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Next up: David Friedman - Futures Passed (Enja/Solid, 1977)  

"Triste" (not to be confused with the Jobim tune) is the money cut on here, though the whole album is great. Agreed, and I might go a tad further and call it a Schifrin album with Cal as guest soloist. Completely agree.  It sucks as both jazz and exotica, although the version of "Black Orchid" is nice (and almost identical to the Fantasy version).

12 - Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri - el sonido nuevo - 1966 The pairing of Tjader and one of the leading figures of what was now called Salsa shows the respect Tjader found in Latin circles. The band basically is Palmieri's band La Perfecta, with one trombone added and Bobby Rodriguez on bass. Those who found the "darker sound" special are not familiar with the developments in Palmieri's music. It works just fine and may be one of the most interesting Latin jazz albums of its time. There was a comment on discogs:  https://www.discogs.com/release/3841525-Cal-Tjader-Eddie-Palmieri-El-Sonido-Nuevo revealing that Tjader overdubbed his parts. The 1993 CD reissue added a strange selection of six bonus tracks taken from various other Tjader Verve albums.   13 - Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri - Bamboleate - 1967 There was a counterpart LP on Tico, the label with which Palmieri was under contact at the time. This has Palmieri's band intact, may sound a bit more commercial, or rather more to the taste of the Salsa audience. There were several CD reissues.   14 - Cal Tjader  - Along Comes Cal - 1967 The poppish cover was supposed to attract that audience, but except for the pop hit cover of Along Comes Mary this was the typical Tjader mixture, this time with some Latin vocals. Chico O'Farrill was the arranger. Personnel on the back cover is not quite correct, only Los Bandidos was recorded live at El Matador with a splendid conga solo by Armando Peraza. The whole album never made it to CD, some tracks are on compilations.   15 - Cal Tjader  - Hip Vibrations - 1968 Another poppish cover -  this time it was justified by two covers of pop tunes along the typical Tjader mix. Benny Golson and Bobby Bryant shared the arrangements. For some reasons, the takes recorded in LA were rejected, and the whole album was re-done in New York six weeks later. Like I noted with the one before, the whole album never made it to CD, some tracks are on compilations.   16 - Cal Tjader  - The Prophet - 1969 Although the last one issued, the basic tracks for this were recorded prior to Hip Vibrations, but this time it took longer than expected to have strings, voices, flugelhorn and flute arranged and overdubbed in New York. I really would love to hear the quartet without the overdubs, as Joao Donato's organ playing is the epitome of good taste and a bit drowned out by them. This was reissued on CD twice, but only in Japan. Still your prefect summer evening album. Tjader and Donato were a perfect match.   For recordings details and corrections of the information on album covers and other les professional discographies (or what they called), please consult https://jazzdiscography.com/Artists/cal-tjader/cal-tjader-discography-part2.php which also shows you were the Penthouse sessions fit in. As I said before, they are the perfect amendment to the Verve studio albums.

Updated based on recent sales: Arabic Music: Fadoul -- Al Zman Saib (Habibi Funk) $5 Ferkat Al Ard -- Oghneya (Habibi Funk) $5 Kamal Keila -- Muslims and Christians (Habibi Funk) $5 Ahmed Malik -- Musique Originale De Films (Habibi Funk) $5 African Music: Calabar-Itu Road -- Groovy Sounds from South Eastern Nigeria (1972-1982) (Comb & Razor) $5 Sunburst -- Ave Africa (Strut) $5 Survival -- Simmer Down (Strawberry Rain) $5 Various -- Two Niles to Sing a Melody: The Violins and Synths of Sudan (2 Discs) (Ostinato Records ) $10 Improvised Music: Wakana Ikeda/Stefan Thut -- Afar (Improvised Music from Japan) $5 Toshimaru Nakamura/Ken Ikeda/Tomoyoshi Date -- Ink On Paper (Improvised Music from Japan) $5 Aki Onda/Nao Nishihara) -- Kouya-e-to (Improvised Music from Japan) $5 Jazz: Albert Ayler -- New York Eye and Ear Control Revisited (hatOLOGY) $6 Herbie Hancock -- Man-Child (Columbia) $4 Box Sets: Faust -- 1971-1974 (8 discs, Bureau Records) $125 (not sealed, like new) Joni Mitchell -- Archives Volume 1 (The Early Years, 1963-1967) (5 Discs, Rhino) $45 (not sealed, like new) Joni Mitchell -- Archives Volume 2 (The Reprise Years, 1968-1971) (5 Discs, Rhino) $45 (not sealed, like new) Erik Satie -- The Complete Solo Piano Music (Jean-Yves Thibaudet) (5 Discs, Decca) $40 Various -- The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (5 Discs, Smithsonian) $40 (not sealed, like new) Various -- Anthology of American Folk Music (6 Discs, Smithsonian) $50 (not sealed, like new)

Not being a fan of Star Wars, and not being into John Williams per se, I'm learning only now that in 1980, Ron Carter released an album of themes from The Empire Strikes Back, titled Empire Jazz. Has anyone heard it?