Haruomi Hosono, Suzuki Shigeru, Tatsuro Yamashita — Passion Flower

from Pacific (1978)

Aw yeah. Three incomparable instrumentalists, one sparkling disco rhinestone. You might call this elevator music. But it’s the kind you’d hear as you breeze out of the elevator at your Hanalei Bay resort, hiding behind your Ray-Bans, and someone hands you a coconut with a straw in it. Oh yes.

Jiro over at the fantastic Ying Yangs hooked me up with this album and I thank him warmly from my cabana.

Shankar Jaikishan & Rais Khan — Raga Kalavati

from Raga Jazz Style (1968)

Still combing through the Megaupload-related carnage among the blogs..and so, so bummed to see that the great (now mythical) Holy Warbles is among those fallen. Such a brimming archive of the world’s sounds… now silenced.

I grabbed this mind-blowing album some time ago from Holy Warbles… let this post serve as a sort of impromptu wake for one of the greatest music blogs on the internet. May it be reincarnated somewhere soon.

Doug at WFMU’s Give the Drummer Some played a full three-hour warbling tribute set this morning—check it out. (audio should be up later today)

Jimmy Takeuchi — Soulful Strut

from R&B Drumming (1969)

Jazz drummer and drum break king Jimmy Takeuchi’s take on the smooth jazz classic ‘Soulful Strut,’ recorded in 1968 by the Chicago jazz group Young-Holt Unlimited. [original here]

There are some nice breaks in this version, but the thing that really sets Takeuchi’s version apart is, of course, the VIBRASLAP. Niiiice…

Marcos Valle — Brazil x México

from Marcos Valle (1974)

Space-age cocktail music for a bright new future (circa 1974) from Brazil’s pioneering psychedelic madhatter Marcos Valle. It’s worth noting that he recorded this album on the heels of a two-year stint of producing music for Vila Sésamo—Brazil’s version of Sesame Street.

Hat tip to the always-enlightening musical treasure trove Flabbergasted Vibes.

Jimmy Takeuchi — La Pioggia

from Drum Drum Drum (1968?)

Yesterday we heard Gigliola Cinquetti singing her San Remo entry ‘La Pioggia.’ Here’s an instrumental version, as performed by Japanese R&B/soul/surf drummer Jimmy Takeuchi and his group The Exciters.

David Axelrod — The Auction

from The Auction (1972)

The name David Axelrod may bring to mind Obama’s strategic adviser. Now meet the other David Axelrod—prolific jazz and funk producer/composer.

This percussion-heavy spoken word groover appears on Axelrod’s 1972 slavery concept album The Auction. If you like this, make sure you check out Lincoln Chase, who operates on a similar plane…

Thanks to Know Your Conjurer for posting this gem. Get yer audio there…

Blue Mitchell — Port Rico Rock

from Bring It Home To Me (1966)

Rollicking, rolling drums.

bainer:

Drummer Billy Higgins let his drums do the talking during his storied career behind the skins, but there are a couple of audible yells from him on record. This infectious, latin-tinged Blue Mitchell cut contains one of them.

Confusional Quartet — Beguine sulla Luna

from Confusional Quartet LP (1980)

I can’t for the life of me remember how this album ended up on my computer, but the fact is, it did. It’s a bizarre Italian prog/new-wave/jazz group from Bologna, who performed in white jumpsuits.

This number sounds like a slow, spacy rumba. In fact, it’s a beguine (on the moon), as the title indicates—a combination of latin folk dance and French ballroom dance popular in the 1930s, hailing from the Caribbean. Cole Porter has a tune called ‘Begin the Beguine,’ for starters, sung here by the lovely Sardinian singer Lia Origoni.

Pat Martino — Baiyina

from Baiyina (The Clear Evidence) (1968)

Night music.

Rubén González — Melodía Del Rio

from Introducing…Rubén González (1997)

Ready.. set.. cocktail!

Solomon Ilori and His Afro-Drum Ensemble — Ise Oluwa (God’s Work Is Indestructible)

from African High Life (1963)

Beautiful set of West African highlife and jazz from Nigerian troubadour Solomon Ilori, who moved to New York City in the late 1950s on a mission to popularize African music. In New York he collaborated with jazz artists like Art Blakey, appearing on his 1962 album The African Beat.

The next year Ilori released his own album for Blue Note, African High Life, which features some impressive drumming, including talking drum, and his stylings on the pennywhistle.

I love this laid-back tune the most. Almost foreshadows the spiritual jazz movement soon to appear at the hands (and mouths) of Alice Coltrane, Pharaoh Sanders and Archie Shepp. The guitar in this particular track reminds me of Alice Coltrane’s harp, washing over the beat, shimmering.

Forty years later, Blue Note repackaged this album with three long, unreleased tracks from a later Ilori session, which don’t sound like this at all—instead they’re heart-pumping, drum-heavy hard bop jams. Worth seeking those out too.

Ilori never released another solo album, but did go on to collaborate with Harry Belafonte, Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela. And I guess he did achieve his dream of popularizing West African genres, at least in the jazz realm.

Tom Waits — Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street)

from Nighthawks at the Diner (1975)

Here’s ‘Nighthawk Postcards,’ as quoted in that 1975 Billboard ad. How could I not love an album that has an ode to Norm’s, that 24-hour den of overcooked eggs and stomach-turning coffee?

When I’m trying to dig up info on lesser-known artists for whom little to no biographical information is available, I love scouring back issues of Billboard Magazine for leads. The entire archives are digitized now, each and every page ripe for perusing, over at Google Books.

At any rate, I have nothing to add to the already well documented personal and professional life of Mr Waits, but I did want to share this terrific advertisement I stumbled on once, for his 1975 piano jazz/comedy hour double album Nighthawks at the Diner. It’s from the November 15, 1975 issue, and the ad lifts lines from the tune Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street)… which is coming right up.

Roy Ayers — Everybody Loves the Sunshine

from Everybody Loves the Sunshine (1976)

Make sure your shades are on for this one…and your chaise lounge is in full recline. Then play on endless repeat. This number is an encyclopedia of keys, from electric piano to synthesizer strings to wah-wah snorts and squeaks from the ARP synth. Liquid gold.

frntrow:

Added to : Imperial Beach Tunes

Sonny Clark — It Could Happen to You

from Dial ‘S’ For Sonny (1957)

On his debut for the Bluenote label, Sonny Clark makes playing the piano sound just as effortless as it should. Gorgeous stuff.

And give a follow to fellow tumblr recordshopping, here below. Some great finds!

recordshopping:

newbury comics - Cambridge, MA / $6.99