Kicking Funk Loops from Here to Cal Tjader

They don't make 'em like Cal Tjader any more. As a band leader he had a very straight forward vision: make interesting music that audiences could relate to. He did this for more than three straight decades, releasing dozens of albums on many record labels. He worked with many different bands with members such as Mongo Santamaria, Willie Bobo, Vince Guaraldi, Al McKibbon, Pete Escovedo, Coke Escovedo, Clare Fischer, Poncho Sanchez, Lonnie Hewitt, Armando Peraza, Tito Puente, Stan Getz, Carmen McCrae, Airto, Joao Donato, Lalo Schifrin, George Duke, Charlie Byrd, Eddie Palmieri and many more. Paraphrasing Cal's biographer (book due out in a couple years), musicians liked to play with Cal because he would give great sidemen the spotlight to shine, something that Cal's East Coast colleague Tito Puente would never do and resultingly Mongo and Willie jumped ship for Cal's cool latin band in the late 50s.

Cal's an unlikely source for hip-hop samples with his white-bread collegiate look and chunky glasses, but a quick survey of hip-hop classics will show you that Tjader had a knack from creating interesting sounds that made for great moody samples (Midnight Marauders interlude music, for instance). Just ask Pete Rock:

“It’s coming soon, so chill and don’t stress the creator/ I’ll kick funk loops from here to Cal Tjader…" (from the Pete Rock and CL Smooth song “In the Flesh,” from their “Main Ingredient” album).

This blog has a great two-part mix with Tjader originals interspersed with songs that sampled him, many of them rare instrumental versions.

I've been working on my Tjader collection since moving to the Bay Area and have nearly completed the 1965-1975 era, which is probably my favorite as it sees Tjader trying to stay hip and relevant and doing a pretty damn good job. The early sixties saw him switch from the Bay Area-founded Fantasy Records to the more nationally-focused Verve Records where he scored his biggest hit, "Soul Sauce". His mid-sixties Verve albums range from soft ballads to funky latin fusion and are all excellent listens. In the late 60s he founded Skye records with like-minded musical oddballs: Gabor Szabo and Gary McFarland and released three albums: Solar Heat, Sounds Out Burt Bacharach and Plus In. A recently released session from those years "Latin + Jazz = Cal Tjader" is particularly revelatory in that it represented, according to Tjader's biographer, Cal's preferred live repertoire: a couple ballads mixed in with some mid-tempo Latin-Jazz numbers.

When Skype folded after a couple years Cal went back to Fantasy and put out his funikiest and hardest-hitting Latin albums, in my opinion: Agua Dulce (1971), Tjader (1971), Last Bolero in Berkeley (1973) and Primo (1973). The seventies also saw him focus a lot on recording live, with great results, on Live at the Funky Quarters (1972), Puttin' It Together (1974), At Grace Cathedral (1975) and Here (1977). As you can see from the tracklist below, some of the best versions of his most loved songs can be found on these live albums. All in all, I don't think Cal ever made a bad album, nor did he fully sell-out in a commercial sense - there's no such thing as a Cal Tjader disco album and you can't say that for most jazz musicians that survived the 70s. I've assembled some of my favorite "Tjader Tjams" from the period 1964-1974 for your enjoyment. Eventually, I hope to get around to putting together the ying to this yang, "Tjader Tjems", the mellow companion to this Latin groovathon. Tjam On!



















