Machito--Kenya

[Big Wheel]

Is there any special story about this album featuring Cannonball? Was it just a one-off for Roulette, or are there other Machito records in the Blue Note vaults?

[Dr. Rat]

Machito with Flute to Boot, Roulette SR-52026

[Dr. Rat]

Machito profile

[JSngry]

Machito did a fair # of things for Tico, iirc, and that's part of EMI now, I think.

[Dr. Rat]

Machito did a fair # of things for Tico, iirc, and that's part of EMI now, I think.

I wonder if they'll do good reissues of Tico stuff--lots of good stuff on that label that can use a decent remastering (early Plamieri, for instance).

That'd be way cool.

--eric

[JSngry]

Indeed. I wrote M. Cuscuna a letter back in the 80s asking him about who had the rights to the PanArt label, thought that that the Descarga albums might make for a good, small-ish Mosiac, and he had never even heard of the label. Hopefully, he's checked out some of the Tico stuff by now, and not just the stuff w/jazz soloists on board.

Afro-Cuban music, especially the heritage, still gets short shrift in a lot of jazz circles, partially because of the language thing, and partially because a lot of folks in those "circles" aren't hip to rhythm as being equal to harmony in the overall scheme of things. Unfortunate.

[Dr. Rat]

Indeed. I wrote M. Cuscuna a letter back in the 80s asking him about who had the rights to the PanArt label, thought that that the Descarga albums might make for a good, small-ish Mosiac, and he had never even heard of the label. Hopefully, he's checked out some of the Tico stuff by now, and not just the stuff w/jazz soloists on board.

Afro-Cuban music, especially the heritage, still gets short shrift in a lot of jazz circles, partially because of the language thing, and partially because a lot of folks in those "circles" aren't hip to rhythm as being equal to harmony in the overall scheme of things. Unfortunate.

I occasionally get irate phone calls from listeners who just HATE the amount of Afro-Cuban stuff I play. I solved that problem by playing more and now they don't listen anymore.

But there definitely seems to be a contingent of the folk who really like standards and tin-pan alley stuff who simply can't see around the corner with Afro-Cuban music. Just noise to them.

--eric

[Stefan Wood]

I think Fania absorbed the Tico label, as they did many others -- Alegre, etc. I don't know who owns Fania now, but they have been reissuing their catalog for many years now -- check out Descarga

[Dr. Rat]

I think Fania absorbed the Tico label, as they did many others -- Alegre, etc. I don't know who owns Fania now, but they have been reissuing their catalog for many years now -- check out Descarga

From what I've been able to gather the folks who owned Roulette and Tico sold the Tico Catalog to Fania, which is now owned by Sony (RMM). I think.

Roulette (bereft of Tico) was later sold to EMI.

--eric

[chris olivarez]

I think Fania absorbed the Tico label, as they did many others -- Alegre, etc. I don't know who owns Fania now, but they have been reissuing their catalog for many years now -- check out Descarga

I tried the Tipica 73 test on this web site and they passed. Is Descarga in the U.S.?

[Dr. Rat]

I think Fania absorbed the Tico label, as they did many others -- Alegre, etc.  I don't know who owns Fania now, but they have been reissuing their catalog for many years now -- check out Descarga

I tried the Tipica 73 test on this web site and they passed. Is Descarga in the U.S.?

Yes, they're in NYC, I beleive. They are another collector- and dj-driven outlet . . . lots of stuff on the website and they usually have everything Latin that's currently available.

I haven't gotten a catalog of late, but I used to love kicking back and reading the "best" lists they used to have in them from the likes of Al Santiago and Poncho Sanchez. I think these are online, now.

--eric

[Teasing the Korean]

This is the time of year when TTK mixes rum cocktails and spins Latin Jazz and exotica.

This evening marks the year's first spin of Kenya by Machito.  

While Machito occasionally sprinkled exotica into his sets, notably on "Asia Minor" and "Oboe Mambo," Kenya is the one Machito album I file in the exotica section.  There is a heavy element of exotica, cover art featuring tribal masks (not from Kenya, incidentally), no vocal numbers, and more jazz content than you sometimes get with Machito.  Cannonball plays alto, and the arrangers include Mario Bauza and AK Salim.

The whole thing has a desperate, low-budget, B-film quality about it, which is high praise coming from me.  The stereo separation is a little wonky, and bass player's tumbao patterns are sometimes sharp.  (If you're going to play bass out of tune, better off playing a little flat.)

Highly recommended.