Teasing the Korean

Yes, but for several decades, you could find it only on the CSP album, and most people didn't even know about it.

There is even a Simon and Garfunkel Christmas track on one of those - not "7:00 News/Silent NIght" - that is not widely available elsewhere. Can't remember which offhand.

I learned this only recently: Virtually ALL of those ubiquitous dollar bin Xmas comps contained some unique tracks. Many people gripe, for example, that reissues of Tony Bennett's Xmas album do not include his CSP Christmas tunes as bonus tracks. More useless stuff to drag home...

These albums sometimes contained unique tracks that were not available elsewhere.

I don't have a source in front of me. If you check the chronology, I believe that Bossa Nova USA was among the last of the classic-era Brubeck Columbia albums to be released on CD. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) My recollection is that Brubeck felt that it was more or less a cash-in.

I don't think he wanted Bossa Nova USA on CD either.

Joe Morello is as loud as, or even louder than, Brubeck on most or all of the stereo albums. That's why the mono ones are so much better. True, you can adjust the balance in stereo, but then most of the group is coming out of one speaker and Joe Morello is in the other. Mono is the way to go on these. IMO.

No. Still gotta do the two UA albums. Sorry for the delay. And the first UA album is gorgeous.

OK, so I am the exception. I like these albums specifically because of the drums, and find the vocals, flute and occasional other instruments to be the problem, especially a couple of the upbeat, cheerful melodies heard on The African Beat. But even with just the drums, Blakey at times seems reluctant to groove with the drummers. He always seems to be working against them, and I don't necessarily mean "against" in the positive way it is often used to describe complex rhythmic interplay. Sometimes it works for me. Other times, when he runs out of ideas, he tends to repeatedly bash the cymbals and kick drum. I have too many 1950s and 60s all-drum albums I like much better. Having just listened to all three AB albums, though, I do think you could get one really solid album out of them. That would also mean trimming off some sections and doing crossfades. That's just me, though. I'll me be more than happy to share some other all-drum or mostly-drum albums that I find more satisfying, if anyone is interested.

Are you kidding? Your description is a ringing endorsement!

I've never even seen this album, mono or stereo!

Bumping my old thread, which has been very helpful! At this juncture, I would like to offer two pieces of poetry and music from the obscure Buddy Collette album Polynesia. I am not sure who the poet/narrator is, or even if the poet and narrator are the same person. Either way, the words sound like the fevered ramblings of a shipwrecked sailor who has contracted a rare tropical disease.

LOVE IT! One of the first ones I pull out every summer. Got the 90s reissue at Stereo Jack's more than 20 years ago. Sorcery by Sabu is another. I'm not sure I agree with this. Rhythm is of course one of the key components of music, and as both a musician and informed listener, I am really fascinated by what is musically possible when melody and harmony are removed. And drum records have certainly influenced my approach to piano, which, strictly speaking, is a percussion instrument.

No, others brought up Drums Around the Corner. You may wish to re-read my first post. In terms of the drum albums that I have, a few may have singing (sparingly, at the tops of the tracks) or a flute in places, but I picked up these albums for the drumming.

So how is it that I have dozens and dozens and dozens of other drum albums that I love? What is Art Blakey doing differently? Again, I will spin them this weekend and share specifically what bugs me about them, or maybe more specifically what it is that doesn't engage me.

Depends on the cocktail in question! And the mixers make a huge difference. Just get this book, or the app: http://beachbumberry.com/publication-remixed.html

Maybe I was in a mood. I remember thinking that it wasn't jazz enough to be a jazz, and not drum enough to be drum. Again, the problem may be me and my expectations.

I had it and unloaded it. Possibly the only BN album I unloaded.

I can see that one. I'll trust you that it's the same image!

I CAN'T SEE THE IMAGE!!!

But for some reason, they are not as satisfying to me as all the other drum albums I have from this era. I will spin them this weekend and report back.

Thank you. I've checked out some links, but I'd love to hear from someone who's played one or who has played in a combo with one. Well, she does not mix my rum cocktails, I do. And these are high-end rum cocktails, many of which would have been lost to time were it not for the important work of Jeff "Beachbum" Berry. These drinks are nothing like the Jimmy Buffet, beach bar swill that many of us have been subjected to over the decades. I don't use umbrellas. However, we have a stash, and I have been known to use them when mixing cocktails for others.

The Fajardo album with the tikis is Danzones Completos Vol. 2, on Puchito, MLP-569.

This is the time of year when I transition from drinking Old Fashioneds to classic rum cocktails. And with this shift in cocktails comes a shift in musical preferences: For this is the time of year when I bust out the Latin jazz and exotica albums. Within and around these categories, I have accumulated over the decades a great many drum albums - African, Afro-Cuban jazz, exotica, and various hybrids. I truly love most of these albums. They produce an effect similar to that created by my favorite genres of electronica, lulling me into a near-hypnotic state that is subtly broken along the way with variations and surprises. So each year this time, with rum cocktail in hand, I make my way through the LP and CD shelves to play each of these drum albums at least once. And each year, I come across the Art Blakey drum albums - namely Orgy in Rhythm Vols. 1 & 2, Holiday for Skins Vols. 1 & 2, and (to a lesser degree) The African Beat. I remember each year thinking to myself, "I did not like these so much last year, but can't remember why. Something must have been wrong with me." And each year, I play them again, to find myself once again disappointed. Well, no more. I am writing down for posterity everything I don't like about these albums here, for handy reference next year. And I would be interested in receiving input from my Organissimo friends as to what I may be missing. I fully recognize that my "problems" with these albums may have less to do with the music intrinsically than with my expectations of what a drum album should be. I will listen to these albums over the weekend, and post my impressions.

This is the time of year when I transition from drinking Old Fashioneds to rum cocktails. And with this shift in cocktail choices, I start to drag out the Latin jazz and exotica albums. A lot of my older Afro-Cuban records include an instrument that a gringo such as I would assume is an acoustic 12-string guitar. In fact, what I am probably hearing on these records is the instrument known as the Cuban Laud. I have seen these only in pictures. I have never attended a gig where one was used, let alone played in a combo that featured one. So tell me what you know - facts, impressions, and rumors are all welcome. This thread is intended as your convenient one-stop shop for all things related to the Cuban Laud.