, but the music he's making in Boston is a far cry from what you'd expect to hear at the average conservatory.

Escudero and his band provide the leadoff track on the latest disc—Ripple Effect—from Berklee's student-run jazz label, Jazz Revelation Records, and it stands out as a hard-hitting fusion of straight-up funk and adventurous jazz. The tune, "Carahuevo," was written by Toño Gutierrez and features, besides Escudero, keyboardist Rafa Santana, tenor saxophonist Chisco Villanueva, bassist Antoine Katz, and drummer Victor Alvarez.