Say "Prisencolinensinainciusol" Five Times Fast

I think this fine tune was the first victory for my iphone eBay application. As my buddy Atsushi as my witness, this 45 was won while enjoying happy hour at the Argus. Thanks to Klaudia and Brigham for putting this tune (& video) in my headlights. This tune is just one of the strangest specimens of global pop culture. As the story goes Adriano Celentano is something like Italy's Elvis with a similar two-pronged music and film approach. He was also a skilled gyrator of the hula hoop.

This song was written and performed with his wife, Claudia Mori an actress turned record producer. Adriano suggests that the song is about "incommunicability" and to drive this point home they crafted lyrics that sound like English, but rarely make any sense beyond a couple linked words. Check out the video below that attempts to transcribe the lyrics:


The song is clearly bizarre, but the relentless beat, boomeranging horn stabs and growling guitars make it a freaky dancefloor classic. On top of that, the TV production looks like it was Fellini's attempt to choreograph and direct a classic 50s Elvis movie dance number. There might only be like 12 dancers, but thanks to the well positioned mirrors, it might as well be a google plus 1. The original version is from an Italian TV show. The actual song starts 1:15 in to the clip. If you want to watch it without the subtitles, here ya go:


Being an Italian pop star, naturally Adriano had to do a house remix.

Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol
Here's the original 45 version. The flip is called "Disc Jockey" and is basically the same song, utilizing that same fantastic crunching beat set against horn stabs and snarling guitars.



Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol (GW Ruff Edit)
And this is a great extended, re-edited and re-imagined version by legendary UK DJ Greg Wilson.

Sorry for the absence . . . But if You're in NYC this weekend . . .

As some of you out there may have already heard I will soon be leaving New York for the Left/Best/West Coast and the fair city of San Francisco, but not before we can get down en masse TWO more times.

The first will be this Saturday when I will share duties with selectors Radio Rios and DJ Okay, who will inherit this coveted Saturday night slot following my departure.

The second will be next month, May 24th and will be the OFFICIAL farewell party for yours truly and the Neal Cassady to my Kerouac, Jamie Brown, for our impending road-trip out west. So mark you calendars!

Let's hope this great weather holds up for Saturday and we can enjoy the kick-ass backyard deck at Huckleberry Bar.

Check out the flyer (courtesy of DJ Okay) . . . invite your friends . . . and say "hi" when you arrive and maybe I'll share some of my cheese plate with you.

The Ambassador presents . . .

The Rio Deal

and introducing two new regular DJs: Radio Rios & DJ Okay

Saturday, April 26th
10pm - 4am

Huckleberry Bar
588 Grand Street
@ Lorimer
Williamsburg, BK

Take the "L" train to Metropolitan or the "G" train to Lorimer (MAP)

This Saturday, The Rio Deal in NYC

After taking some time away from the bustling and hustling DJ scene of NYC, I am once again throwing my hat into the ring with a new residency. I am very excited about DJing at a new bar in Williamsburg that has been all the buzz as of late. This is the same place where we had the Frank Sinatra party back in December and the place has been in on the tip of everyone's tongue since then.

The bar is located on the most recent street to receive hipsterfication in Williamsburg, Grand Street (east side of BQE). I must say, they do it right at Huckleberry. You walk in this place and its like all the design flaws of every other bar are made apparent, because this place just "feels" right, down to the sunken lounge in the back and the classy DJ booth with ample space and even a little shelf for the DJ to place his immaculately made Manhattan (possibly the best I've ever had).

Check out their website here.

As for the music, it's gonna be a mix of Soul, Funk, Disco from North and South America. I'm gonna see what the people react to on the first night and play it by ear from there. No musical agenda other than making people shake, shimmy, head-nod or dance, whatever their preference might be. If I don't know you already, please come by the booth and introduce yourself. I'll be back every 4th Saturday of the Month, so mark those calendars.

I hope to see some of you there.

Allen aka 'the ambassador'

Frank's Way

Download: Drinking Again
Today is Frank Sinatra's birthday. If he were still alive, he'd be 93 years old. Frank might seem a bit out of place on Soul Spectrum, but I don't really care and anyone who says that Frank Sinatra didn't have soul is a good-fah-nuttin-dirty-bird, as my Grandpa would say.

If you're in New York, come on by Huckleberry Bar in Williamsburg tonight for a tribute to Ol' Blue Eyes featuring yours truly as well as DJs Deepak Chopra and Amadeus. Click on the flyer above for all the relevant details.

But, seeing as this is Soul Spectrum I'm not gonna talk about the obvious Frank Sinatra touchstones, but instead focus on his intersection with Brazilian music, namely his collaboration with Antonio Carlos Jobim. This is where my appreciation for Frank all began.

Back in college and the years after I collected nearly every recording I could find that had anything to do with Bossa Nova. I was possessed by this Brazilian genre and its waves that emanated in Brazil reaching almost every foreign shore, from the U.S. to France to Japan. One of my all-time favorite non-brazilian Bossa Nova albums is the album Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim from 1967. There's a particular quote from the liner-notes to this album that speak to the different mood and style that Sinatra was taking with these songs. After the trombone player botched a note, he said to Sinatra apologetically, "If I blow any softer, it’ll hafta come out the back of my neck.” The liner notes for this album are particularly great. Read them here.

In all of Sinatra's career he never recorded an album of songs from only one composer with the exception of Antonio Carlos Jobim for whom he recorded TWO full albums. The first one in 1967 and then the second one was recorded in 1969 with fellow Brazilian, Eumir Deodato (before his mega-hit remake of the Theme to 2001), but the planned album "SinatraJobim" was released in 1970 but then immediately recalled after only 3,500 8-track tapes were sent out to stores in California. Seven of the ten songs from this album would later be released on Sinatra's 1971 album "Sinatra & Company"

So, what of the three tracks that were not released on "SinatraJobim"? There was Off-Key (Desafinado), Sabia and Bonita. To complicate matters further "Sabia" and "Bonita" were later issued in Brazil on a double-LP set called "Sinatra-Jobim Sessions" which featured all of the songs from the 1967 and 1969 sessions (except "Off-Key") as well as "Manha de Carnaval" with Brazilian guitarist Luiz Bonfa accompanying Sinatra from his "My Way" album and another song called "Drinking Again" that must have been recorded during the 1967 with Jobim but not released on the album. It was released later in 1967 on and album called " Frank Sinatra and the World We Knew." I have included this song here at the top of this post.

You can find the Sinatra-Jobim Sessions and the holy-grail "SinatraJobim" album on the treasure cove of long-lost Brazilian records: Lornonix Using Zeca's "Find It" feature you can link to both albums available for download, though the tracklisting is a bit wrong as the "Sessions" download includes "Off-Key" though it is not on the original LP, believe me I know I'm lucky enough to have scored it when down in Brazil.



Download: The Lady Is a Tramp
Speaking of Brazil . . . Like I mentioned yesterday when talking about Brazilian musicians there is a tendency to make comparisons with American stars. While of course there are flaws in every comparison, Dick Farney was most definitely the "Brazilian Frank Sinatra." In fact, during Dick's heyday in the late 50s and early 60s, the Frank Sinatra-Dick Farney Fan Club was ground zero for many future Bossa Nova stars such as Joao Donato and Johnny Alf, among others. In addition to having a repertoire and voice similar to Sinatra's, Farney was an excellent jazz pianist and many of his albums were straight instrumental sets. Farney has quite a following over at Lornonix, so be sure to swing by and download some Dick Farney albums.