Number Fifty Two

Buzz Baby Jesus Posted in Better Than Original, Country Music, Decent Version, Extra Swingin, Folk Rock, Great Black Music, Hipster classic, Interesting Artifact, Jazz, Power Pop, Real Gone, Reggae, Rockin', Singer Songwriter, VIP Guest Appearance，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
12 April 2010
3

The Playlist

A friend sent me a link to someone’s idea of the greatest rock guitar solos on record because “Baby’s On Fire”, one of my first posts, and a guitar solo I’d nominate for some kind of “best” list, was on it. I can’t remember what the other eleven tracks were, except I wasn’t familiar with most of them, or my response was, “What?!”. A brief email correspondence took place where I nominated a handful of solos that would be on my list, and got as far as promising it would be the theme for the next “Bullshit”. I started to jot down some ideas, a little disappointed that “Baby’s On Fire was already on Number Fifty when I realized I had no interest in compiling or listening to all that fretful wankery.
Also I’d collected the solo-less “Yummy, Yummy, Yummy” from Lux N Ivy’s Favorites and already earmarked it for Now That’s What I Call Bullshit 52.
All the Bullshits tend to follow the same pattern of eclecticism, so I lost the guitar solo theme. That said, a few of them made it onto the playlist. They are grouped together in a mini set consisting of “Old Pervert”, possibly my favorite Kimberly Rew solo from The Soft Boys Underwater Moonlight. Interesting because this version is not on the cd reissue, where it has been replaced by a vastly inferior rendition. This version is dubbed from a cassette copy I made in 1986 of the original vinyl release. Next up is “Lounge Lizard” from Ian Hunter’s first solo album featuring Mick Ronson on guitar. It’s really hard to narrow Mick down to a single solo, but I think this one stands out for all the right reasons. After that comes “Tit-Nan-Darag”, from Live, Love, Larf by French, Frith, Kaiser, and Thompson. Three out of four of those guys are well known for their guitar prowess. The other guy for the incredible drumming in Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band. I hear the album isn’t great, but this track smokes, and when Richard Thompson plays, I listen. It wasn’t destined for my list, but his solo on Fairport’s “Tale In Hard Time” is no laughing matter, either. It’s not a solo, but Blixa Bargeld’s guitar on “The Moon Is In The Gutter” is some of my favorite atmospheric noodling. Davy O’List plays some crazy shit on “The ‘In’ Crowd”, Mick Ronson shimmers tastefully on “Up To Me”, and the guitars on Acetone’s “No Need Swim” are as gorgeous as you-fill-in-the-blank.
Keef’s playing on “Honky Tonk Women” and Ron’s solo on “Twisting the Night Away” would have both made the cut, but I’ve heard them too many times, so here they are together on “Not Fade Away” from The Stones Stripped Deluxe, where no one in the band sounds like they plan on fading away any time soon. And then there’s Lou Reed on “You’re Driving Me Insane”, a song recorded by The Roughnecks shortly before forming The Velvet Underground, where he plays the practically same solo (if you can call it that) as “Run, Run, Run” from the “banana” album.
The Mekons always have good guitars, and are here because this song narrowly missed the cut on my post a few months back. One of the Mekons, Lu Edmonds, is currently playing guitar on tour with Public Image Ltd.
The Liquor Giants “I Don’t Mind” is a dead ringer for Big Star. Too bad it wasn’t covered by them on In Space.
Something by Chris Spedding would have found it’s way onto the guitar list, check out Roy Harper’s “The Game” on an earlier post, so I end the set with the Sharks hysterical “Kung Fu”, from Jab It In Yore Eye(1977). One of those albums that wouldn’t make it onto anyone’s all-time list, but for some reason I played to death way back when, largely due to Spedding’s incredible tone and economy coupled with Snip’s charismatic vocals.
There isn’t any guitar at all on Gene Krupa’s “Scandanavian Baby”, but it rocks nicely and comes from a history of Jazz record my parents bought at a supermarket when I was a toddler.
It’s really about the songs anyway.
Link in Comments.
Enjoy!

