Grupo Proyecto

Gonzalo Ruvalcaba y su Grupo Proyecto
Jazz Plaza 85 ''La Nueva Cubana''

Areito LD-4235

Tough virtuoso jazz fusion...

U.S. Air Force Jazz Ensemble

This bunch were pressed privately between '68 & '79 by The U.S. Air Force Recruiting Service and were NOT FOR SALE...

 

Deep Jazz Reality

The mighty Bacoso (Orgy In Rhythm) & Katonah (Private Press) man the turntables and spin a night of hard jazz in London's West End. The date's confirmed - Saturday November 17th and venue is the compact and bijou upstairs bar at The Queens Head in Denman Street just a stones throw from Piccadilly Circus (next door to the Piccadilly Theatre). Entry is free to all.
Come on down and nod your head, stroke your jazzy goatee,bang your bongos, buy a blogger a beer (there's a few of 'em confirmed already) or just get yer freak on to the heavy duty vinyl sounds of Bacoso & Katonah...DEEP JAZZ REALITY.

Italia bossa jazz

Gialma 3 - Rain's Dream (1976)
Drums ED-2010

Giulio Camarca (chitarra)
Aldo Sperti (basso)
Mauricio J. Chiappeta (batteria)

update...

Just noticed many of the links have mysteriously been pulled, have reposted the ones I'm aware of. I had to use blogger's spam filter to control the huge flood of rubbish in the comments & this seems to have removed nearly all of the real comments and many of the original links... go figure.
If u need a repost & the file is still hosted I'll repost the link. Ta Kindly.

Oleg Kutsenko Jazz-Ensemble

Oleg Kutsenko Jazz-Ensemble (1979)
Melodia C60-11769~70

Very cool LP by Ukrainian altoist Kutsenko with the now Israeli painter Simion Lipkovich on rhodes stealing the show!

1) Dedication
2) Contrasts
3) At About Midnight
4) Kaleidoscope (Suite)

O. Kutsenko - alto sax
S. Lipkovich - Fender-piano
V. Litvinenko - guitar
V. Sultanov - drums, percussion
V. Anohin - bass-guitar

Überdimensionale

Orchester Frank Pleyer - Topless (1969)
Hippo 41 002

Hugely flamboyant, bombastic jazzy "kitsch"  on the fly-by-night Hippo label - arrangements hint at Quincy Jones, Dankworth, Riddle, KPM etc. Hammond & horns tightly fired out by a swaggering but uncredited orchestra, drums are provided however by the inimitable Charly Antolini. Very Groovy...

Jean Philippe Blin

Jean Philippe Blin - What Matter Now? (1970)

Futura GU.GER 21

A beautiful & enduring jazz trio recorded live in Paris with Jean Philippe Blin on piano with François Méchali on bass and Jean Jacques Schnell on drums.

Top Drawer!

Weil Deal

Gerry Weil - The Message (1971)

Mercury 13.016

A sizzling set by Austrian born pianist & Venezuelan emigre Gerry Weil.
Recorded in Caracus - cracking!

Ray Rivera

Ray Rivera Orchestra - The Now Sound Of... (1970)
MGM LAT-10.001

Mod El Barrio! A batch of short instrumentals arranged by Ray Maldonado & Mauricio Smith. Nothing ground-breaking but a solid listen.

Ouverture Éclair

Michel Herr Trio - Ouverture Éclair (1977)
MD 014

Still very active on the music scene, I hope Monsieur Herr won't mind my posting this relative obscurity put out a year after the fusion bomb Solis Lacus in '76. Recorded at Michel Dickenscheid Studio and released in small quantity. Beautiful & timeless Belgian trio jazz.

Michel Herr - piano
Freddie Deronde - double bass
Félix Simtaine - drums

Danny Long

Danny Long - She's Here At Last (1971)
Hark 28

Obscure privately pressed LP out of Chicago by singer/songwriter/pianist Danny Long. A quirky album of breezy tunes effortly blending jazz with folk. These indulgent albums sit uncomfortably in any one genre, which only adds to the appeal for me. He cut a double LP around the same time called 'Four Sides Of Love' - anybody?

1) She's Here At Last
2) Come To The Country
3) Our Happiness In Love
4) Guess I'll Have To Go Away
5) What Have They Done To The Moon
6) Looking Love To Me
7) Peaceful
8) New Child
9) Spartacus

Bryony James

Bryony James - Feeling Good (1969)
Mercury 20139SMCL

Moderately unknown American songstress on a UK only pressing - backed by an incendiary Laurie Holloway Quartet, who after Harry Stoneham was the man who led the band and traded quips with Michael Parkinson on his BBC chat show.
A solid listen but her motoring version of 'Our Day Will Come' and the bongo-driven 'Summertime' immediately leap out at you.

