n the late 60s, Latin New York was dominated by the boogaloo and Latin Soul. From the music’s first flowering with Johnny Colon’s “Boogaloo Blues” and “Joe Cuba’s ‘Bang Bang” it was clear that this sound of the 2nd and 3rd generation New York born children of Puerto Rican immigrants was bringing a new fervour, mixing traditional Latin music with the sounds of the soul music that was in the air of the city. For the next few years, until it was blown away by the juggernaut of salsa this was the sound of Latin New York.
This 2004 CD from CPO completes la Stagione Frankfurt's recordings of Franz Ignaz Beck's Symphonies, Op. 3, begun in 2000 with the Symphonies Nos. 3-5, released on CPO 999 390-2. Led by Michael Schneider and featuring members of Camerata Köln as section leaders and soloists, this fine ensemble performs on period instruments and renders Beck's works in a vivid and believable eighteenth century style, fully attuned to the various influences that shaped his music. These symphonies clearly developed from ideas promulgated by the Mannheim School, but Beck also absorbed Italian and French mannerisms, so the international flavor of these pieces is noteworthy.
From their beginnings as an attempt at bold jazz-rock fusion in 1967 through a run as a high-powered R&B/soul-rock singles act with singer David Clayton-Thomas two years later, Blood, Sweat & Tears were always a kind of fascinating experiment, and a commercially successful one at that. The first album from the Clayton-Thomas-fronted band appeared in 1969, spawned four high chart hits, won a Grammy as Album of the Year, and went on to sell some three million units. The next two albums, Blood, Sweat & Tears 3 and 4, generated a few more hits, but the band was gradually running out of creative steam by this point, and when Clayton-Thomas left the group after the fourth album, well, that was the end of the line commercially for Blood, Sweat & Tears. A jazzier, but definitely not as commercial, version of Blood, Sweat & Tears showed up for two of the albums collected in this set, 1972's New Blood and 1973's No Sweat, with the third album here, 1976's More Than Ever, featuring the return of David Clayton-Thomas to the fold.