Number Fifty

Buzz Baby Jesus Posted in Afro Cuban Jazz, Ambient, Art Rock, Better Than Original, Escaped Malibu Fire, Extra Heavy, Great Black Music, Hipster classic, Interesting Artifact, Italian Prog Rock, Jazz, Power Pop, Prog Rock, Psychedelic, Real Gone, Rockin', Singer Songwriter, Soul, Ultra Rare, VIP Guest Appearance，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
12 March 2010
1

As usual it’s been too long since I posted anything of substance. I look at some of my favorite sites, and there’s something new posted every day and I have to think that they must not do anything else except blog. Either that or I’m very slow. Probably a bit of both.  Even this began as a zip file I just wanted to throw up, and now I’m into more than an hour spent writing practically nothing.
As stated previously the blog began as a series of mix cd’s made in response to the demise of my evil i-Pod. I called them now that’s what I call bullshit as a comment on the popular series of Top 40 compilations called Now That’s What I Call Music.  It was a way of processing the ton of music coming my way through friends, downloads, and occasional purchases while I was driving two hours down to South Jersey on surfari.
Many songs posted were originally featured on the cd’s.

I made the first one for Memorial Day weekend in 2006. Here is number 50.

A swell compilation of highlights from the blog so far. It will fill a blank cd nicely, or remain files you can do with what you please.

You can find the link in the comments.

Mine looks like this

Newark From Landfill

Buzz Baby Jesus Posted in Jazz, Real Gone, Uncategorized，Tags: , , , ,
11 February 2010
2

Newark From Landfill

Again, apologies for being a bad blogger. Life has been too interesting to spend more time sitting here hunting and pecking.
After this I promise I’ll post something good.
This is my latest painting. I wanted to make a beautiful picture of something not usually thought of that way.
Here also is a brief video of it’s creation. I made the music, too.

I've been playing a lot of music lately. This is with with Globular Cluster.

Newark From Landfill

Crimson Jazz Trio

Buzz Baby Jesus Posted in Extra Heavy, Extra Swingin, Holiday Cheer, Jazz，Tags: , ,
31 December 2009
5
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Happy New Year! I had this idea to put together a year-end-of-decade something, but really the decade we just finished was the worst of the six I’ve been alive in so far. Okay, the ’80′s fucking sucked, too. And it’s not just music we’re talking about. I was going to say something about the good times from 1967-1977, and then I remembered that whole Vietnam war thing.  Then I thought I’d go on about how great all the new technology is. In fact this blog would have been a fanzine I never would’ve bothered to cut and paste together, get printed, and assemble. All the music I don’t buy anymore. I used to spend over $1500 per year on recorded music. A fair amount of what I post came magically from the web. I love my cell phone, and digital camera. And then I’ll be out in public somewhere hearing what is ostensibly music, and there it is: autotune.  So as usual everything’s a decidedly mixed bag.

I also thought about a Vic Chestnutt memorial, but I’ve hardly heard any of his music.  A friend sent me a version of his “Kick My Ass” by Garbage, which is great.   Frankly, the minute I heard about Vic Chestnutt and his tragedy, I was so saddened that I couldn’t bear to seek out his music.  Life is hard enough without a wheelchair.  That he was out fighting the good fight was all I needed to know.  I listened to part of one of his albums once, and hearing him struggle to breathe and sing was enough for me.  I felt like I was suffocating. I hope he’s found peace.

Instead I’ve decided to post a recent discovery, thanks again to sakalli (see blogroll).  The Crimson Jazz Trio was lead by Ian Wallace, King Crimson drummer for one of their least loved periods.  He played on the decent, and kind of low-key Islands,as well as the truly horrible Earthbound.  Robert Fripp has done much to rehabilitate the reputation of this particular incarnation by releasing other live documents much superior to the aforementioned travesty.

