Eric Dolphy & the Latin Jazz Quintet

[Teasing the Korean]

Anyone know the circumstances behind this session?

[Chuck Nessa]

Which one. There were 2.

[king ubu]

And the bands, while being dubbed with the same name, were completely different, too ... both have nice moments but are pretty inessential, I think.

[Teasing the Korean]

Oh, I didn't know there were two. "Caribe" is the one that I have.

... both have nice moments but are pretty inessential, I think.

Rhythmically, it is nice, but harmonically, it's pretty basic.

[Teasing the Korean]

Anyone know the circumstances behind these sessions?

[Cali]

Amazon.com had this to say about CARIBE: "The session that yielded "Caribe" was the brainchild of Prestige label owner Bob Weinstock. History has shown it was more like a brain-lapse! "Caribe" is uninspired, derivative, mainstream jazz meets watered-down, light and fluffy bossa nova."

The other Latin Jazz Quintet album is under the leadership of Felipe Diaz and features Eric Dolphy. It's on the Palladium Records label out of Barcelona, Spain. To my ears, it's a more successful outing than CARIBE.

Dolphy's mother and father were from Panama so perhaps Eric was tapping into his Central American roots on these recordings. Also, latin and latin jazz music was/is very popular in Los Angeles where Eric grew up.

[Teasing the Korean]

Thanks. That Amazon review is wrong - it is not a bossa record.

[porcy62]

And it's pretty enjoyable too, whatever Amazon could state.

[king ubu]

Yup. And that spanish label is of course just one (or various) shady PD reissues. It was on United Artists originally and EMI Japan did a nice reissue in 2011 or 2012 (which is PD as well, but I guess about as close to the original master tapes and stuff that you'll get).

[mikeweil]

Juan Amalbert, the founder and leader of the Latin Jazz Quintet, ist still alive and located in Scandinavia, but not very communicative. He once objected when I quoted the personnel problems the band seemingly had as stated on the Prestige CD reissue. He should know. Either some band members hijacked the band name when recording that second album for United Artists, or he was not available. The band was good, one of the better Latin Jazz groups around at the time. But this Prestige CD gives a better picture of what they could do.

[ejp626]

Juan Amalbert, the founder and leader of the Latin Jazz Quintet, ist still alive and located in Scandinavia, but not very communicative. He once objected when I quoted the personnel problems the band seemingly had as stated on the Prestige CD reissue. He should know. Either some band members hijacked the band name when recording that second album for United Artists, or he was not available. The band was good, one of the better Latin Jazz groups around at the time. But this Prestige CD gives a better picture of what they could do.

I think there was yet again one more LP that never made it to CD. I had it at one point but may have sold it.

[mikeweil]

That third LP was on CD only in Japan: The Chant

They also backed Shirley Scott on her LP Mucho Mucho:

[Cali]

Thanks. That Amazon review is wrong - it is not a bossa record.

True. I disagree with the review, I like these recordings.

I reprinted the quote from Amazon in response to your question about the circumstances behind the recordings.

[mikeweil]

FWIW, here's a preliminary version of my discography of that band - some errors in the original credits had to be corrected regarding instrument attributions.

p.s. I will attach the disco later - there's a minor mistake I want to correct before uploading

Edited July 17, 2013 by mikeweil

[mikeweil]

Okay, here's the disco for you ...

Latin Jazz Quintet Discography.pdf

[Al in NYC]

Okay, here's the disco for you ...

Mike, thank you for that discography. It also cleared up some of the mystery surrounding this album that has sat in my father's collection for years:

Since it actually features very little Pharoah Sanders, a band that is most definitely larger than a quintet, the "direction" of the unknown Juan Amalbert, and a cover with no personnel information, the record has always been more than a little mysterious.

[clifford_thornton]

Haven't heard Oh, Pharoah Speak! in a million years.

[bertrand]

Do we have composer credits for the record on Palladium?

 

[mikeweil]

On 11.12.2020 at 9:20 PM, bertrand said:

Do we have composer credits for the record on Palladium?

 

That's all I could find out:

 

Date: late 1960 to early 1961
Location: New York City
Label: United Artists
The Latin Jazz Quintet

Phil (Felipe) Diaz, The Latin Jazz Quintet (ldr), Eric Dolphy (f, bcl, as), Phil (Felipe) Diaz (vib), Arthur Jenkins (p), Bobby Rodriguez (b), Louie Ramirez (tim), Tommy Lopez (cga)

a.		You're The Cutest One - 3:42(Composer Unknown) Blue Moon CDBMCD 3057 — Hot, Cool & Latin
b.		Speak Low - 4:54(Kurt Weill, Ogden Nash) Blue Moon CDBMCD 3057 — Hot, Cool & Latin
c.		I Got Rhythm - 2:37(George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) Blue Moon CDBMCD 3057 — Hot, Cool & Latin
d.		A Night In Tunisia - 3:51(Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Paparelli)
e.		Cha Cha King - 2:34(Edvard Grieg)
f.		I Wish I Were In Love Again - 3:03(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) Blue Moon CDBMCD 3057 — Hot, Cool & Latin
g.		You Don't Know What Love Is - 4:04(Don Raye, Gene DePaul) Blue Moon CDBMCD 3057 — Hot, Cool & Latin
h.		Lover - 2:46(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)
i.		Mangolina - 2:08(Composer Unknown)
j.		April Rain - 6:27(Felipe Diaz) Blue Moon CDBMCD 3057 — Hot, Cool & Latin

All titles on:

United Artists LP 12"UAL4071 — The Latin Jazz Quintet United Artists LP 12"UAS5071 — The Latin Jazz Quintet Mercury LP 12"(Jap) BT-5016 — Oh! Pharoah Speak Palladium LP 12"PLP-145 — The Latin Jazz Quintet Palladium CDPCD-145 — The Latin Jazz Quintet Bomba Records CDBOM 21005 — The Latin Jazz Quintet Gambit CD69315 — The Complete Latin Jazz Sides Phono Records CD870223 — The Complete Latin Jazz Sides

Eric Dolphy (f) on b, d-f, h-j, (bcl) on a, c, f, (as) on d.

Composer credits for three tracks on this album are spurious. Cha Cha King and Mangolina are credited to one Ford Knox, but the former clearly is an arrangement of In the Hall of the Mountain King (Norwegian: I Dovregubbens hall) by Edvard Grieg; the composer of the latter is unknown. You're the Cutest One is credited to Charles Darwin, which must be a put-on; one issue credits it to Conway Darwin, but this has to be confirmed; a Berdahl composition of the same name recorded by Fats Waller is a different tune.

On 25.7.2013 at 0:02 AM, Al in NYC said:

..... the unknown Juan Amalbert .....

Amalbert had quite a reputation besides the handful of record dates he played on. He was an important part of an Ellington broadway shown and was always mentioned with respect by his peers.

[bertrand]

Was this on jazzdiscography.com? I did not see it.

Cha Cha King is definitely Mountain King.

[mikeweil]

No this is my own research. To be published there soon.

[ListeningToPrestige]

Always interested in finding out more about Juan Amalbert (Emmanuel Abdul Rahim) - most recent reference I could find was 2015, and he was still alive then. Here's what I've been able to put together on Listening to Prestige.

https://opusforty.blogspot.com/search/label/Juan%20Amalbert