Teasing the Korean

That is the first album on which they truly solidified their sound. "Mexican Shuffle" is a good example. And also "All My Loving," where they cleverly cop Sinatra's arrangement of "I Get a Kick Out of You" and modulate up a half step on the ii-V progression. You know the part I mean? Have you tried those Garden of Eatin taco shells with the 70s taco sauce? It is really hard to find taco ingredients these days that deliver that 70s Mexican flavor. You need to pick these up and eat several tacos while listening to the "South of the Border" album.

Thanks. In the US, a lot of those 1980s CDs of RCA 1950s albums were mastered by a guy named Dick Baxter. They have a very harsh, brittle, and artificial sound. I fear that a lot of his masterings were picked up for later reissues. Also, I am curious to know if the box sets include mastering credits, and if Dick Baxter's name surfaces anyplace in general.

Do the tracks from "Tambo" sound any better on the box than they do on the standalone CD reissue? The mastering is really bad on that one IMO.

I don't know if you guys have ever tried the Garden of Eatin' brand taco shells, but they come with this totally 1970s-style taco sauce that you simply cannot find by itself. It is like time travel, like old-skool Ortega. We are pairing this with Herb Alpert in MONO. You have to hear the mono versions of the Tijuana Brass. We have the first 8 albums in mono, but we have not yet found Herb Alpert's 9th in mono. This dates from the period when they were phasing out mono. Still, the comp I made from the first 8 in mono generally gets us through dinner. Anyway, this is one of the greatest jazz combos of the 1960s, although I file them in the space-age bachelor pad section. I also file Miles Davis, Gil Evans, Shorty Rogers, Pete Rugolo, and Bob Graettinger in the space-age bachelor pad section. You guys need to eat more tacos and listen to more Herb Alpert.

We are making tacos for dinner and listening to the Tijuana Brass. I don't think they get enough love from you guys. They are one of the greatest jazz combos of all time.

Tito Puente recorded a number of tracks in the 1950s that fit under the exotica umbrella. These include "Night Ritual," "Mambo Buda," "Lotus Land" and "Elegua Chango." But Puente's album-length contribution to the exotica canon is also the greatest album he ever made, the stunning "Tambo," on RCA (1960), which is of course still from the 1950s.

Once again, it is rum cocktail season, and I am spinning Latin jazz and exotica again. I just listened to Kenny Dorham's "Afro Cuban," the Latin side only, and Mr. Blakey grooves very well with the Latin percussionists here. If only he had taken a similar approach on his own percussion albums. Oh well, I'm grateful that I have Chaino!

"Cinematic strings" would be a thing of interest for me. Or things of interest, if we consider the strings to be plural. I'm often puzzled when jazz listeners single out the one element that distinguishes a particular jazz album from being just another blowing session, but then again, we all have our quirks.

"The Cat" with Thee Great Lalo Schifrin!

He didn't do the arrangements. He just conducted.

It is in a "jazz guy with strings" bag, more or less, but there is something special about this one.

Spinning this on Easter Sunday. This album always evoked Spring for me, maybe because of the cover art. Arrangements by Nat Pierce, conducted by Mitch Miller.

Rimsky-Korsakov's "Russian Easter Overture" by Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra on a mono Columbia Masterworks LP.

And here are some that I file in the Exotica section: La Mer The Rite of Spring Daphnis et Chloe Scythian Suite La Noche de los Mayas Lits of Villa-Lobos And many more! And in the Now Sound section: Anything by Chopin, because it sounds like the soundtrack to a 70s Euro erotic film.

Leonard Bernstein - The Age of Anxiety Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue/An American in Paris Grofe: Grand Canyon Suite Varese: anything orchestral; the electronic stuff goes in the Moog section.

The aforementioned Albam album that I unloaded is "Jazz Goes to the Movies" on impulse!. Really lame arrangements with very vanilla harmonies. I suspect it was intended as a crossover album for the jazz-uninitiated. Two more Albam albums I have are filed in the RCA Stereo Action section: I Had the Craziest Dream More Double Exposure. The Double Exposure albums are interesting. He takes two songs with similar harmonic progressions. One plays out of one speaker, and one plays out of the other.

The Drum Suite. A spcae-age bachelor pad essential.

When I saw the Chico O'Farrill Orchestra, led by Arturo, at Birdland in 2009, Andy was the bassist. RIP.

What a beautiful album cover!

Maybe not. There was some ambiguity in the syntax.

I hadn't realized he wrote the arrangements for the Broadway version of "West Side Story." That's something to list on your resume!

"Drum Suite" is a space -age bachelor pad essential, and Albam is the first artist filed in that section, right before Steve Allen. Similarly, Albam's "West Side Story" and "Soul of the City" are the first albums filed in my Crime Jazz section, right before, curiously enough, Steve Allen again. I had one other Albam album that I unloaded after one spin. It sounded like the producer deliberately wanted dumbed-down charts for the masses. Those three albums constitute TTK's humble Manny Albam accumulation. I'll be happy to answer any questions following the discussion.

The William S Boroughs and Disney albums were really great too. Willner was an early proponent of the lounge aethetic several years before the 90s revival.

I lived near Fountains of Wayne on Rt. 46. Or was it 23? Is it still there? RIP.

Did they ever do Bartok?