The Crimson Jazz Trio will favorably remind many of The Bad Plus, as they are a jazz piano trio playing an interesting repertoire.  In this case it is the music of King Crimson. They cover a fair amount of the Belew territory, although you would not know it from this post.
I’ve spent a lot of time with this music over the years, so hearing it in a jazz context is really fun.  Maybe I’d enjoy more jazz if I knew the old tunes those bop guys were deconstructing in the 50′s and 60′s.

In researching this post I also found out that Ian Wallace passed onto the great gig in the sky on February 22nd, 2007, a few months after some of these recordings.  Even though he was a top session drummer for over 40 years, he is still best remembered for the year and a half he spent in King Crimson.

Ian Wallace 1946-2007

21st Century Schizoid Man
Pictures Of A City
Cat Food
Ladies Of The Road
Starless
Lament
Red

Monk Mystery

Buzz Baby Jesus Posted in Extra Swingin, Great Black Music, Jazz, Real Gone, Uncategorized，Tags: , ,
22 November 2009
2
 
Not entirely solo

Not entirely solo

Okay you geeks, what tune is this?
I bought this Solo Monk cd in the early ’90′s. It’s supposed to contain 13 solo piano tunes. While there is no mention of a bonus track, it nevertheless has one, even though it’s not at the end. The extra track isn’t solo, but a trio. I just ripped it off the disc and it comes up as “Solo Monk” with the album art and all. Track 14 is solo and comes up as Unknown Artist. The Mystery tune is #13 and listed as “Introspection[+]“. Is that right??
I guess whoever mastered it at Columbia f*&%ed up.
According to Amazon the latest edition has more songs on it than mine, but none are the version of “Introspection”(?) posted here.

Captain Beefheart, (Don Van Vliet,) describes the most memorable performance he ever witnessed.

“I saw Monk once at a theatre in San Fernando Valley. They gave him a grand piano, a really beautiful Steinway, with a cut glass bowl of roses. He came in late wearing a trench coat. He dumped the bowl in the piano, knocked down the lid, and hit one note. The sound: everything going into the piano, the strings, the water splashing, the roses. And then he left.”

Monk Mystery

Cow Cow Boogie

Buzz Baby Jesus Posted in Extra Heavy, Extra Swingin, Hipster classic, Jazz, Real Gone，Tags: , , , ,
21 November 2009
2
 
 
Peace, Baby

Peace, Baby

I’ve always loved this song. My parents played a lot of records. My Dad used to buy weird cut-outs, mostly by names he knew already, such as Chet Atkins, Doc Severinson, people of the previous era trying to make records in the swingin sixties. A lot of potential for uncool there. One record they played a lot was a Capitol Records something or other anniversary compilation of big hits. Cow Cow Boogie was the opener, being the fledgling label’s first gold record. When I was in High School I snickered every time Ella sang the lyric with “loco weed” in it (Still do, actually). Check out the ultra cool jive rap with Don Raye on The House Of Blue Lights. She actually calls him “Homey”.

Ella Mae Morse (September 12, 1924 – October 16, 1999), was an American popular singer. One of the most talented and overlooked vocalists of the 1940s, Morse blended jazz, country, pop, and R&B; at times she came remarkably close to what would be known as rock and roll.

She was all that

She was all that

Morse was born in Mansfield, Texas. She was hired by Jimmy Dorsey when she was 14 years old. Dorsey believed she was 19, and when he was informed by the school board that he was now responsible for her care, he fired her. In 1942, at the age of 17, she joined Freddie Slack’s band, with whom in the same year she recorded Cow Cow Boogie, Capitol Records’ first gold single. “Mr. Five by Five” was also recorded by Morse with Slack and they had a hit recording with the song in 1942 (Capitol 115). She also originated the wartime hit “Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet,” which was later popularized by Nancy Walker in the film, Broadway Rhythm.

