Nil's Jazz Ensemble (S/T) (1976)

"Reflexiones" excerpt

"Summer Love" excerpt

"Black Angel" excerpt


Fantastic latin-jazz-funk album recorded in Lima, Peru in 1976, starring leader/saxaphonist/flautist Nilo Espinosa, formerly of Bossa 70, and also featuring keyboardist Miguel "Chino" Figueroa, a member of renowned latin-funk band Black Sugar.

A killer set from start to finish, starting off with the classic jazz-funker 'Reflexiones', and featuring giant covers of "Black Angel" (a Freddie Hubbard tune penned by Kenny Barron); John Handy's funk tune "Hard Work", and the Blackbyrd's track "Summer Love" (written by Allan Barnes).

The vinyl of this goes for way-too-big bucks, and the CD reissue has been deleted, so I've put the album together by combining relevant parts of an Espinosa CD compilation with a tracked-down missing track "Siempre" - so you can all hear the whole wonderful thing in either WAV or 320 mp3 (apart from 'Siempre', which is at 212kbps) - so check the comments for links and say hi .

TRACKLIST

01. Reflexiones (Figueroa)
02. Looking for a Blues
03. Summer Love (Allan Curtis Barnes)
04. Black Angel (Kenny Barron)
05. Siempre
06. Somos Nada
07. Hard Work (John Handy)

MUSICIANS

Nilo Espinosa: Saxophone [Tenor, Alto, Soprano], Flute
Pancho Saenz: Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Miguel "Chino" Figueroa: Electric piano, Clavinet, Mellotron
Richie Zellon: Electric Guitar
Oscar Stagnaro: Electric Bass
Ramon Stagnaro: Electric Guitar
Andres Silva: Drums
Jorge Montero: Guitar
Mauro Silva : Congas
Ary Quispe : trombone
PRODUCTION DETAILS

Recorded in Lima, Peru 1976.
MAG Records N. 2535

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"Sexual Healing" (Simon's Dark Keys mix)

"Sexual Healing" (Simon's Dark Keys Mix)

This is my own mix/mash of the vocal from Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" with "Dark Keys" by the Jazz Liberatorz, with some additional editing work. "Sexual Healing" was never one of my favourite Marvin songs due to the original 80s instrumentation - so I replaced it :)

Edit : Thanks to Gilles Peterson for spinning this on Worldwide, and to all the other DJs who've subsequently picked it up for their mixes.

Feel free to publish on your blogs, but a link back would be nice! Hope you enjoy it, please leave a comment.

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"The Hanged Man" OST - Alan Tew / Bullet (1975)

As a followup to the "Library Rhodes" compilation from the other day, here's Alan Tew's 1975 soundtrack to the Yorkshire TV series "The Hanged Man". This has been around the blogs in a lower bit rate, but here it is in glorious FLAC or 320-mp3, take your choice ...

Several (if not all?) of these tracks were Tew's former library tracks renamed for the series and album release, and four of them actually appeared on the above-mentioned rhodes comp under the original titles - but here's the whole thing.

"Bullet" were a studio band. No exact info is available, but I've read elsewhere that it was likely to have been library legends Alan Parker, Barry Morgan, Les Hurdle on bass, and possibly Alan Hawkshaw on keys.

My files come from a now-deleted CD re-release from 1998, but I've grabbed the images from the original vinyl version from Discogs, 'cos it's a nicer cover, love the star heads. Enjoy.

TRACKLIST

• 1. Contract Man
• 2. G.B.H.
• 3. Road Runner
• 4. The Heist
• 5. Duluth Blues
• 6. The Spic
• 7. Hanged Man
• 8. Blue Panther
• 9. Killer Hill
• 10. Smokey Joe The Dreamer
• 11. Gentle In The Night
• 12. The Peterman
• 13. Funky Bear
• 14. Hanged Man

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Various - "Library Rhodes" (compilation 14)

"The Apartment"

"20 Mile High Swinger" (excerpt)

"The Fence" (excerpt)

"Black Light" (excerpt)

"Sidewalk" (excerpt)

"Running Fast" (excerpt)


The electric piano frenzy continues with 78 minutes of library goodness brought to you today, so make sure you return those overdue books and settle back for some Sunday sunshine.

If none of us read anymore, then at least we can listen to the library. I wrote a few paragraphs somewhere in another post about why I think we listen to library music, and there's something of a history here, but no need to analyse this weekend as we flow with some classics and favourites :

From Duncan Lamont's chilled opener "The Apartment" (of 'Sweeney' fame) we move into some flute-laden jazz funk territory for a few tracks, then move into some brazil soundalike tracks beginning with Andre Ceccarelli.