1) Feeling Good
2) I Got It Bad
3) Our Day Will Come
4) Sunny Gets Blue
5) Soon It's Gonna Rain
6) Look Of Love
7) Come Back To Me
8) Goin' Out Of My Head
9) Summertime
10) If You Go Away
11) How Insensitive
12) La Bamba

Love and Fantasy

Dieter Reith - Love And Fantasy (1978)
Intercord 160116

A wonderfully slinky set of grooves from ubermensch Reith with tracks originally recorded for the German thriller series 'Die Kette', in his own modest words "the waste-product of the soundtrack". I don't hear much waste product here, lots to be had in fact but the dreamy down-tempo funk of ''Uschi' complete with those slick ethereal backing vocals does it for me every time - then of course that 'Beams' track!

1) Pace-Maker
2) Transmitter
3) Beams
4) Uschi
5) Lift-Off
6) Love And Fantasy

genießen...

Vacances

Guess where I'm going for a fortnight? I leave you with a batch of French recordings suitably compiled for my journey. See you soon...

Henny Vonk

Henny Vonk - Vonk's First!
Philips 855838 XPY (1969)

A great little album by songstress Henny Vonk on Dutch Philips. Her name crops up regularly for those Chris Hinze, John Lee/Gerry Brown albums of the 70s but she's hardly what I'd call prolific and you never see this one, her debut.

What lifts this for me is the slick backing of the Rob van den Broek Trio and the arrangements of Tony Vos who guests on sax. Cracking stuff!

Dany Montano Interpreta Bossa Nova

Music Hall 60011 (mid 60s?)

Been a while since I posted some bossa so (atrocious artwork aside) here's a rare Argentine EP of a subtly alternative vintage. Nothing earth-shattering but an authentic, laid back & cool listen.

1) Solo
2) El Barquito
3) Ten Pena De Mi
4) El Pato

Waldo De Los Rios

Waldo De Los Rios y su Quinteto ''Los Waldos'' - En Europa
Hispavox/Music Hall MH-12.653 (1967)

Altho' listed as a solo effort this LP features the Argentine band Los Waldos which was formed by and included Waldo de los Rios. Based in Spain they appear to have disbanded in the late sixties when Waldo started his solo career.

Waldo de los Rios (arranger, piano)
Cecar Gentili (keyboards)
Willy Rubio (guitars)
Roberto Stella (drums)
Alberto Carbia (Bass)

Not entirely sure what compels me to listen to this occasionally 'cos it's a strange beast. Modal jazz meets easy exotica, avant-garde meets lounge... all peppered with groovy electronics. Definitely a curiosity.

1) El Hacha Y El Quebracho
2) Zamba En Nueva York
3) Tero Tero
4) El Algarrobo Que Hablará Con Los Pájaros
5) Metamorfósis Folkórica Sobre...
6) Así Nació El Carnaval
7) De Dónde Vienen Las Guitarras
8) Fuera De Ritmo
9) El Último De Los Matacos
10) Tertulia

Memphis Jackson

Milt Jackson with The Ray Brown Big Band - Memphis Jackson Impulse AS-9193 (1969)

Here's a very groovy big band outing from Milt Jackson & Ray Brown, off the top of my head I can't think of another release by either of them that matches the sheer good-time funkiness this LP manages to generate without losing their jazz sensibilities.

Featuring an all-star line up including Ernie Watts, Harold Land, Mike Melvoin, Wilton Felder, Earl Palmer, Joe Sample, Howard Roberts, Paul Humphries & Victor Feldman amongst many others.

1) Uh-Huh
2) One Mint Julep (One Way)
3) Oh Happy Day
4) Memphis Junction
5) Queen Mother Stomp
6) Braddock Breakdown
7) A Sound For Sore Ears
8) Enchanted Lady
9) One Mint Julep (The Other Way)
10) Picking Up The Vibrations

Vocal Ease

B.J. Ward - Vocal Ease Catfish 5C 062-24323 (1974)

Solo outing from Ms. Ward of 'Inner Dialogue' fame. A melange of jazzy, funky soft-rock musings out of Holland, highly sought after and fetching crazy money for an original - I'll let you believe the hype or otherwise. That said, what we do have are some groovy, upbeat covers of the likes of Neil Young, Tom Jones, Gerry Rafferty, The Beach Boys & Rachmaninov! along side groovy originals and lushly arranged jazzy ballads. All odd but it works very well.

The Dutch band feature Henny Kluvers - Flute, Frank van Luin - Bass Trombone, Richard Pullin - Trombone, Carl Schultze - Vibes, Donn Trenner - Piano & Organ, Thijmen Hoolwerf - Guitar, Frank Noya - Bass, Eric Ineke & Cor van den Berg - Drums, George Souto - Percussion with a string section comprising Sem Nijveen, Bennie Behr, Lex Cachet, Lucien Grignard, Ronald Kok, Guus Valten, G. Gerritsen & Carlo Carcassoia.

1) Vocalise
2) Keep It To Yourself
3) Earth Child - Moon Child
4) Here We Are
5) The Loner
6) Try To Remember
7) That's How The World Is Made
8) The Music Of Love
9) Billy's Blues
10) I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
11) Words On Words
12) I Don't Know Where I'm Going