Ella_Mae_Morse_In_A_Jazz_Recording_Session

Cow Cow Boogie
The House Of Blue Lights

Twang

Buzz Baby Jesus Posted in Extra Heavy, Jazz, Real Gone, Rockin'，Tags: , , , , ,
20 November 2009
17
 
Home of Twang

Home of Twang

I love this song. The rest of the album is pretty much Jazz, but this is something altogether different. It is nothing but music of the highest, most transcendent order. Bill Frisell kills on acoustic guitar, and it is a distinct pleasure just listening to the rhythm section of Charlie Haden and Joey Baron. Horns are Randy Brecker, John Clark, and Jim Pugh. Astonishing music.

John Scofield (born December 26, 1951 in Dayton, Ohio), often referred to as “Sco,” is an American jazz guitarist and composer, who has played and collaborated with Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Charles Mingus, Joey Defrancesco, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell, Pat Martino, Mavis Staples, Phil Lesh, Billy Cobham, Medeski Martin & Wood, George Duke, Jaco Pastorius, and many other important artists. At ease in the bebop idiom, Scofield is also well versed in jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul, and other forms of modern American music.

Early in his life, Scofield’s family left Ohio and relocated to the small, then mostly rural location of Wilton, Connecticut; it was here that he discovered his interest in music.

In 1992, Scofield released Grace Under Pressure, featuring fellow guitarist Bill Frisell, with Charlie Haden on bass and Joey Baron on drums.

Twang

Out Come The Freaks

Buzz Baby Jesus Posted in Funk, Hipster classic, Jazz, Prog Rock，Tags: , , ,
14 November 2009
1
 
 
 
 

Was Not Was
I grew up in the suburbs behind So-Cal’s Orange Curtain, in the most whitebread place, outside of the midwest, to be found just about anywhere. As a result, big cities fascinated me, and anything remotely urban. In the very late ’70′s Rap mutated out of funkin’ disco, along with it’s lesser known cousin, “Mutant Disco”. Was (Not Was), Material, Defunkt, James White, Kid Creole and The Coconuts, were just some of the artists in my urban fantasy sountrack. Throw in Kraftwerk, Africa Bambaata, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Sandanista!, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and you get an idea what kind of mix tapes I was making my friends.
On my first adult visit to New York City, in August 1981, WAS (NOT WAS) was on my Walkman knock-off the first time I came over on the Staten Island ferry, having just bought a joint from a black kid as I was getting on the boat, and openly smoked down with the cars on the lower deck.
I got off the ferry and walked into Manhattan. I knew right then I had to live on this part of the planet.

“Out Comes The Freaks” and “Tell Me That I’m Dreaming” are from WAS (NOT WAS) (1981).
They were sued by Eddie Harald, former high school acquaintance, who they name check in the first verse, when they released “(Return To The Valley Of)Out Come the Freaks” on Born To Laugh At Tornadoes (1983).
“Dad I’m In Jail” is from What Up, Dog? (1988), the phone call who hasn’t fantasized making?

wasnotwas

wiki
Was (Not Was) is an American eclectic pop group founded by David Weiss (a.k.a. David Was) and Don Fagenson (a.k.a. Don Was). They gained popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Weiss and Fagenson were childhood friends who grew up together in suburban Detroit. Partly due to Fagenson’s poverty they decided to form Was (Not Was) in 1979. The name of the band was derived from Fagenson’s son Zane, who enjoyed contradicting words such as “Blue” with “Not Blue”. Their first recording was “Wheel Me Out”, a 12-inch dance record for the avant-garde ZE Records.

Their first album Was (Not Was) (1981) was an amalgam of rock, disco, Weiss’s beat poetry, Reagan-era political-social commentary, and jazz. On vocals they recruited Harry Bowens and “Sweet Pea” Atkinson, who proved to be distinctive, soulful front men, who frequently found themselves singing absurdist and satirical songs, alongside tender ballads. The MC5′s Wayne Kramer, The Knack’s Doug Fieger and Mingus trumpeter Marcus Belgrave were among the guest players.

In 1982 the group played on a rare solo album for lead singer “Sweet Pea” Atkinson called Don’t Walk Away.