Alan Tew's "The Fence" and Stefano Torossi's classic "Fighting For Life" lead us through some wah wah and blaxpo near-tension, before John Cameron's "Half Remembered Daydream" takes us into the centre vocal section of the compilation : for six tracks you can practise your "woo woos", "bu-bu-bu-bu-buhs" and "da da das" - yes folks, welcome to vocalese language school.

Alan Hawkshaw and Brian Bennett pick up the pace as we head into an action section that never quite requires us to remove our seatbelts, before Stan Sulzmann and friends drop us down to some jazz, and then the final soft but still uneasy tones of our constant host Alan Tew.

TRACKLIST

• 01 the apartment - duncan lamont
• 02 money runner - alan tew
• 03 gang progress - andre ceccarelli
• 04 at risk - david lindup
• 05 afro metropolis - john cameron
• 06 undergroove - alan hawkshaw
• 07 black light - alan parker
• 08 bossa for my eet - andre ceccarelli
• 09 virgin land - tony kinsey
• 10 flute in five four - duncan lamont
• 11 the fence (version a) - alan tew
• 12 fighting for life - stefano torrosi
• 13 the rub - alan tew
• 14 half forgotten daydreams - john cameron
• 15 husky birdsong - keith mansfield
• 16 liquid sunshine- john cameron
• 17 high diver - alan hawkshaw
• 18 shout - daniel janin
• 19 ski bird - alan hawkshaw
• 20 mile high swinger - alan hawkshaw/brian bennett
• 21 the rally - dennis farnon
• 22 dindou no.1 - andre ceccarelli
• 23 running fast - stefano torrosi
• 24 theme hypnose - jannick top
• 25 sojan - stan sulzmann
• 26 sidewalk - frank ricotti/tony hymas/stan sulzmann
• 27 nightwatch - alan tew
• 28 the fence (version b) - alan tew
• 29 eyes - alan tew

Thanks to my fellow bloggers everywhere for everything. I tend to heavily cull all the library stuff I collect, so it's hard to trace these all back - but I know that thanks should go, as ever, to Quimsy, Bacoso, Reza and many other masters of the known universe ...so please visit these people, talk to them ...

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Please leave comments too, discussion and feedback means that I'm more than your slave, which means more posts :)

Various - "Brazil Rhodes 3" (comp #13)

 "Bem Vinda" (excerpt)

 "Transamazonica" (excerpt)

 "Brazilian Skies" (excerpt)

 "Viramundo" (excerpt)

 "A Chamada" (excerpt)

"Previsao do Tempo" (excerpt)

Commiserations to our brazilian friends for the football - some consolation here in the form of twenty-three storming rhodes tracks from, or inspired by their great land.

A brief intro from the master, Hermeto Pascoal, leads us into some jazz-fused bangers from Som Imaginario, Antonio Adolfo, Marcos Resende and others.

O Quarteto's clustered vocal tones take us through some live Sergio Mendes and Brasil '77 into the middle section, fusing pop, funk and soul with Marcos Valle, Hyldon, Banda Black Rio and more.

The fusions of Azymuth and Headhunter Bill Summers (check that keyboard solo) leads us back to the atmospherics of Robertinho Silva and the deeper jazz of an uncharacteristically instrumental Ed Motta, before we finish with the beautiful melancholy of instrumental Marcos Valle and the amazing voice of Alaide Costa accompanied by Oscar Castro-Neves.

Enjoy the comp, check the previews above - all tracks @ 320kbps bar one or two - and leave a comment so that I know you're with me on this blogging trip ...

Big everlasting thanks to many blogs and bloggers for feeding my love of various brazilian musics over the last few years - including Quimsy, Ish, Bacoso, Reza, BC, Porco Rosso, Flabbergast, J Thyme, Bruxa, all the Gears crew, and many more, sorry if I've forgotten you ....

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also available :

Brazil Rhodes 1

Brazil Rhodes 2

.... or check all 13 rhodes comps

Various - "Latin Rhodes 3" (comp #12)

"Contradanza" (excerpt)

"Chekere Son" (excerpt)

"Pajaro Africano" (excerpt)

"Angelica" (excerpt)

"Saoco" (excerpt)

"Canto de los flores" (excerpt)

Back to some electric piano love. It's been a long time since the last Rhodes compilation, so here's a banging collection of funky, jazzy, 70s latin tracks for your listening pleasure! This is also in celebration of the completion of the Mongo Santamaria discography. Anyway ... the tracklist is on the back cover above, check the previews, and hope you enjoy it.

