Edmundo Ros and His Orchestra- Bongos From The South

This was 80 cents.  Pretty decent play list.  A lot of my favorites on here.

Edmundo Ros was a Trinidad-born, Venezulean-weaned band leader who made a name for himself in the UK.  Skilled with both percussion and vocals, Ros formed his own orchestra which played in various clubs and restaurants in London. He would also buy his own in 1951.  Ros made many notable recordings during his career.  His last public performance was in 1994.  Ros would pass in 2011, two months shy if his 101th birthday.

This album, released by London Records in 1961 was done at a time when Ros style of music was quickly being supplanted by rock and roll. But it still is a decent album.  It is a collection of songs mostly from either South America or the southern US with some other Latin tunes as well.  Pretty good collection of tunes which are well done.  As the title as well as Ros’ background would suggest, the songs are percussion heavy.  Given this, the songs all feature pretty extensive orchestration. The band does not skimp on other areas for percussion’s sake. Good album.

For a sample, I had many choice to choose from.  I went with “Deep in The Heart of Texas” which is well served by a Latin arrangement.  I also went with “Brazil” because I always go with that song.  I also went with “El Cumbanchero” for reasons that will be apparent next week.

Good album.  Satisfactory.

Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra- Cugat’s Favorites

Coming along to the end of Continental week, here is this record.  It was $2.00.  I like Cugat’s work and a bunch of good songs.  Please note that I posted my perennial favorite song to post, “Brazil”, on an early record I did of his.

This record, released in Custom High Fidelity by Mercury Records in 1955, is a collection of previous recorded tunes, culminated together as the master’s favorites.  Pretty decent album.  A lot of good songs.  Besides my favorite, there is “Green Eyes” Walter Winchell Rhumba”, “A Gay Ranchero”, “Linda Mujer”, “Siboney”, “Cucaracha Mambo” and “Donte Estabas Tu”.  Some songs are instrumental. Other have female vocals. A few have Cugat singing as well.  Good album altogether.

For samples, I had a lot of choices.  I narrowed them down to two.  “Linda Mujer” and “Donde Estabas Tu”.

Good album.  Satisfactory.

Joe Loss and His Orchestra- Go Latin With Loss

This gem was all of 80 cents.  A lot of notes on the back.  I like that.  It makes my job of reviewing the record easier.

One of the underlying reasons I went to Amsterdam last month was to have duck for Thanksgiving at the same Chinese restaurant I have gone to in the past.  The Resturant Golden Chopsticks. The place I go is on Damstraat.  I chose duck because it is the closet thing to turkey that I can find.  I started going to Amsterdam around Thanksgiving because I get two extra days of holidays .  That week also played well with Champions League so originally, I could go overseas and catch the two games live.  I did that twice.  Anyway, I had my duck on Thanksgiving.  It was pretty good.  

Joe Loss (1909-1999) was a popular British band leader from Spitafields, London. His band, the Joe Loss Orchestra was one of the most popular big bands of the 1940’s.  

This album is a tribute to the Latin styles of music.  It features various forms including tangos, rumbas, sambas, and cha cha’s among others.  Most of the songs are instrumental but there are a few with vocals, performed by Ross McManus.  McManus would later have a son who would become Elvis Costello.  Back to this record, there are a lot of really good moments.  Overall, it is a great album.

According to the previous owner’s notes, the album opens up with “Guitar Tango”, which is noted as being too fast.  The owner also did not like several songs on the back.  These are noted with X’s.  The previous owner really liked “Kissin” as well as “Sucu Sucu” which was noted with “this one”.  Aside from the notes, I really liked the songs above as well as “Parakeet”, “Nicola”, and “La Bamba”. 

I had a hard time picking samples as most of this album is good. Off the bat, I am including “Quando Caliente El Sol” as it has McManus’ vocals on it.  I really liked “Nicola” and ‘Parakeet” despite having X’s written next to them.  Finally, I am posting “Sucu Sucu’ because the previous owner loved it.  I think it is ok.  Not great or nothing.

Whew, four samples.  Looks like I need to do a better job of editing myself.  Oh well.  As far as this record goes, I think it is great.  Satisfactory.