bovea y sus vallenatos -- merengues colombianos

bovea and the boys throw down the merengues colombianos.

how do you top that?

julio bovea, alberto fernandez, and jose angarita on fuentes records, a division of miami records out of florida. nice.

artur schnabel -- beethoven piano sonatas 5, 7, 16, and 25

i came across a couple of slabs today of artur schnabel playing beethoven piano sonatas. i know a guy who likes to listen to piano sonatas with his granny that recently turned me on to some interpretations by a fellow named schiff. i have been enjoying those quite a bit and i thought these might be interesting to him from a comparison standpoint. these recordings were made between 1932 and 1935 so they don't have the fidelity of the ecm recordings by schiff, but this fellow schnabel is no amateur he can blow for real and since they both have names that begin with sch i felt it was important to share them. the first side of the first album was sonata no4 but there was a constant noise that was driving me nuts so i didn't rip it (upsetting since it looks as if the record had never been touched, perhaps it is part of the original recording) and in fact they all have a bit of crackle and tic but i found them enjoyable and so here they are such as they are. run an artur schnabel search on youtube, there is some good stuff there. upon doing a bit more research i come to find that artur had quite a following and as i listen more i can hear why. of himself he once said that he didn't play the notes any better than any number of other pianists but that it was the space between the notes: "ah, that is where the art lies," lafite likes that.
hope you'se do too.

brahms first symphony in C minor opus 68

so here we have brahms first symphony in c minor opus 68. i ran across this lp just now and ripped it because i'm freaky like that. this is an OLD 33rpm on telefunken (lgx 66003) that advertisies it self as being a long playing microgroove flexible vinyl record that is in fact about as flexible as a dinner plate. one lp in a cardboard inner sleeve with a thick plastic cover inside a box, they wrapped this sucker for the long haul and it's made out pretty well nigh on 60 years later.
joseph keilberth conducts the berlin philharmonic orchestra and for all the packaging there is no other information about the recording or the players; instead talking about brahms and this his first coming late at age 43 in a time when the public had turned away from classical outlines (violently, apparently), and to highly colored 'programme music' of liszt and wagner. he suffered many piquant comments at the time and critics called the first "the tenth" because of similarities in the finale to beethovens ninth to which brahms reportedly said "any fool can see that". so say the liner notes anyway. strikes me as a nice piece of music.
check it if you like.

astor p

everybody loves astor. entirely pleasant album, if not his most moving material. tico record looks brand new but has some surface noise. not too bad overall, check into it.

ali akbar khan -- ragas of india

all due respect to ravi and others, and granted the sarod is its own instrument, but ali akbar khan is the man. i can't imagine anyone around here won't like this stuff. he is accompanied by a tabla player named mahapurush misra who is no slouch.
come to find out as i read the liner notes that ragas are categorized by the time of day they are supposed to be played. i like that. i put a hint in the track name about this and i will mention it below. of course it all sounded good this afternoon as i ripped it. as i searched for a picture to use i just now found out that he passed away last month (4/14/22-6/18/09). foolishly, though he lived in my neck of the woods i never saw the man play. this is from a three album set put out by the classics record library/book of the month club in 1971.
hope you'se like it.

raga chandranandan 8pm-3am
raga goojjari todi morning
raga aheer bhairow predawn to sunrise
raga marwa: alap 40 minute raga part one
raga marwa: gat 40 minute raga part 2 a late evening and nighttime
raga bhairavi bhatiyar with ragmala between sunrise and noon

orlando julius -- super afro soul

orlando throws down with the afrosounders and the modern aces. some time back i heard a track or two of his from a compilation of stuff out of lagos in the '70s. thanks to whoever it was put that dynamite up.

warm up first.

ray barretto -- eye of the beholder

with help from joe sample and studio luminaries. ray lights the fusion.

big black and his congregation -- if you're diggin' what you're doin' keep on doin' what you're diggin'

with joko t ninie wu, cucumalou, and chuka devi on special effects, sargeant sonny and albert ingrum on guitar, ron "organic n****r" johnson on bass, gary raider alexander on timbales, john boudreaux on trap drums, doug carns on organ, bill henderson and his violin trio. dope.

bill withers -- two

two of my favorite bill withers records. there is something uniquely satisfying about this guy, for me anyway. the music is fantastic but there is a countryfied emotional quality to these songs that i cannot compare to anything else. bill is the man.

the meters -- struttin'

the funky meters doin' the thing while wearing some striped bell bottoms. produced by allen toussaint.

the brothers johnson -- right on time

strawberry letter 23 and brother man stand out for me, but this is a strong effort produced and arranged by quincy "i am jazz" jones. with wayne vaughn, kenny pickens, george johnson, alex weir, richard heath, louis johnson, ray brown, marc johnson, and ricky lawson.

bernard purdie -- shaft

pretty purdie laying it down with gerry thomas, danny moore, charlie brown, willy bridges, neal creque, billy nichols, gordon edwards, norman pride, houston person, and lloyd davis.

