#cubop

[1001albumsrated]

#12: Machito - Kenya (1958)

Genre(s): Afro-Cuban, Latin Jazz, Cubop

Staying in the Afro-Cuban vein from the last entry in 1001 Albums, this time around we have Kenya, by Machito. As I mentioned in my Palo Congo review, this kind of music is a big blind spot for me. This is the second album on the list that I truly have never seen.

To my light understanding, Machito is a pretty big deal in this scene, and influenced many of the American jazz artists who took on some Latin trappings (there was an era where this sound was extremely trendy: see Miles Davis & Gil Evans' Sketches of Spain for a prime example of it done well).

Kenya, in contrast to Palo Congo, feels much more like jazz in a traditional sense, whereas Palo Congo seemed much closer its Afro-Cuban roots. Aside from the percussion, the rest of Machito's band is a fairly standard jazz orchestra, and plays with many of the American bebop trends and styles of the time in mind. That being said, these guys are anything but a schmaltzy big band. While the band is very tight and clearly well-composed and rehearsed, they pull no punches. When Machito puts the gas pedal down, it goes all the damn way down. The opening track, Wild Jungle, is a great example of the sort of blistering, frenetic energy the band can conjure.

This is an interesting listen, partially on account of how popular these sounds became in filmmaking in particular. These driving congo rhythms have soundtracked many a high speed chase scene over the years. The difference is, this is the *real thing*. There's a sincerity and authenticity here that the Hollywood imitators always seem to lack, a true driving energy behind the music. Add in some lightning fast bebop solos and you're in business. And even when they drop the tempo back for a song or two, there's still a powerful driving force behind the slinky lounge tunes on the disc.

Unfortunately, like Palo Congo, this album is long out of print (a situation that well predates the original 2005 release of 1001 Albums). Also, when doing some digging on the release history, I discovered that everything I'd read about this album to date really buried the lede that Cannonball fucking Adderley is on this thing. That explains the excellent sax solos. I'm surprised he didn't get some kind of callout on the cover. Anyways, I ended up listening in hi-res on Qobuz, and will be keeping an eye out for a copy of the album. Sonically, the recording is kinda rough. I'm not sure if the master that made it to streaming was a later generation tape copy, or if it was just rough to begin with (supposedly the version on Qobuz is a 2000 remaster, so it's fairly likely the original tapes were lost or damaged in the intervening 42 years). In particular, more dynamic moments often sound completely blown out. It's possible this is an artifact from later tape generations, or it's equally possible the engineer thought this would be some laid back Nelson Riddle sort of affair and just had his gains set too high. I'd be curious to hear an original if one ever crosses my path to see if those problems persist on it.

Regardless, sonic warts and all, this album is loads of fun. Again, like Palo Congo, I'm in no place to judge the historical or cultural significance of this one, but aesthetically it's a great listen and well-worth one of our hotly contested 1001 slots. Really pleased to have discovered this album.

Next time: the energy stays high with Little Richard's rock n roll landmark album, Here's Little Richard!

[cubopsle]

(Cubop Sous Les Étoiles) Pour la dernière émission de l'année 2023, Laurent reçoit au micro de Sun La Dj Nantaise Camino plus connue sous le nom de La Diabla SoundSystem.

Camino profite de cette carte blanche pour  partager avec les auditeurs de sun ses gouts et ses influences.Cumbia, Champeta, Salsa Dura, Reggaeton sont au rendez vous pour ambiancer aux mieux votre début de soirée de réveillon.Montez le son !! Ambiance assurée avec  La Diabla SoundSystem.Bon réveillon à toutes et tous.

[brummie-man-interests]

Machito was an influential Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music.

[herbivorepr]

Cerebral Voyage

@februllage Horizon prompt

Soundtrack: Zaccai Curtis - Cubop Lives!

[rich4a1]

Zaccai Curtis Cubop Lives!