The eclectic Born to Laugh at Tornadoes (1983) had even more guest musicians, including Ozzy Osbourne rapping over electro, Mitch Ryder belting out a techno-rockabilly number, Mel Tormé crooning an odd ballad about asphyxiation, and an abstract funk piece called “Man vs. the Empire Brain Building”. Singer Donald Ray Mitchell joined the group as third lead vocalist.

In 1988 they found their biggest hit with the album What Up, Dog?, which featured the singles “Walk the Dinosaur” and “Spy in the House of Love”. Special guests included Stevie Salas, John Patitucci, Frank Sinatra, Jr., and a writing credit for Elvis Costello. Artist/animator Christoph Simon created videos to accompany some of their songs, such as “What Up Dog?”, “Dad I’m in Jail”, and the Tom Waits-style “Earth to Doris”. These appeared on MTV’s Liquid Television and in various film festivals, including the Spike & Mike festival. About this time, the Was Brothers developed separate careers as producers, film scorers, and music supervisors.

The group followed up with Are You Okay? in 1990, spearheaded by a cover of “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”. Guest musicians included Iggy Pop, Leonard Cohen, The Roches, and Syd Straw. After a tour with Dire Straits in 1992 and a UK Top 5 single with “Shake Your Head” (vocals from Ozzy Osbourne and Kim Basinger), Weiss and Fagenson drifted apart and nothing was heard from the band but a compilation album Hello Dad… I’m in Jail. Some members, however, did appear on Don’s Orquestra Was project Forever Is a Long Long Time (1997), which re-interpreted Hank Williams in a jazz/R&B vein.

In 1997, Steve Winwood released a tune which borrowed not just the title of Was (Not Was)’s single “Spy in the House of Love” but also the bass line and other elements. However, no lawsuits ensued (or were settled out of court).

In late 2004, Was (Not Was) reformed and were back on stage for a two-month club tour through the Northeast and East Coast of the US, as well as California, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois (including stops at the House of Blues in Cleveland and Chicago), Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania (in the Trocadero in Philadelphia). In October 2005, they played four gigs at the Jazz Café in London.

In 2008, they released their fifth studio album Boo!, featuring guest appearances from Kris Kristofferson, Wayne Kramer, Marcus Miller and Booker T. Jones, plus a song originally co-written with Bob Dylan nearly 20 years earlier.

Detroit’s Metro Times described the band as “an endearing mess… …a sausage factory of funk, rock, jazz and electronic dance music, all providing a boogie-down backdrop for a radical (and witty) political message of unbridled personal freedom and skepticism of authority.”[1] On April 22, 2008, they performed on the British show Later… with Jools Holland, and on May 2, they were the musical guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

The band kicked off its American tour on April 30, 2008, performing a well-received 2-hour set at Johnny D’s in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Out Come The Freaks
(Return To The Valley Of)Out Come The Freaks
Tell Me That I’m Dreaming
Dad I’m In Jail

Alice Coltrane “Hare Krishna”

Buzz Baby Jesus Posted in Jazz, Real Gone，Tags: , , , , ,
09 November 2009
3
 
I hope to hear the whole thing someday

I hope to hear the whole thing someday

I can’t live without “Hare Krishna” from 1972′s Universal Consciousness, a record I don’t know and don’t have. I can’t say if the rest of it sounds like this or is any good. In fact I don’t know any of her other music. I have a fair amount of her husband’s, but I don’t listen to it much. I’m more into Monk.

I always say I’m not a big Jazz fan, in fact I usually say I hate it, when actually, I’ll admit to loving a lot of it.  For a non fan I sure have and cherish a lot of records.  “Hare Krishna” is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music.  It is a work of staggering beauty.  It’s intensely spiritual. It sounds like meditating while coming onto acid.  It’s some of the only ambient Jazz I know. It would sound great in an airport.

