The Mexicali Brass- South of the Border

57493This was a dollar.  As the songs were not on the back of the album, I took a chance buying this without looking at the playlist.  If the album is more than a buck, I usually take a look at the record, but in cases of a dollar or less, I usually just roll the dice.meet-the-mariachi-instruments

This album was released by the Longines Symphonette Society, which started as a pre-recorded radio show from 1943 to 1949 sponsored by Longines Watch Company.  The Society also released box sets directly to market, mostly focusing on classical music but reaching out into country, rock, comedy and other genres.

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Mariachi band walking in street

This album is part of a bigger box set which sadly I did not get.  I have mixed feelings as the box set would have included more traditional fares.  However, the album I got is pretty good.  When I pulled out the record for the first time and saw that it had “Anna” on it, I got pretty excited.  “Anna” , also known as “El Negro Zumbon”, is from the Italian film Anna, released in 1951. Anna tells the story of a nun who helps an injured man who she knew in a past lif as a night club entertainer.

It has been covered by many US and Latin artists as well as sampled at the end of The Avalanche’s “Frontier Psychiatrist”.  As a side note, I am still looking for the Enoch Light song that was sampled.

Over all the one album I have is okay.  I have posted the Mexicali Brass before so no need to rehash their story.  Good arangements and good horns make for a decent album.  I would have liked to hear some of the other albums in the box set, however. “Cielito Linda”, “Mama Inez”, “The Peanut Vendor” and “Perfidia” would have made for good listens.20101125073304-Untitled-55101124

For a sample, I went with the fore-mentioned “Anna” as well as “Mexico A Go-Go”, but pretty peppy numbers.mariachi_by_emperornortonii

Despite feeling shorted , I will give this a satisfactory rating.

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