Zaccai Curtis Cubop Lives! Truth Revolution Pianist and composer Zaccai Curtis, like others with Afro-Cuban heritage, plays in so many different contexts that it’s sometimes easy to overlook the foundation of his style. In the past year, Curtis has been the pianist for rising saxophone star Lakecia Benjamin. In Newport 2019 he was in the piano chair for the late Ralph Peterson Jr.’s. ensemble who…

[bamboomusiclist]

2/7 おはようございます。 Isley Brothers / Don't Say Goodnight ZS92290 等更新しました。

the Gordons / You and Me - Cupid m-111 Howard McGee / Cubop City 502 Lester Young / Polka Dots And Moonbeams - Up 'N Adam 8927 Nat King Cole / After Midnight sm-11796 Marge Dodson / New Voice in Town cl1458 Lulu Alke / Jazz in Sweden 89 cap1372 Lena Horne / Songs by Burke and Van Heusen Lpm1895 Dizzy Reece / Progress Report Jasm2013 Dusko Goykovich / Ten To Two Blues eny45 Lester Young Harry Edison / Pres and Sweets Mgv8134 Stan Getz featuring Joao Gilberto / The Best Of Two Worlds CBS32274 Erica Chiquinho Et Les Show Rio / Brazil 77 69.653 Memphis Minnie / Gonna Take The Dirt Road Home OJL-24 Miles Davis / the Man with the Horn Fc36790 Lonnie Liston Smith / Reflections of A Golden Dream Bdl1 1460 Players Association / Turn The Music Up - Goin' To The Disco VSL5011 Isley Brothers / Don't Say Goodnight ZS92290 Morrissey Mullen / Life on the Wire - Brazil Nut beg75 Detroit Emeralds / I’m in Love With You Wb2018 52nd Street / Tell Me TEN74-13

~bamboo music~

info@bamboo-music.net  

530-0028 大阪市北区万歳町3-41 シロノビル104号

06-6363-2700

[hinge]

Hinge presents an anthology of love stories almost never told. Read more on https://no-ordinary-love.co

[cu-bop]

我らがアクセル・トスカとルイ・ベガの新作トラックがyoutube にアップされました。二人の個性がせめぎ合う素晴らしい作品です。ブルーノート東京での公演は2020年2月4、5日、これを逃すとこのプロジェクトを日本で聴ける機会は何年も先になると思われます。 まずは12月24日に『日本映画専門チャンネル』で映画Cu-Bopを観て事前予習してください。　 Louie Vega - Harvest Time feat. Axel Tosca↓ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vNSrJIFV-xw #louievega #axeltosca #ルイベガ #アクセルトスカ #cubop #キューバップ #bluenotetokyo #ブルーノート東京 https://www.instagram.com/p/B5-wxfqp6Wm/?igshid=1fdet9mdgvb9m

[bluefunkymamma]

Mario Bauzá (Trompeta) Mario Bauzá es muy reconocido por llevar al jazz música de su Cuba natal. Trabajó con Noble Sissle y Chick Webb en Nueva York en los años treinta antes de asociarse con…

[joebreidenstine]

Had a blast with @cubop_sextet opening up the 20th Annual College Park Jazz Festival this past Saturday! Coming up you can catch #CuBop at @thereillyartscenter Friday November 18th as part of the Reilly Noir Series 😎 7:30pm concert - we hope to see you! @marcobassocontinuo @steve11523 @jfrat_84 @mrhamilton1914 #jazz #jazzmusician #jazzfest #festival #collegeparkjazzfest (at Orlando, Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkqgxHDr6al/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[feelitsandiego]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by FeeLit Records (@feelitrecords)

#groovemerchant #ubiquityrecords #luvnhaight #cubop #vinyl #lp #album #records at #feelitrecords #sandiego #recordstore #vinyligclub #soul #funk #jazz #hiphop #house #breaks #beats #calisoul (at FeeLit)

[mochakbar82-blog]

🎧 🎶Red Norvo - Bernie's Tune🎶🎧 #acidjazz #afrocubanjazz #bebop #boogiewoogie #capejazz #chamberjazz #cubop #ethnojazz #folkjazz #freefunk #freejazz #jazzfusion #jazzmugham #jazzrap #jazzfunk #latinjazz #neobopjazz #music #newbigband #nujazz #progressivejazz #punkjazz #skajazz #smoothjazz #souljazz #swingmusic #thirdstream #tradjazz #vocaljazz #westcoastjazz https://www.instagram.com/p/BxbzNlIn_tH/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1m26ozcwlmwt2

[1001albumsrated]

#11: Sabú - Palo Congo (1957)

Genre(s): Afro-Cuban, Rumba, Jazz

This is the first album in 1001 Albums to really blindside me. I've listened to a hell of a lot of Blue Note albums over the years (and bought and sold even more) but I've never seen this thing in my damn life. That being said, I'll admit that Rumba (and Afro-Cuban music at large) is a musical blind spot for me. I've heard enough bits and pieces over the years to recognize the sound, but it's not something I've ever had the chance to go deep on.

