George Shearing - 1974 - The Way We Are

George Shearing - The Way We Are
MPS 1974

The Quintet:
George Shearing - Piano
Andy Simpkins - Bass
Rusty Jones - Drums
Sigi Schwab - Guitar
Heribert Thusek - Vibes

The Amigos;
Chino Valdes - Congas & Bongos
Carmelo Garcia - Timbales

Found in Leicester market along with some other great Jazz lp's that included Thad Jones, Charlie Parker and the Dizzy Gillespie landmark bebop LP 'Champ'. The cover looked vaguely familiar and one of the tracks sounded really familiar by name- "The World Is A Ghetto"!!!! Seeing that it had a cover of "Aquarius" on there and being on MPS it was purchased for the sizeable fee of 50 pence. Connoseirs of the breaks should be aware of this Lp for the 2 aformentioned tracks, Aquarius kicks of with what must be one of the heaviest and most begging to be sampled drum intro on any MPS recording whilst "The World Is A Ghetto" should be very familiar to most.

01 - The Way We Are
02 - Do You Know The Way To San Jose
03 - Killing Me Softly
04 - The World Is a Ghetto
05 - Superstar
06 - Eleanor Rigby
07 - Brian's Song
08 - Aquarius
09 - You Are The Sunshine Of My Life
10 - Alone Again, (Naturally)

Fania All Stars - Our Latin Thing 2 (2006)

Our Latin Thing 2 is part of Fania’s re-issue campaign, Fania being the record label that is to salsa “what Def Jam is to hip hop,” at least according to Louie Vega. It was founded in 1960s New York by Jerry Masucci and Johnny Pacheco Fania and went on to become the home of Celia Cruz, Tuti Puente and Ray Barretto.

The re-issues consist of never heard before material, re-mastered classics, some limited release DJ mixes by the likes of DJ Format, Bugz in the Attic and Ashley Beedles, and a series of samplers such as this.

Our Latin Thing 2 is an intro to the early work of Fania and 1970s New York - a time when soul, jazz and funk were finding a footing in the Latin scene. Tracks such as Ralph Robles’ ‘Come and Get It’ and Monguito Santamaria’s ‘Ne Ne’ simply ooze cool, though in very different ways; the former with its bouncy piano riffs and sexy horns topped with Robles’ smoky vocals, the latter with its bongo rhythms and fast flowing lyrics.
 

01 - Willie Rosario - Last Tango In Paris

02 - Willie Colon - The Hustler

03 - Ralph Robles - Come and Get It

04 - Eddie Palmieri & Cal Tjader - Bamboleate

05 - Johnny Pacheco - Dakar, Punto Final

06 - Monguito Santamaria - Ne Ne

07 - Hector Lavoe - El Todopoderoso

08 - Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco - No Mercedes

09 - Ruben Blades and Willie Colon - Pedro Navaja

10 - Joe Bataan - Shaft

Listen

Mongo Santamaria - 1968 - Soul Bag

Conguero Mongo Santamaria released this LP in 1968 on Columbia Records, it was produced by David Rubinson, personnel is Mongo Santamaria on congas, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie on drums, Rodgers Grant on piano & organ, Victor Venegas on bass, Hubert Laws on sax & flute, Mauricio Smith on sax & flute, Sonny Fortune on sax, Louis Gasca on trumpet, "Chihuaha" and Ray Maldonado on percussion and Stephen Berrios on timbales & drums. Arrangements by Marty Sheller.

01 - Cold Sweat

02 - Green Onions

04 - Cloud Nine

05 - Chili Beans

06 - Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay

07 - Sing a Simple Song

08 - We Got Latin Soul