Alice Coltrane (née McLeod) (August 27, 1937 – January 12, 2007) was an American jazz pianist, organist, harpist, composer, and the wife of John Coltrane.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Coltrane studied classical music, and studied with Bud Powell. She began playing jazz as a professional in Detroit, with her own trio and as a duo with vibist Terry Pollard. From 1962 to 1963 she played with Terry Gibbs’s quartet, during which time she met John Coltrane. She replaced McCoy Tyner as pianist with John Coltrane’s group in 1965. She married Coltrane in 1966, and continued playing with the band until his death in 1967. John Coltrane became stepfather to Alice’s daughter Michelle, and the couple had three children: drummer John Jr., and saxophonists Oran and Ravi. John Jr. died in a car crash in 1982.

After John Coltrane (Sr.)’s death she continued to play with her own groups, moving into more and more meditative music, and later playing with her children. She was one of the few harpists in the history of jazz. Her essential recordings were made in the late 1960s and early 1970s for Impulse! Records.

Coltrane was a devotee of the Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba. In 1972, Coltrane moved to California, where she established the Vedantic Center (see Vedanta) in 1975. By the late 1970s she had changed her name to Turiyasangitananda. Coltrane was the spiritual director, or swamini, of Shanti Anantam Ashram (later renamed Sai Anantam Ashram in Chumash Pradesh) which The Vedantic Center established in 1983 near Malibu, California. On rare occasions, she continued to perform publicly under the name Alice Coltrane.

The 1990s saw renewed interest in her work, which led to the release of the compilation Astral Meditations, and in 2004 she released her comeback album Translinear Light. Following a twenty-five-year break from major public performances, she returned to the stage for three U.S. appearances in the fall of 2006, culminating on November 4 with a concert in San Francisco with her son Ravi, drummer Roy Haynes, and bassist Charlie Haden.

Alice Coltrane died of respiratory failure at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center in suburban Los Angeles. She is buried alongside her late husband John Coltrane in Pinelawn Memorial Park, Farmingdale, Suffolk County, New York.

Paul Weller dedicated his song “Song For Alice (Dedicated to the Beautiful Legacy of Mrs. Coltrane),” from his album 22 Dreams, to Coltrane; the track entitled “Alice” on Sunn O)))’s 2009 album Monoliths & Dimensions was similarly inspired. Electronic musician Flying Lotus is the nephew of Alice Coltrane.

Hare Krishna

Car Rhumba

Buzz Baby Jesus Posted in Afro Cuban Jazz，Tags: , , , , , , , ,
27 October 2009
1
 
 
 
 
Not my car, but one just like it

Not my car, but one just like it

I moved from New York City to Jersey City 1n 1993. I went from not needing a car at all to only technically not needing a car. After a year and a half of hauling groceries all the way from the upper west side where I worked, it became clear an automobile could be helpful. Since I didn’t need it for commuting, I wasn’t that concerned with gas mileage. I just wanted to drive to the store 2 miles away once a week. I got this bright idea that maybe I could get a big old gas guzzling luxury car on the cheap. There were plenty of them around. A 1981 Buick Park Avenue turned up on my street with a FOR SALE sign.
I managed to get it for only $600. What a car! Power everything. I called it the Land Barge. After three weeks of cruising in style, the cassette deck died leaving me with the radio. I hadn’t been a regular listener of commercial radio in decades and was a little worried. There was always WFMU, but the signal was intermittent, and half the time they play dumb hipster trash.
I found La Mega, the big Spanish station, at 97.9. Listening to it made me feel as if I was on vacation all the time, and I liked it. After a while I was able to tell the difference between the good songs and not as good ones. At the time I belonged to the BMG record club and went on a Latin music buying spree. It was my music for over a year.  The “Barge” began to rapidly disintegrate, so I sold it for what I paid for it to a friend of a friend.  Periodically I’d hear it was still on the road.  It was replaced by a 1986 Toyota Camry with a sun roof and a working cassette deck.