Palo Congo, according to my scholarly Google research, is the first album by conguero Sabú Martínez (credited here simply as Sabú), and his first and only release on Blue Note. It features Arsenio Rodríguez on guitar, a name that I recognize but can't quite place, but who is apparently a Real Big Deal in the world of Afro-Cuban music. Like most Blue Note records, and a large chunk of jazz at the time, it was recorded by legendary recording & mastering engineer Rudy Van Gelder (if you've ever seen "RVG" in the dead wax of a record that's your cue that he did the master for your pressing, and it probably sounds damn good as a result).

I was really surprised by this one. This is a great listen. Most of the album is comprised of a dense layer of percussion with call and response vocals, with some stringy bass and scuzzy guitar (and, I believe, some other Cuban string instruments) sneaking in around the edges. The percussion section is covered in a thick layer of cavernous reverb, which is an odd choice for RVG (who usually is of the recording school of presenting the music as-it-is with a realistic live sound), but it creates a fascinating atmosphere in this case. The percussion hits are clean, followed by watercolor reverb trail as the tails of the drums all bleed into each other. On some tracks the vocals are more sung, on some they're closer to shouts. The string instrumentation is sparse, sometimes playing a melodic ostinato, sometimes providing rhythmic stabs, always with a gnarly, lo-fi sound to it when it creeps in. There's something very forward-thinking about the sounds here, particularly on an aesthetic/timbral level. Many moments call decades forward in time to early post-punk groups like Savage Republic and Joy Division. Other times the dense, layered atmosphere creates the feel of an African Head Charge track.

Unfortunately this album seems to be out of print across the board. I'd clock it as a prime candidate for a reissue in Blue Note's Tone Poet series, which primarily focuses on bringing long OOP titles back into print on vinyl with some of the best quality pressings on the market today, with a focus on these sorts of beloved deep cuts. Regardless, it's a shame it's not more readily available today. Luckily it's at least on streaming (for the nerds, I listened in hi-res on Qobuz). I'll definitely have to keep an eye out for a copy of this one.

More to the point, MUST you hear Palo Congo before you die? I'm sure glad I did, that's for sure. This album is absolutely killer. I don't know enough about the history of Afro-Cuban music to judge it on a historical or cultural basis, but I think it makes the cut on aesthetic value alone. It's an incredibly fun listen, and one that is sonically forward-thinking in a way that's truly rare to hear.

Next time, we stay in the Afro-Cuban vein with Cubop artist Machito and his album Kenya!

[cubopsle]

(Cubop Sous Les Étoiles) écoutez l’emission cubop sous les étoiles

[couch-king]

— Pablo Medina, Cubop City Blues

[amygdalae]

1/2 of my midterm essays DONE! now i just gotta write one about the similarities and differences between bebop, cubop and post-bop. which is gonna be tough but im already halfway there (this is one of those situations where the sunk cost fallacy is helpful)

[xerks44]

Steve Grossman - In A Sentimental Mood

CONFIRMATION – 2021 JOHN BEASLEY

A LATINIZED VERSION OF A CHARLIE PARKER SONG

“Confirmation” was one of the best originals penned by Charlie Parker, immediately becoming a bebop standard in the late 1940s.

For this 2021 version, pianist John Beasley is joined by tenor saxophonist Justo Almario, trombonist Francisco Torres, electric bassist Marcus Miller, drummer Justin Tyson, and percussionist Alex Acuña for a Latin jazz (or Cubop) rendition of Bird’s song.

Highlights include the Almario-Torres exchange and the stirring percussion by Acuña.

-Scott Yanow