The Ambassador Presents Cal Tjader - Tjader Tjams
1. Moneypenny Goes for Broke, from: Sounds Out Burt Bacharach
2. Souled Out, from: The Prophet
3. Armando's Guajira (live), from: Latin + Jazz = Cal Tjader (CD only)
4. Soul Sauce (Guachi Guaro), from: Soul Sauce
5. Cubano Chant (live), from: Live at the Funky Quarters
6. Fried Bananas, from: Solar Heat
7. La Murga Pana Mena, from: Primo
8. Amazonas (live), from: Puttin' It Together
9. Agua Dulce (Cool-Ade), from: Agua Dulce
10. Mambero, from: Tjader
11. Ran Kan Kan, from: Agua Dulce
12. Solar Heat, from: Solar Heat
13. Leyte (live), from: Live at the Funky Quarters
14. Gimme Shelter, from: Agua Dulce
15. I Showed Them, from: Tjader
16. Walk on By, from: Sounds Out Burt Bacharach
17. Never My Love, from: Solar Heat
18. Never Can Say Goodbye, from: Last Bolero in Berkeley
19. Morning, from: Agua Dulce
20. Curtain Call, from: Last Bolero in Berkeley

Great Songs (Now With Lyrics!)

I am certain there are a million and one other examples of this phenomenon (classic instrumental songs getting new lyrics), but this post stems from my relatively recent fascination with jazz vocalist Mark Murphy. I never in my boringest dreams thought that I would have anything resembling a fascination with a "jazz vocalist." Sure, I showed my sensitive side in college with my "best of" Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday CDs and how can you not like a little Frank Sinatra now and then, but somehow these icons escape the labeling of "jazz vocalist". Partly, I think it's the fault of all those too-smooth (Al Jarreau), silly (Bobby McFerrin) crappy-ass jazz vocalists that are ruining it for the truly artistic and inspired examples out there still doing their thing (check out Jose James).

I first heard Mark Murphy on a mix made by my man Greg Caz. The song was "Sunday in New York" and no doubt the slightly funky rhythm section, hot horns and because I lived in NYC at the time allowed me to listen deeper. After a few listens it was all about Mark's vocal style and delivery. I've been tracking down his catalog ever since. Something I noticed on a few of his albums was how he would take a classic jazz track and write lyrics for it so that the listener could immediately relate to the tune, but now there was a new element, a new soloist doing their thing in an unfamiliar way over a familiar song. Sure, there's "Watermelon Man" with its latin/vocal version by Mongo Santamaria (though there aren't many words to this lyric, "Hey, Watermelon Man!") or Carmen McCrae's vocal take on "Take Five", but Mark picks some tracks that clairvoyantly speak to the hip-hop generation as they are classic sample cuts. But before we get into some "serious" jazz music, I asked my co-worker, Eric, for any ideas on this theme and he suggested this classic lyrical interpretation of a familiar instrumental tune:



Mark Murphy - On the Red Clay
This is a killer album, possibly my favorite of Mark's so far and it took me getting out-bid a couple times before I secured my own copy. While the Freddie Hubbard version (below) is not the one that Tribe sampled (that was Jack Wilkins), it's a great tune and I feel Mark really captures the energy of the song taking only the title and extrapolating from there.



Mark Murphy - Canteloupe Island
A more obvious choice, but a great song nonetheless and Mark's lyrics seem to fit the tropical mood painted by Herbie's original version.



Mark Murphy - Sly
This was a strange choice I thought as "Sly" was not an obvious pick from Herbie's classic "Headhunters" album, but Mark really finds a bouncing vocal style to play around with Herbie's musical structure. This is from another great album my Mark Murphy that features one of the best versions of Tom Jobim's "Waters of March". Please chime in on the comments if you have any favorite instrumentals-turned-vocal tunes.

Barney Wilen's African Adventure

With the wedding just a couple weeks out I've been narrowing down and perfecting the various wedding playlists. Being a collector and DJ I'm naturally pretty particular about the music that will accompany possibly the most significant ceremony of my life. There will be no ABBA (sorry) and likely nothing else that has ever been featured in a TV commercial or any wedding movies. Jamie pretty much knows what she's getting herself into and for the most part enjoys my musical contributions to our shared life, but I've been intentionally playing her songs that I'm planning on putting on the wedding playlists. These Barney Wilen tunes are some that got strong support from the soon-to-be wife. I love the carefree vibe of these two tunes. They're really unlike anything else I can think of and I wish there was more out there that sounded like this, so if anyone has suggestions, leave em in the comments.