Soul Drummer Ray Barretto

Soul Drummer Ray Barretto

One weekend I’d gone to Rickels, a long out of business chain of home improvement centers, to buy some mesh to keep the basketballs out of my yard. I can’t remember the details, but I decided I’d been ripped off somehow and furiously drove back to the store to yell at incompetent employees. My blood boiled as the Land Barge hurled toward the store. I swore out loud to nobody. I had La Mega cranked and just as I pulled into the parking lot “Soul Drummers” came on. It caught my attention. I sat in the car listening in awe. I forgot to be angry. I went into the store and on closer inspection realized I was the incompetent boob. I didn’t yell at anyone. I got back into the car and drove home. I worked with Spanish speakers from all over the Carribbean. Soon I found out Ray Barretto was responsible for “Soul Drummers”.

Ray Barretto (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was a Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican jazz musician, widely credited as the godfather of Latin jazz.
In 1946, when Barretto was 17 years old, he joined the Army. While stationed in Germany, Barretto met Belgium vibist Fats Sadi, who was working there. However, it was when he heard Dizzy Gillespie’s “Manteca” with Cuban percussionist, Chano Pozo, that he realized his true calling in life.

El Rey de Mambo Perez Prado

El Rey de Mambo Perez Prado

Perez Prado (b. December 11, 1916, Cuba – d. September 14, 1989, Mexico City, Mexico) was a Cuban/Mexican bandleader and composer. He is commonly referred to as the “King of the Mambo”.

The mambo, reinvigorated under the name salsa, is still the signature dance of Latin popular music, and his son, Perez Prado, Jr., continues to direct the Pérez Prado Orchestra in Mexico City to this day.

I found Perez Prado when I watched “Parents”, a creepy, but interesting movie starring Randy Quaid. His hit “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom Time” was used during the opening credits. It was a bit of a novelty hit, and “Caballo Negro” is not.

El Cumbia del Sol from East LA

El Cumbia del Sol from East LA

Don’t know much about the Blazers. They’re from East LA and their 1995 album “East Side Soul” was produced by Cesar Rojas of Los Lobos. It contains the very rockin “Cumbia Del Sol”. They Are Manuel Gonzales-vocals, guitars, bass, drums & percussion, Ruben Guaderrama, vocals,guitars, tres, piano, Lee Stuart-vocals, bass, and Mando Goss drums
This song was featured on the soundtrack of “Curdled”, another creepy movie, this time starring a nondescript Baldwin brother.
It was a cutout I bought for it’s Latin content.

Manteca Rocks

Manteca Rocks

I have several versions of this, none are the original with Chano Pozo. The one by Dizzie Gillespie I have is a concert from 1961 and sounds too much like Jazz. Cal Tjader’s is very “cool”. I picked this 1967 version by Chico O’Farrill because it rocks pretty damn hard. Manteca, with it’s anchoring riff, is kind of like the “Louie Louie” of Afro-cuban music.

Arturo “Chico” O’Farrill (October 28, 1921, in Mexico – June 27, 2001, in New York City, New York USA) was a musician who led an Afro-Latin big band, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra in New York City.
He composed and arranged, and played the trumpet. He also composed many works for Machito (Afro-Cuban suite with Charlie Parker, 1950) and Benny Goodman’s Bebop Orchestra.
From 1995 the orchestra, which took up residence at New York’s famous Birdland nightclub, was led by Chico’s son, a pianist who is also named Arturo O’Farrill. Arturo went on to form the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, which played at Lincoln Center. Under his direction the group recorded the Grammy-nominated album Noche Involvidable in 2005, and Song for Chico in 2008. He was also a professor of jazz at The University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Manteca is Lard, but actually translates to Grease. Also slang for heroin, which one the composers, Chano Pozo had a taste for.
He was was killed in a fight in a Harlem, New York bar at the age of 33, on December 2, 1948, allegedly in an argument over the quality or authenticity of a bag of marijuana he had bought from his murderer. He is buried in the Colon Cemetery, Havana.

Chano Pozo

Chano Pozo

Soul Drummers
Caballo Negro
Cumbia Del Soul
Manteca

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