mjazzg Posted October 20, 2009 Report Posted October 20, 2009 I was knocked out by a track by Almeida and Kenton called Lament when played on the radio over the weekend. I know very little about either musician (aside from some Wiki research) and I'm wondering if someone might tell me which album this track originally appeared on. If it's that good I'm hoping the rest of the album is too! any help very much appreciated, thanks in advance mjazzg Quote
Bluesnik Posted October 20, 2009 Report Posted October 20, 2009 i have a laurindo almeida cd, i think from 54, of which i can't remember the title right now, as i'm writing from the top of my head. it's one of those japanese mini-lps and i think it's part of the super bit jazz classics, a 24 bit edition which is quite good, but also expensive. it's from 2002 or something like that. in the same edition is cuban fire (i think it's called) from stan kenton. this is in a very good edition and it's very good, with a lot of guest musicians from the west coast and that mambo (or cuban) influence kenton liked so much. it's pretty reccomendable and it's one of his major oeuvres. i'd also like to have city of glass (or i don't know how it's called right now). when i see them i'll tell you who plays on them, but i'm sure they're good. the almeida album is quite interesting, with me also liking brazilian music. there's much guitar playing on it. and i'm sure it's the start of something. i just don't know (or remember) what. i remember something with chet baker, although that might be a false memory (i haven't heard it in a while). almeida is the guy who did the braziliance albums with bud shank later on. he was one of the pioneers of brazilian guitar and of the crossover with american artists. Quote
king ubu Posted October 21, 2009 Report Posted October 21, 2009 Those Almeida albums are Brazilliance Vols 1 & 2 (on regular US CDs, that is). Between them the contain, I think, three albums (some ten inchers), Almeida & Bud Shank, backed by Babasin/Harte. Good stuff, and certainly discussed elsewhere! As for "Cuban Fire", I think that's mostly just Kenton's regular band there... these "guest musicians from the west coast" were member of his band! (At one point or the other, they included Frank Rosolino, Bud Shank, Art Pepper, Shorty Rogers, Bob Cooper, Shelly Manne, and many, many others... also non WC guys like Stan Levey, Charlie Mariano, Lee Konitz...) Quote
mjazzg Posted October 21, 2009 Author Report Posted October 21, 2009 Thanks everyone for these replies, very much appreciated. I'll certainly now seek out a recording of Lament (thanks Claude for the detail about the discs). Having read a bit more about Kenton I think I'll be investigating his discography (huge as it seems). mjazzg Quote
king ubu Posted October 21, 2009 Report Posted October 21, 2009 I'd try and find the 2CD "Innovations" band reissue (on Blue Note/Capitol). Almeida is there (but not "Lament"), as are Art Pepper, Shorty Rogers, Maynard Ferguson etc etc. As a supplement, there's also the Graettinger compilation "City of Glass". Then I'd go for some of the 50s discs (Kenton Showcase, Easy Go...) - look for who are the featured soloist and get those with soloists you like. Quote
Bluesnik Posted October 21, 2009 Report Posted October 21, 2009 in the same edition is cuban fire (i think it's called) from stan kenton. sorry for the mixup (that can happen if you write off the top of your head, as i always do). the cd i actually have and was referring to is called new conceptions of artistry in rythm, which was kenton's breakthrough as to new concepts in the big band idiom. there is a cuban fire but it wasn't reissued as a mini-lp. at least not in 2002. i actually don't know when and if it ever was reissued. it's high in my wants list. it's kenton's exploration of those cuban rythms he liked so much. so from what you say the track you heard must belong to some collaboration between the two. i know kenton "discovered" almeida and he worked with him as he liked brazilian music. i just don't know exactly when. you'll have to find out in a discography. the album from almeida i talked about is called featuring bud shank, and he plays, apart from with bud shank, with roy harte and harry babasin. so it's a mix of brazilian with a jazz sensibility. it was recorded for pacific jazz, that's perhaps where the (wrong) connection with chet baker originated. in brazil you've got bossa nova and what's called samba jazz, and is the dance music of the sixties in brazil and was played by trios or quartets in a jazzical mood but with a brazilian undercurrent. so there was a cross fertilization between jazz and brazilian music (be it pre bossa nova or samba) when the two camps started acknowledging each other. and one of the first to do it was almeida together with bud shank. later it developed into a crosscurrent between the two countries but it started (on the american side) with people like bud shank and kenton. Quote
bakeostrin Posted October 22, 2009 Report Posted October 22, 2009 i have a laurindo almeida cd, i think from 54, of which i can't remember the title right now, as i'm writing from the top of my head. it's one of those japanese mini-lps and i think it's part of the super bit jazz classics, a 24 bit edition which is quite good, but also expensive. it's from 2002 or something like that. in the same edition is cuban fire (i think it's called) from stan kenton. this is in a very good edition and it's very good, with a lot of guest musicians from the west coast and that mambo (or cuban) influence kenton liked so much. it's pretty reccomendable and it's one of his major oeuvres. i'd also like to have city of glass (or i don't know how it's called right now). when i see them i'll tell you who plays on them, but i'm sure they're good. the almeida album is quite interesting, with me also liking brazilian music. there's much guitar playing on it. and i'm sure it's the start of something. i just don't know (or remember) what. i remember something with chet baker, although that might be a false memory (i haven't heard it in a while). almeida is the guy who did the braziliance albums with bud shank later on. he was one of the pioneers of brazilian guitar and of the crossover with american artists. Those Almeida albums are Brazilliance Vols 1 & 2 (on regular US CDs, that is). Between them the contain, I think, three albums (some ten inchers), Almeida & Bud Shank, backed by Babasin/Harte. Good stuff, and certainly discussed elsewhere! As for "Cuban Fire", I think that's mostly just Kenton's regular band there... these "guest musicians from the west coast" were member of his band! (At one point or the other, they included Frank Rosolino, Bud Shank, Art Pepper, Shorty Rogers, Bob Cooper, Shelly Manne, and many, many others... also non WC guys like Stan Levey, Charlie Mariano, Lee Konitz...) Is there any overlap (say, from bonus cuts) between the Brazilliance 1&2 (US editions) and the 1954 Almeida Pacific Jazz reissued in Japan referred to above? Thanks, Baker Quote
king ubu Posted October 22, 2009 Report Posted October 22, 2009 I don't know the Japanese edition but I always figured that the two US discs contain all the material there is. One or both of them have been in the massive EMI/Blue Note deletings list a few months ago, I think, just in case... Quote
bakeostrin Posted October 23, 2009 Report Posted October 23, 2009 I don't know the Japanese edition but I always figured that the two US discs contain all the material there is. One or both of them have been in the massive EMI/Blue Note deletings list a few months ago, I think, just in case... Vol 1. contains the same tracks as the Japanese edition of the CD; Japanese edition has different cover (nice Claxton photo). Thanks, Baker Quote
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