Teasing the Korean

Well, the previous use of the Nina Simone footage would at least partially back up his story.

Crazy, and I started that thread five years ago, almost to the day!

I'm not on FB, but I was told of a FB post by someone who apparently digitized the tapes for a potential release about 20 years ago. He referenced the Nina performance and said it had been used elsewhere.

Thanks. I am assuming that O'Farrill would have written specific bass lines for this, except for perhaps the improvised passages.

Mike, am I misremembering, or did you make a comment about the bass playing on The Aztec Suite?

Thank you both. Maybe MPS screwed up the date on their reissue, and the wrong date was subsequently picked up elsewhere. I guess 1968 is accurate.

Do you mean the two-disc Cuban Blues collection? It is a mixed bag. I first became aware of O'Farrill via the 1970s Verve Afro-Cuban Jazz 2-LP set. It includes The Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite, The Manteca Suite and the eight tunes from 1951 that open the 2-CD set. There is a lot of stuff on disc two of the CD collection that are straightforward Latin dance charts, without much harmonic interest. What I love about O'Farrill, on his best stuff, is the combination of the harmony with Latin percussion. On the 2-CD set, you get this on the first eight tracks of disc 1, the first three tracks of disc 2, the two suites, and a few others along the way. Notably, there a session with four tunes, tracks 12-15 on disc 2, featuring woodwinds, harp, and Latin percussion. The arrangements are comparable to those on Les Baxter's Tamboo. I have picked up other non-Verve albums by O'Farrill that are similarly hit or miss. His Columbia album Torrid Zone includes one incredible track, "Mambotanga," but the rest just doesn't do that much for me. So when Chico is on, he's on, but a lot of the rest I can live without.

Most sources reference a release date of 1968 for this outer space/spy masterpiece by Roland Kovac. But a few sources, including MPS, indicate a recording date of 1964. Stylistically, it sounds closer to 1964 than 1968. Was this released prior to 1968? Was it truly recorded in 1964 and not released for another four years?

Now playing: Trip to the Mars by Orchester Roland Kovac, on MPS!

Mike Pacheco - Bongo Skins (Tampa) With Oscar Moore, Carl Perkins, and Joe Comfort.

So I listened to both sides of Diz/Machito/O'Farrill Afro-Cuban Jazz Moods, on Pablo, from 1975. I believe this is only the third or fourth time I've spun this. I liked side 2, "Three Afro-Cuban Jazz Moods," more than side 1, "Oro, Incienso, y Mirra." I like the music overall, but I didn't feel that they hung together as suites all that well. Several of the passages had an early-70s urban cop show feel. While there is Latin percussion throughout, these feel more like 70s jazz fusion/jazz rock pieces with Latin elements. I don't know if that is a reflection on the degree to which Latin jazz had absorbed other styles by the mid-70s, or the degree to which Latin rhythms permeated other genres. Probably a combination of the two. I will happily spin this album again when my new EQ arrives later this week, but it did not hit me over the head as being two overtly "Afro-Cuban" suites along the lines of the earlier ones. I asked Ms. TTK if we should file this in the Latin or Now Sound section, and she did not hesitate to say "Latin." So that is where it will go. Gotta keep the Mrs. happy.

I was responding to your comments. It was not my intention for the thread.

Music, alcohol, and decor all go together for me. I am happy to discuss here. If you want to bail, I won't be hurt. But I will spin that LP now, so I wish you would stick around at least until I can share my thoughts on it.

Artists were still making records in the 1970s with acoustic instruments. Electric instruments offer a different aesthetic, one that reflects the decor of my record room and not my tiki room.

Not saying it isn't "Latin" enough; It just does not deliver what I get from the aforementioned suites. I will actually spin it tonight with dinner, as this is a rare occasion on which my wife is home early. (I never listen to LPs without her; it is something we do together.) I have a variety of things by Rene Hernandez spread over many LPs and CDs, but LPs don't always list arranger credits. I do love his work on Machito's exotica LP Kenya, and "Asia Minor" is an exotica classic.

All kinds of stuff. When I am working, it has to be instrumental. But the decor is in place whether I am drinking or not. He is probably my favorite from that era. I absolutely love his "Latin" charts, but I tend not to like his swing charts, which often sound stilted and old-fashioned. The Latin charts tend to be more modernist and forward-looking As I mentioned above, I delete the swing movement from the Second Afro-Cuban Jazz Suite, and I like my 13-minute edit much more than the full version.

Perhaps I was not clear. I do not "ghettoize" these records. I simply classify them differently. I would play these records while drinking wine in my record room, which has lots of 60-70s moderne Euro plastic furniture. However, I would not listen to these records while drinking rum cocktails in my tiki room, which has wood tones and more of a 1940s-50s aesthetic.

I appreciate it for being something other than the kind of Afro-Cuban jazz suites I'm thinking about. I filed it in the Now Sound section, and not in the Latin section. However, it worth listing, and I will spin it next weekend.

The Rhodes, electric bass, and synth are a stumbling block for me. I should give it another chance though.

Is the Boland/Clarke Latin Kaleidoscope album slated for reissue?

It seems hard to find. I wonder if it is slated for reissue as part of the new MPS reissue series.

I have this 45. It was my Dad's. He had two or three of their singles on Trend. Who would have guessed the arranger would go on to score The Mechanic, one of the greatest film scores of the 1970s? The Discovery LP reissues I have cut the grooves closer together, with lots of deadwax before the label. I always wondered if this was a deliberate attempt to reduce inner groove distortion.

Never hear of this! Is it on CD?

Jack Quigley's masterpiece Class in Session has never been reissued on CD, to my knowledge. There is, however, a vinyl rip available on Qobuz. https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/way-out-hollywood-jack-quigley/j8ozebb8o22xb