HutchFan

This again: Really enjoying this one.

Wish I could've heard that!

And their terrific pianist Sonny Bravo. More that I'd recommend con gusto: This band was co-led by Ray Mantilla & Bobby Watson. And Jack Walrath is always a plus. They'll blow your doors off. Tito never stopped bringing goods, IMO. Quincy Jones produced this CD. Rodriguez is one of Jones' protégés. (Don't confuse this Alfredo Rodriguez with another Cuban pianist also named Alfredo Rodriguez who's in the band Cubanismo. Same name, same instrument, different hombres.) Overlook the UGLY cover because the music is burning. Not hard to understand why with that band.

That was a great band! ... Wish I could have seen them.

Stan Getz - Apasionado (A&M, 1990) Lovely session with Latin-tinged compositions & arrangements by Eddie Del Barrio & Herb Alpert. It's sort of comparable to Getz's collaboration with Michel Legrand on Communication '72 (minus the Swingle Singers); i.e., not your standard Getz quartet date.

Terrific Tito!

Abdullah Ibrahim - Zimbabwe (Enja, 1983) One of Jackie Mac's finest hours.

More from El Rey del Timbal: Disc 1 - originally released as Un Poco Loco

Flora Purim - Midnight Sun (Venture) and Paquito D'Rivera - Return to Ipanema (Town Crier)

A gift from a friend.

Pure Pleasure reissue

Gato Barbieri - Apasionado (Doctor Jazz, 1983) This isn't one of Gato's best LPs -- but I still dig it.

A desert-island set, IMO.

Regarding cover variations, the only thing that springs to mind: Spanish Blues Note covers sometimes have a BLUE filter superimposed over the familiar cover images. A couple examples:

Disc 2 - originally released as Mambo of the Times

More Hilton Ruiz: Not cool that they misspelled Patato's surname. Bush league.

Now spinning this new-to-my-collection LP: Eddie Palmieri - Superimposition (Tico, 1970) I ordered this LP -- a VG/VG copy -- from one of my "go to" Discogs retailers at a (relatively) low price. VG is one of those grades that's "iffy"; LPs with that grade can sound fine or they can sound terrible. So I just gave the disc a good scrubbing and a couple spins on the Record Doctor. I'm listening to it now, and it sounds fantastic! No Rice Krispies!!! Not "perfect" -- but perfectly listenable. As for the music, it's TREMENDOUS. And this is one of those recordings for which vinyl is especially appropriate. The A side features Palmieri in a more traditional "Salsa" (for lack of a better term) mode, and the B side consists of more open-ended, "Latin Jazz" explorations. It's like the two sides of the album represent two different -- but interrelated -- aspects of Palmieri's musical personality. I caught a plum.

Not a video, but this book amounts to one big extended interview: Fascinating. Even "essential" for Konitz-fans.

Yup. Impromptu with Lou Levy is pretty darn good.