I don't know much about Barney Wilen, other than he's a French saxaphone player who graced many an American jazz leaders' group in the 50s and 60s when American expats were setting up shop in Paris. He then became pretty engrossed with the hippy scene, as evidenced by his "Dear Prof. Leary" album from the late 60s. The album from which these two tunes were pulled was released in 1971 on the French label Saravah, discussed here. The back story goes that Barney and friends spent two years travelling from Tangiers to Dakar and documented their trip musically and with film. The resulting album is a double LP that fetches a pretty penny when it comes up for auction in the original pressing (the image featured below) or the simpler, and less appealing reissue cover. Orgy in Rhythm has the album for download here.

Barney Wilen - Gardenia Devil
Both songs are making the wedding mix, despite the barely noticeable "f" word usage in this one. If it weren't for that I would think it would make a great kid's song. Maybe it still can? I mean I plan on being an open-minded parent and have every intention of raising my child(ren) on african jazz freakouts. You with me Jamie?

Barney Wilen - Zombizar
This one is the stomper. Man, I love this stuff.

Lounge Music for Hipsters

It's not easy to peg Gary McFarland's music. At first glance he's an arranger and occasional musician or soloist, but chancing upon his 1969 album on Skye Records (he was a co-founder with Gabor Szabo and Cal Tjader) you get an entirely different view of the artist. This album lands somewhere in between light jazz, lounge music, bossa nova and jazz renditions of pop hits, but even that fails to capture the texture of most of this album. The arrangements call just as much on Smile-era Beach Boys as they do on middle of the road sixties exotica. He dares to take on Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" a challenging tune to cover to say the least. He also taps the recent musical immigrant, Airto Moreira, to solo with the traditional Brazilian percussion instrument, the berimbau, on the tune by the same name. After listing to the album obsessively for the past few months I have come to the realization that this must have been cool-out music for the sophisticated jazz hipsters. This is no Martin Denny, but its still just as passive in that it makes for great background music. But every now and then a particular movement, vocal harmony or percussive breakdown reveals its true complexity.

It's this complexity that is McFarland's lasting legacy. On the surface he didn't appear to be making music that was that different from his peers, but repeat listens reveal a depth of understanding of musical textures, memorable melodies and subtle, yet excellent musicianship. I'm still exploring McFarland's output, but this particular album is a special one for me. There are a number of cool songs here, but the following three selections really stand out. McFarland's story is a tragic and bizarre one as the story goes he was dosed with liquid methadone while drinking with a friend at a New York City bar and died instantly. One can only imagine in which direction he would have taken his music, had he survived. You can check out Doug Payne's excellent tribute here.

Gary McFarland - Because

Gary McFarland - Suzanne

Gary McFarland - Berimbau

Azymix Re-upped @ Mojo Knights

Sir Mojo Knight asked me to share my "Azymix" mix over at Mojo Knights and happily obliged. This time we've added a track list, which should be posted shortly. Check it out here.

Mystifying Mamas - From Chicago to Paris

Just the other day I was revisiting this CD, Saravah by Cafe Apres-Midi, a Japanese compilation of music from the small, independent French record label from the late 1960s - 1980s. The range of music on here is just great with some French styles, lots of Brazilian influence, some Jazz, some soul and funk as well as some African styles.

The story goes that the label was started by singer and songwriter, Pierre Barouh (read more here if you can understand French). Barouh "discovered" Brazilian music while traveling in Portugal and was soon smitten. In 1966 he played a major musical role in the Claude Lelouch fim, Un Homme et Une Femme, otherwise known as "A Man and A Woman". Barouh sang on the soundtrack and even managed to insert his love for Brazilian music with the inclusion of the Vinicius de Moraes and Baden Powell tune "Samba da Bancao" recorded in French with Baden Powell on guitar as "Samba Saravah." The movie and soundtrack were huge hits and the money Barouh received for his performance, he directly invested into his new record label, Saravah.

