HutchFan

Prompted by the Jaki Byard discussion above: More Byard brilliance. A superb set!

Now spinning: Flora Purim & Airto - Humble People (Concord/George Wein Collection, 1985) Earlier: Milton Nascimento - A Barca Dos Amantes (Verve, 1986) Wayne is on three of the album's nine cuts. I wish he was on all them. Cool!

No doubt. Speaking of artists with mob connections: Frank Sinatra apparently wanted to make a record with Tito. Conzo writes that Sinatra was chasing Tito, trying to make it happen -- but Tito played hard to get and it never happened. Hard to imagine those two worlds colliding.

I think you'd enjoy it. But do note: Levy's mob connections -- and even Tito's mob connections (which some have whispered about, due to his tightness with Levy) -- are one thing that Conzo is tight-lipped about. Apparently, Tito never talked about his dealings with Levy with others. When his inner circle would ask questions about Levy, Tito would glare and say nothing. The implication: Don't ASK! So there's not as much there about Levy as I'd hoped there might be. I guess mobsters have long memories, and Conzo wasn't as willing as Tommy James to talk about Levy's nasty/criminal side. Plus, Tito's relationship with Levy was actually very good. So Conzo was either unwilling to dish or unable to dish because Tito never told him anything. Fair enough.

Nope. It's probably just a reflection of the fact that Tito recorded incredibly prolifically -- from the beginning of his career to the end. Given the scope of the book, Conzo couldn't discuss them all. Not possible without writing a very, very long book. (And it's already really thick!) Conzo spends a bit of time on Cuban Carnaval -- since it was Tito's first for RCA -- and Dance Mania -- since it was Tito's best-seller for RCA. The others are just mentioned in passing, IIRC.

Conzo talks about coke usage, for sure. In fact, he mocks another biographer, who -- from his perspective -- paints Puente as far too much of a saintly figure. So he doesn't shy away talking about Puente's drug use; then again, he doesn't really delve into the details either. It's just part of the picture. The same could be said about Conzo's discussion of Puente's womanizing, which was apparently considerable. But Conzo doesn't go into the details. He just makes it clear that Puente enjoyed spending time with the ladies. No names are named. But he doesn't hold back on saying "It just how things were with Tito and women."

I think it's only mentioned in passing. What's clear, however, is that Tito did NOT think highly of the executives at RCA. They called Puente "Little Caesar" because there were so many arguments, and Puente wasn't shy about engaging in shouting matches. The reason? RCA marketing machine always pushed Perez Prado's recordings much more than Puente's, and he greatly resented them for it. (It didn't help that Tito didn't think much of Prado's music. To his ears, it was too watered-down, lacking in punch and Afro-Cuban authenticity.) Another detail that I learned: It was actually Morris Levy who brought Tito to RCA. Levy hadn't acquired Tico Records from George Goldner when Tito initially left Tico to go to RCA. Levy was serving as an A&R man for RCA. But before Puente's RCA contract was over, Levy left. By the time that Tito's contract with RCA was over, Levy had acquired Tico from Goldner, who had built up massive gambling debts and had to sell the label to keep his kneecaps from getting busted. So Levy invited Puente back to Tico after the RCA run -- since Levy was running the show at Tico by that point. (That partially explains Puente's affection for Levy; he was always looking out for him, signing him to deals. Levy genuinely liked Tito's music.) Another interesting fact: Levy's departure from RCA may have been the cause of the 14-year delay in the release of Tito's Revolving Bandstand LP with Buddy Morrow. Without Levy there to advocate for Tito, the other executives weren't particularly interested in releasing the last album he made for RCA. So it sat on the shelf for a decade and a half. Maybe Tito had burned too many bridges with his argumentative ways. Per Joe Conzo, no one knows for sure.

Picking up this thread to say that I agree with Mike 100% on this book. I just finished reading it last night. It's super-easy to recommend for Tito-philes -- and, just as much, anyone who likes Latin music in general. For example, I didn't realize that Puente shared an office in NYC with Charlie Palmieri and Joe Loco for many years. So I learned a quite a bit about those guys -- and people like Machito, Mario Bauza, Tito Rodriguez, Celia Cruz, La Lupe, and others from the hey-day of The Palladium and after. There's also quite a bit about industry guys like George Goldner, who started Tico Records, Morris Levy, who (believe it or not) was one of Tito's pals, and Fania Records co-founder Jerry Masucci, who Tito despised. I do have to say that the writing is not excellent. At times, it's repetitious and digressive -- so don't expect an especially pleasing reading experience. But it's just got so much "insider info" that the less-than-stellar writing doesn't matter. Conzo was a part of Puente's inner circle -- sorta like Stanley Dance was to Ellington, but even moreso. Plus, Conzo wrote the book after Puente had died, so you get far more "unvarnished opinions" in his Tito book than Stanley Dance or the always-cagey Ellington would have EVER revealed. So there's lots of juicy details about music -- both Tito's own as well as others'. (One example: Tito's assessment of his recording with Eddie Palmieri: "It's shit. Eddie didn't show up.") You get the idea: Tito doesn't pull any punches. All in all, it's good fun.

Here's the Soul Brother UK listing on discogs: https://www.discogs.com/label/55570-Soul-Brother-Records-3?sort=year&sort_order=desc Like felser said, they cover soul, funk, soul jazz, and other genres across many labels. It doesn't look like they have any sort of special Muse reissue "program" (unfortunately!). A few more examples of their reissues: Stuff by Shirley Scott (Cadet), Horace Silver (Blue Note), Eddie Henderson (Capricorn & Capitol), and Idris Muhammad (Kudu). A solid label for those interested in the jazz/soul/funk/fusion thang(s) from that time.

Disc 2 Sonny's playing was still maturing at this point -- but, jeez, it's amazing how GOOD he sounds on these early (1951-53) recordings. Sonny didn't spring from Zeus' head, fully-formed, like Athena. But almost! Prime late Chet.

I wasn't sure whether to post this Nascimento record on this thread or on the "Not Jazz, Not Classical" thread. Wayne's on the album, so I'm putting it here.

Rooster, it sounds like your anxieties with regards to audio gear have saved you lots of money over the years. That's money that you were free to spend on music. I don't see ANYTHING wrong with that.

Earlier tonight: La Lupe y Su Alma Venezolana (Tico, 1966) At times, La Lupe reminds me of a Cuban version of Elis Regina. Both singers had giant, powerhouse voices. But, more importantly, they both have an unmediated quality in their singing; it's as if they have no fear. They put it all on the line -- and you can't help but respond to that.

Now: Earlier:

OJC reissue

Yes !!! NP:

Exactly! It's such a powerful film score -- and a PERFECT marriage of images and music. Many years ago, I saw Vertigo at the Fox Theater in downtown Atlanta. Man, the movie is just SO MUCH better on a huge screen. I'd probably seen it five or six times before, but it was like seeing a different movie in the theater. It was ten times more hallucinatory and creepy and dream-like. At the end of the movie, when Jimmy Stewart's and Kim Novak's character are at top of the tower and the nun POPS UP, I just about jumped out of my seat! Even though I knew it was about to happen, it was still terrifying. No wonder Kim Novak's character jumped!!!