SOPHY - AMOR Y TENTACION

Sophy for Tico produced by Tito Puente from 1969.
Only my second 7" feature here at OIR but it sets the scene for my next set of posts which go deep into the latin sound of the 60s & 70s.
I just love this gorgeous slice of breezy latin replete with bossa rimshots written by the great Tite Curet Alonso.Sophy belts out the vocal backed with strings,horns,vibes and even a cuica in the mix! Quality assured with the mighty Tito sitting in at the production desk.
Killer !

LES DEMERLE - TRANSCENDENTAL WATUSI

Les DeMerle for United National Records from 1976.

Les DeMerle-Drums;Dido-Congas;Don Menza-Sax,Flute;Jim Coile-Sax;Rex Robinson-Bass;Ramsey Embick-Keyboards;Ronald Muldrow-Guitar;Ralph Bickert-Trumpet.

Super heavy funky fusion recorded live at Howard Rumsey's gaf in Redondo Beach.

Some great banging tunes but the killer cut is the 100m.p.h. bomb "Daggerpoint" which sounds like Barry Miles on amphetamines !

MARK WEINSTEIN - TIMBASA

The mighty Mark Weinstein is back with another all killer no filler afro cuban jazz session. The man behind the greatest and heaviest latin session of all time the incredible "Cuban Roots" (click here to buy the cd )has pulled together a great new band featuring the the brilliance of Pedrito Martinez, a master of Cuban drumming in all of its forms and the winner of the Thelonious Monk Award for hand-drumming (the only time such an award has been given)."Timbasa" is a album that Pedrito made possible. He picked the musicians from among his closest associates and led them through 16 hours of non-stop recording of some of the most amazing Afro-Cuban Jazz that anyone has ever heard.
And amazing it is with storming covers of the standards "Milestones","Watermelon Man","Caravan"and "Footprints" mixed with new compositions "Timbasa","Kavaklari Cubano" "A Ernesto","Encuentro" plus an old favourite of mine "Just Another Gaujira".More about the album and its recording here.
All Killer No Filler indeed !!!
The album is now on general release and you can listen to tracks at Mark Weinstein's MySpace page here then put your money where your ears are and buy the cd here.
And last but not least read more about Mark and his music at his website jazzfluteweinstein.com
and at his fascinating blog jazzfluteweinstein.blogspot.com
Viva Weinstein!!!

GENE SHAW - CARNIVAL SKETCHES

Gene Shaw for Argo from 1965.
First posted at OIR in 2006.

One of my favourite lps this is a real beauty on Argo from 1965. Gene Shaw leads a great group including Charles Stepney on Vibes,Richard Evans on bass and Ed Higgins on piano-it also features Richard Evans as composer and arranger.As the tile suggests it's a series of pieces with a real south of the border flavour which work beautifully.I won't pontificate on about this gem just do yourself a favour and down load it.Highly recommended.
Hard to track down on vinyl I picked this up on a Japanese cd some years ago.Needless to say thats been long deleted.
All Killer - No Filler.