In 1969 he traveled to Brazil and captured some of the country's best musicians in an extremely casual setting. The documentary was only officially released recently. Here's a clip of Paulinho da Viola jamming with Maria Bethania at a beach cafe.

The label was home to some excellent musicians and some great albums, such as Pierre Akendengue's two early 70s albums, Barney Wilen's "Moshi" and as well as Nana Vasconcelos and Bridgette Fontaine. While, I'm getting a little sidetracked here, the first song today was included in this Saravah comp even though it was originally issued on the obscure French label, Horse.

The Art Ensemble of Chicago Featuring Marva Broome - Mystifying Mama
Though I have found little evidence to definitively prove that the Art Ensemble of Chicago played on this recording, comparing it to the next track you can understand why its assumed it was them backing Ms. Broome. What a killer combination of Jazz and Soul, not quite soul-jazz but something close to that. Too bad she didn't put out more than this one single. Evidently she sings back-up vocals on Barney Wilen's superb Saravah album, "Moshi".

The Art Ensemble of Chicago Featuring Fontella Bass - Theme de Yo-Yo
So, this track isn't a product of Pierre Barouh's Saravah label, but that whole story was a nice excuse for letting me post this slamming jazz-inflected funk explosion. This song can get a little bit crazy, but I just love how the band bobs and weaves around Fontella's vocals and comes crashing down in a cacophony of horns and drums every now and then. I first heard this cut in Maine being played on public radio and I immediately had to track it down. Fontella was married to one of the Art Ensemble of Chicago players, Lester Bowie, at the time of this recording. Here's a bit of a bio on her.

Top 4 favorite things about moving to SF:

1. Mexican Food
2. Availability & Affordability of Produce*
3. Aguas Frescas

I can't get enough of the delicious juices that you can get at virtually every Mexican joint in town, be they cantelope, watermelon, strawberry or whatever. So refreshing! I try to kid myself that they're not loaded with sugar, because the presence of actual fruit chunks makes me wanna believe that they're 100% natural and 100% good for you. For the reason that will soon become obvious to you, Agua de Fresca made me think of my #4 favorite thing about SF . . .

4. Cal Tjader (he called the Bay Area home for most of his life)

And with that I give you two songs from his fantastic early seventies album on Fantasy, called "Agua Dulce"

Cal Tjader - Agua Dulce (Cool-Aid)
Cal Tjader - Gimme Shelter








* edible, medicinal, etc

Celebrating the Absurd!

Q: What's the difference between Mickey Mouse and Santa Claus?
A: They both have beards, except Mickey!

That's my dad's favorite joke and one of the few jokes I can ever remember, so by default it's one of my favorite jokes and also the cornerstone of my appreciation for the absurd. I remember hearing this joke several times as a kid and not "getting it" and then one day I "got it", meaning I finally understood that it's not supposed to make sense and that's why it's funny, though in the case of this joke it's humor is still debatable.

Having moved form New York City to San Francisco, one of the first things I noticed about the cultural difference between the cities had to do with San Francisco's sense of humor. For instance, as democratic, liberal and anti-bush as NYC is, New Yorkers would NEVER bother to "waste" their energy on something like this. Absurdism is an investment. You have to really stand by your joke and see it through to completion and maybe even have to explain it to people who may take it too literally. Sometimes the joke actually develops into something more serious like with San Francisco's proposed renaming of the Sewage Treatment Plant after our Lame Duck du Jour President or with Telex's farcical 1980 entry to the Euro-vision song contest.

The electro-pop band entered the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest with a cheerfully mocking song titled "Euro-Vision." Telex's stated goal for Eurovision -- to finish last -- was thwarted by Portugal, who for reasons not entirely clear, awarded them 10 points. You can watch their underwhelming performance here.