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Also available :

Latin Rhodes 1 (click)

Latin Rhodes 2 (click)

... or check out all 18 rhodes compilations

for more electric jazz, afro, latin, MPS and brazil ...

John Shakespeare Orchestra - "Number One Theme" (1969)

  TRACK OF THE DAY

John Shakespeare Orchestra - "Number One Theme" b/w "Fade Out" (1969), arranged by Quincy Jones, promo for BEA airlines in the UK.

Spotted for $1 at the market around the corner a few weeks back, grabbed this 45 immediately for Crap Jazz Covers, then saw Quincy Jones' name. "Number One Theme" is full of his harpsichord lines, lush strings, hammond solo, "do do-do-dooo" vocals, speedy summertimes at 100 mph ..... and all the not-so-hidden meanings are explained on the back cover above.

 The B-Side "Fade Out" is the title theme from a TV episode of "ITV Saturday Night Theatre" starring Stanley Baker. Similar feel, instrumental with an energetic sax solo. Can't find a synopsis of the TV episode, but here's a pic :

Fade Out

People seem to want about 30 pounds for this single, so damn it, we'll give it away for free and throw in a free bikini wax, even for the guys above. Hope you enjoy it (the music, that is).

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More Tracks of the Day here

Mongo Santamaria - "Mongo Magic" (1983)

"Freedom" (excerpt)



"Time Will Tell" (excerpt)



"Pirana" (excerpt)

In the two years since I made a discography for Afro-Cuban percussionist extraordinare Mongo Santamaria, some readers have come forward with a series of donations of Mongo's albums.

This 1983 Roulette Records album (not to be confused with the Charly Records compilation "Mongo's Magic") has never made it to CD, and reader Remy has stepped forward with a nice vinyl rip for this blogosphere debut. Big thanks to you Remy!

In the timeline of his studio albums, "Mongo Magic" sits between 1980's "Images" and 1984's "Free Spirit". Longtime producer Marty Sheller is the only person remaining with with Mongo from the 1980 album. Earlier in 1983 Santamaria gave a blistering live performance, captured on Montreux Heat with an entirely different lineup, then got a new band together for this album, most of whom stayed on for "Free Spirit" in '84 and 1987's "Soy Yo".

This starts out as a low-key affair - was worried by the first two tracks with the dreaded DX-rhodes, but later "Rachael's Dance" is the best of the mellow ones, and "Time Will Tell" is a great jazz track, before Mongo's congas only really kick in on tracks like "Pirana". He's joined by Bobby Sanabria on timbales and other percussion. Sheller doesn't play on this album, but as usual wrote most of the tracks .

There's a strong brass and winds presence with Tony Hinson on tenor sax and flute; Chris Rogers on trumpet; and flautist/saxophonist Sam Furnace kicks in with two compositions, "Freedom" and "Should the Blues Be Suspended", which have some of the album's best melodies. Excellent piano work from both Hilton Ruiz and Bobby Quaranta.

Enjoy it!

TRACKLIST

01 'Rude Boy' (6:18)

02 'The Answer Is Love' (5:00)

03 'Freedom' (6:11)

04 'Time Will Tell' (6:27)

05 'Should the Blues Be Suspended' (6:16)

06 'Rachael's Dance' (6:20)

07 'Pirana' (4:38)

08 'Bonita' (4:57)

All tracks written by Marty Sheller except :

08 - Mongo Santamaria

03,05 - Sam Furnace

MUSICIANS

Mongo Santamaria - conga drums and bongos

Bobby Sanabria - timbales, drums and percussion

Sam Furnace - flute; soprano, alto and baritone sax

Tony Hinson - Tenor Sax and flute

Lew Soloff - trumpet on 3, 8

Chris Rogers - trumpet

Sal Cuevas - bass

Bobby Quaranta - piano

Hilton Ruiz - piano on 2,6,7

PRODUCTION

Produced by Marty Sheller

All arrangements by Marty Sheller except :

3, 5 arranged by Sam Furnace

Engineer - David Stone

Photography - Hal Wilson

Art Direction - Michael Mendel

MONGO SANTAMARIA discography

... is HERE

POST CREDITS

Vinyl rip by Remy

Other album links in this post go to Orgy in Rhythm, Blog-O-Blog, AfroCubanLatinJazz and Si Se Rompe Se Compone. Please thank these people if you visit and download their albums, comments keep your favourite blogs alive.

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