DAVE PELL -- I HAD THE CRAZIEST DREAM

Great west coast stuff from my collection. Pretty rare, pretty swinging. Hope you like it.

agostinho do santos -- vanguarda

some cool swinging bossa by agostinho. mix up a few caipirinas and give it a spin.

george benson -- the george benson cookbook

sure enough cooking with gas here. with lonnie smith, benny green, ronnie cuber, jimmy lovelace and marion booker.

george benson -- bad benson

george doing his thing.

gladys knight and the pips -- anthology

these guys are good. some solid tracks in here

gladys knight and the pips -- claudine soundtrack

not that you would need me to tell you once you heard it, but this stuff is written and produced by curtis mayfield. ms knight and the pips getting a little deeper than usual. kind of makes you wonder if pushed, they might cut you up. pretty cool.

gladys knight and the pips -- imagination

gladys and the pips singing some of their many hits.

miles davis and gil evans -- quiet nights

classico.

george freeman -- new improved funk

this is, in fact, funkified. with von freeman sax, john young piano, leroy jackson bass, bob guthrie or marion booker drums, bobby blevins organ.

bayete` (todd cochran) -- worlds around the sun

never heard of this guy, but this is a pretty solid effort. features bobby hutcherson, mulobo, james leary lll, oscar brashear, thabo vincar, mganda, wayne wallace, hadley caliman.

groove merchant sampler

has tracks by organ players like groove holmes and mcgriff, also lucky thompson, basie, levy, corea, etc. pretty good batch.

all i got

sort it out.

taj mahal -- the natch'l blues

i really like this record. check into it.

dave bailey sextet -- gettin' into somethin'

i could do without the spoken intro before each track, however: nice lineup, nice sides. recorded live someplace, no information given. clark terry, curtis fuller, charlie rouse, horace parlan, and peck morrison.

fafa lemos -- trio do fafa

i love this guy. i ripped this and sent it to zeca after his links were killed, but he don't seem to want it. a little crisp, but still sounds fantastic. dope. no credits.

little feat -- waiting for columbus

i posted this elsewhere not that long ago, but here i am listening to it once again. finer than fine, a perfect double album. dig it or don't. i could give a rat's ass.

astor piazzolla -- tango en hi-fi

hi-fi might be a bit of a stretch for this one on music hall records, but a little crispyness aside another typically great effort from astor. i like the cover too.
elvino vardaro plays violin, jaime gosis plays piano, jose bragato plays mean cello, juan vasallo bass and jorge sobral on the voice.

cal tjader -- latin kick

these guys never quit. with manuel duran, carlos duran, luis miranda, bayardo velarde, and brew moore.

cal tjader -- concert on the campus

cal and the lads roasting the campus area in san jose and sacramento circa 1959. with lonnie hewitt, eddie coleman, willie bobo, and mongo santamaria.

willie colon -- cosa nuestra

willie threw down a monster here. some say this one was instrumental in the formation of the new york sound; i don't know how it fits into the timeline but if you don't know what the 'new york sound' is, here is a good place to start. hector lavoe does the vocals, johnny pacheco and jerry masucci direct and produce respectively. no other credits.

cal tjader -- demasiado caliente

hot chamingas. the small band was recorded at the blackhawk in san francisco with willie bobo, mongo santamaria, jose lozano, lonnie hewitt, and victor villegas. the large band was assembled in LA by eddie cano and has all mckibbon on bass and no other credits.

cal tjader plays mambo

early latino cal. three sessions with a baseline of manual duran on piano, bayardo velarde timbales, carlos duran bass, edgard rosales conga. on four tracks add woody herman's third herd trumpet section: al porcino, dick collins, charlie walp, and john howell. on four luis miranda replaces rosales.

joe strummer and the mescaleros -- global a go-go

i can't remember who it was that posted streetcore, but i have been digging it. so has the wife. bought this today and have to say i am digging it also. these guys had it going on. i am too drunk to read the liner notes, but this is some first rate stuff. check into it; buy it if you like. i did.

three for bacoso

cal and eddie just tearing it up. creed taylor, claus ogerman, and rudy van g oversee cal and eddie with george castro, tommy lopez, manny oquendo, ismael quintana, jose rodrigues, mark weinstein, julian priester, bobby rodriguez, and barry rodgers. this is for the mighty bacoso.

















mongo funks it up. slips into a porno sountrack vibe occasionally, but absolutely rips too. lady marmalade for god's sake.
with justo almario, al williams, ray maldonado, greg peachy jarmon, armon donelian, william allen, steve barrios, roscoe mackey, bob porcelli, victor paz, tom malone, bernard pretty purdie, and paul griffin. a who's who of nyc studio luminaries.
















this was one of the first tjader records i bought after i had figured out how good he was. cool mambos with manuel duran on piano, carlos duran on bass, and edgard rosales on percussion. cal plays conga on mamblues, gourd on autumn leaves, and vibes on the rest.

mongo santamaria -- el pussy cat

with marty sheller on trumpet, hubert laws on flute and tenor, bobby capers on alto and baritone and flute, carmello garcia timbales and drums, rodger grant on piano, and victor venegas on bass.

hold on to your hat.

ha