The Eurovision audience seemed unsure how to react to the performance, and after the band stopped playing there was mostly stunned silence, with scattered polite applause; Marc Moulin took a photograph of the bewildered audience. The band walked off amidst sounds of muttering. A mark of the confusion caused by the performance was when vote-counting began, and Greece awarded Belgium three points, the announcer thought she had misheard and tried to award the points to The Netherlands. (Wikipedia for Telex)

Band leader and the reason for today's blog post, Marc Moulin, famously said, "We had hoped to finish last, but Portugal decided otherwise." Marc Moulin passed away on September 26th after a long battle with throat cancer, leaving a long legacy of music as a solo jazz artist, as a member of the Belgian Jazz-Funk group Placebo, as well as one of the founders of Telex. I came to hear about him not much more than a year ago having been tipped off by some crate-digger somewhere about the band Placebo. Sure enough, Placebo's albums are rare as hen's teeth, but worth the hunt for their stark production, emphasis on weird keyboard effects and heavy drums. In a nut-shell: Herbie Hancock meets Can. Listening to these tracks you can hear similarities to the arrangements and production of David Axelrod and even get a sense for why hip-hop legends DJ Shadow or Madlib might be attracted to Marc's musical legacy. I've picked out two favorites of mine from a CD (I have yet to see a Placebo LP in person) called "Marc Moulin: The Placebo Sessions 1971-1974"

Placebo - Humpty Dumpty
Placebo - Balek

I'm back with some moody Jazilian Brazz

Finally! I have an apartment, I have my records and last but not least I have internet connectivity in the form of DSL. I am ready to resume my duties as host of Soul Spectrum.

During my off and on hiatus many a blog idea has been thought of and then duly forgotten, but today we're gonna start back up with some Brazilian Jazz tracks inspired by my introduction to this incredible album by Pedro Santos called "Krishnanda." Photographer and music empresario Brian Cross, aka B+, turned me on to this record during the post-Azymuth BBQ/Party at his pad. He threw on the record, who's cover looked vaguely familiar from the blogosphere, and friends in tow Brion and Chris, as well as myself were blown away. I'm not the only one. The photo at the top of this post is Pedro with guitarist Sebastio Tapajos. Brazilian record collecting superman, Ed Motta, also has a liking for the record.

Pedro Santos - Agua Viva
To believe that this record was recorded in 1968 is astounding to me because the studio effects are used so subtly which was hardly common in 1968. I credit the ingenious merging of traditional Brazilian styles with advancements in studio technology and production, all under the helm of musician and producer Helcio Milito. According to B+, who's friends with Helcio, this album was made because Helcio secured a production deal with CBS records in Brazil and wanted to put his maestro in studio and cut loose. The album is utterly unclassifiable and when I played some tracks for fellow SS contributer Josh Nice he remarked (after picking his jaw up off the floor) something to the effect of, 'this is why I love music, because just when you thought you've heard everything worth listening to, you hear something like this and it renews your faith in music.' Maybe I overstated his sentiments a bit, but nonetheless its a great album and you can find the download here.

Moacir Santos - Coisa No. 10
I'm following that one up with another timeless Brazilian Jazz piece by another lesser known maestro, Moacir Santos. This is from a few years earlier, 1965. Listening to Pedro Santos I was reminded of this album and its effortless blend of North American traditions with Brazilian styles.

Baden & Vinicius - Canto de Ossanha
I like three songs in a post so I included this classic track from this classic album. Coincidentally, or not, Pedro Santos often played on Baden Powell's albums and Baden even had a song called, "Ao Amigo Pedro Santos."

Enjoy!

Azymuth Live in L.A.

More pics and a short video over at Soul Spectrum Videos.

Spotlight on: Dom Salvador

As I wind down my time on the East Coast I'm trying to connect with as many NY-based musicians before I'm no longer local and it gets more difficult to arrange interviews. Dom Salvador is one such individual. As you might remember from this older post, Dom lives in New York and plays nearly daily at either the River Cafe in Brooklyn Heights or the Water Club on the East River in Manhattan. I'll be meeting with the man later today to interview him about his career and I hope to write something up for inclusion in something like Wax Poetics in the near future.

This guy is truly a legend in the Brazilian music industry, that is for the ten years he was part of it. In 1973 he left Brazil and came to New York and has been living and working here ever since. While he was in Brazil he played with and recorded with the following musicians: Jorge Ben, Elis Regina, Elza Soares, Edu Lobo, Pixinguinha, Tim Maia, Toni Tornado, Dom Um Romao, Durval Ferreira, Mamao (of Azymuth), Geraldo Vespar, and future Banda Black Rio founder Oberdan among others. Once in the US he worked with Charlie Rouse, Harry Belafonte, Robin Kenyatta, and Herbie Mann among others. In honor of this monstrous talent and a very kind gentleman, here are a few of my favorite songs from his late-60s through mid-70s.

Dom Salvador e Abolicao - Uma Vida
This is the lead song from one of the greatest Brazilian Soul albums ever. This album more than any other merges Brazilian music with North American Soul sounds. The band is composed of many future greats of the Black Rio scene, namely Oberdan. Check out this great video on Soul Spectrum Videos of Elis Regina standing in for the original Abolicao vocalist, Maria, on the same track.

Dom Salvador - Tio Macro
This is the lead-off track from Dom's 1969 solo album that first shows off a taste for Soul music. Dom informed me that Mamao (later of Azymuth) plays drums, Cassiano is on guitar and Durval Ferreira either produced the album or played some other role.

The Charlie Rouse Band - Waiting on the Corner
Charlie Rouse approached Dom to put this album together and he included a few of his songs on the album, including this number. I slept on this one for years but it popped up on the ipod a couple months ago and knocked me flat. Kinda reminds me of a rootsier Deodato brazilian-disco groove.

Gringo Bossa Nova

My initial inspiration for collecting records was a way for me to further explore my newest musical passion, Bossa Nova. Bossa is a strange musical genre because it means many things to many people. When I first started out I thought the essence of Bossa was Astrud Gilberto or even Charlie Byrd's "Jazz Samba," but the deeper I dug, the more I realized how much Bossa morphed according to international trends, producing strange and exciting hybrids like Sergio Mendes' Brazil '66/'77/'88 projects. What did happen was that "Bossa Nova" became a style into itself, something that jazz, pop, rock and even soul musicians could use for a song or two and then forget, like "Joe Carioca," pictured above.

"Joe" is the classic emblem of this Brazilian-American fusion, "Jose Carioca" aka "Joe Carioca" from the 1942 Disney movie "Saludos Amigos." Joe is Disney's version of a typical Brazilian. He's a bit crass and more Disney than he is Brazilian, but like the following songs, he's got just enough Brazilian flavor to make him exotic and palatable to American audiences. The following five songs are but a few of my favorite Bossa-tinged tunes by Gringo musicians from the 60s and 70s . . .

Chris Montez - Keep Talkin'
OK, so my first selection is from someone who would no doubt resent being labeled a gringo . . . the L.A. born Chicano singer, Chris Montez. Chris recorded several albums for A&M, home to Sergio Mendes who was regularly introducing Brazilian tunes to the American chart through his best-selling Brazil '66 albums. Chris recorded a very early version of Joao Donato's instrumental "Amazonas" with English lyrics called "Keep Talkin'." It's not confirmed, but it is possible that Joao was responsible for the song's inclusion and may have even been on the recording as he was in L.A. around that time. The song sounds a bit cutesy now, but I am a sucker for just about any Donato version and this one is no exception.

The Supremes - Precious Little Things
This is a nice little soul-bossa tune by post-Diana Supremes. The song was co-written by Smokey Robinson who also produced this album. The album is a delight as are all of the early post-Diana albums and this one has at least four other solid tunes. Once again Smokey's touch is magical as the lyrics and subtle instrumentation create a gentle and touching song set to a slightly tropical beat.

Jon Lucien - Satan
Jon Lucien is also no gringo, having been born in the British Virgin Islands, but he spent nearly all of his recording and performing career in the U.S. This song is off of his album Rashida, his best in my opinion. If I didn't know before hand I would have been absolutely convinced that this song was authentically South American as Jon is a dead wringer for Milton Nascimento style crooning/warbling. The instrumentation also nails the early 70s Brazilian studio vibe. A great song from a lesser known jazz vocalist.

Michael Franks - B'wana He No Home
Michael Franks is a gringo. I was initially embarrassed to like this, but now it's one of my favorite songs, again with no small part to Joao Donato guesting on piano (check out his outro vamp . . . so perfect). This is from Frank's third album and features a couple of tunes recorded down in Brazil with some local help. Evidently the lyrics to the song (listen closely cause they're funny/sleazy/interesting) refer to a time when Dan Hicks (of Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks) was staying at Franks' place while he was away . . .

Dee Dee Bridgewater - Night Moves
Dee Dee is another excellent jazz vocalist that turns this Michael Frank's song from his "Art of Tea" album into a bass-heavy Bossa Nova tune. The band is great on this tune and Dee Dee finds a middle-ground between sexy and sleazy, falling closer to the sexy side whereas the previous tune (above) falls on the sleazy side.

I could keep going for days with these kinds of songs and maybe I'll do another round sometime in the future. Keep in mind that all of these records (excepting the Jon Lucien) can be found in most dollar bins which is a nice reminder that great songs can be found on all kinds of records, expensive or cheap.

Sunday Strumming

Sorry, for the delay in posting. Life's been a bit hectic as of late, but I'm back home now and have a string of posts lined up that I hope to get online this week. Today we're gonna start with some recent acquisitions: Gabor Szabo & Luiz Bonfá. I'd also like to highlight some excellent independent record stores from whence I purchased these two items for very reasonable prices. I picked up the Bonfá at a shop in Hampden, a neighborhood of Baltimore, MD on a trip down to those parts earlier this week. The shop is called "The True Vine" and I suggest you pop in next time you pass through the Mid-Atlantic region. When I was there they had lots of new stock lined up on the floor. The condition of the records varied but the prices were very reasonable with lots of items going for three bucks (including the long sought-after Dave Pike album "Bossa Nova Carnival" from 1962 where he covers only João Donato tunes!)

The Gabor Szabo record I picked up at "Eat Records" in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The shop's been open for a few years now and sadly this was only my third time in there. They recently renovated and added more seating as it also doubles as a cafe. I was able to drink a beer while rummaging through their racks! The prices are about the best you can find for an actual store in New York City. The owner that I met is very nice and helpful, though they're working on organization as it can be difficult to find something if you're looking for a particular artist or album. Now on to the tunes . . .


Luiz Bonfá - Amazonas
I've been a fan of Bonfá since my early Bossa Nova obsession but lately I've been passing on his records because he's got so many albums and fast and furious guitar is just not really my thing. I picked this one up because it was an early collaboration with Eumir Deodato on arrangements. It was Bonfá who brought Deodato to the U.S. to do arrangements for his wife's, Maria Toledo, first U.S. release on Dot Records. So, Bonfá was an early champion of Deodato's and used him for arrangements on several later 60s sessions as well as on his sole funky album "Jacaranda"(thanks Loronix!). This is a short and sweet little track that I first thought was his take on the classic João Donato tune, but it's a Bonfá original with a nice little percussion break-down in the middle.

Gabor Szabo - Somewhere I Belong
This Gabor Szabo album is one of the few he did on Skye Records, a label he co-owned with Gary McFarland and Cal Tjader - what a chill record exec. lounge that must have been - that lasted only a few years as McFarland died all of a sudden (there's a nice article about him in a recent Wax Poetics). The album has lots of pop covers that are alright, but as soon as I dropped the needle on this last cut from the second side, I had to listen to the whole song right there. If this hasn't been sampled, then some producer out there needs to hop to it . . . so dark and moody and those drums have a really nice echo to them.