Crossover 12.5.1

Tito Puente - Dance Mania (1958) {2CD 2009 Legacy Edition Vol 1&2 Extra Tracks}
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© 1958, 2009 RCA / Legacy / Sony Music | 88697 44710 2
Jazz / Latin Jazz / Afro-Cuban Jazz

Dance Mania, Tito Puente's best-known and best-selling album, came ten years into his career, but at a time (1957) when the craze for mambo and Latin music was beginning to crest. (Another landmark LP, Pérez Prado's Havana 3 A.M., had been released the previous year, and Prado's "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" had hit number one in 1955.) Recorded as part of a just-signed exclusive contract with RCA and appearing in vibrant sound as part of the label's Living Stereo series, Dance Mania exploded with a series of tight arrangements, propulsive playing, and the features of new additions in vocalist Santos Colón and conguero Ray Barretto (who helped, in part, make up for the recent loss of Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaria to Cal Tjader's group).

Two CDs containing talented guitarist, comedian and writer Mason's five albums for Warner Bros Records, dating from 1968 to 1971. Originally featured on 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' US TV show, 'Classical Gas' as performed by Williams became a US No.2 hit and a Top 10 hit in the UK and Canada. Williams has had a varied career, from recording with Mannheim Steamroller to bluegrass with Byron Berline, to writing comedy for 'Saturday Night Live'.

There is a lot of confusion with regards to the modern soul scene. An off-shoot of northern soul, it initially mixed new release independent soul, with post late-60s soul that didn't fit with the northern scene. They championed a lot of great records, but this was the mid-80s and it now seems odd to describe nearly 50 year old records as modern soul - but somehow the name has stuck. Extra Added Soul luxuriates in this contradiction, as it allows us to mix up the boogie like 'Love Explosion' by Donnell Pittman, with two-step Chicago classics by Elvin Bishop or El Anthony, or the danceable sweet soul of Dyson's Faces with Gil Scott-Heron alike 'Patience' by Rokk. Amongst the twenty tracks there is also room for a touch of Prince on 94 East's exceptional 'If You See Me' and the cosmic soul of Karriem's super rarity 'I Love You'.

A talented and respected jazz trumpeter who achieved popular success with his melodic, uncluttered music.
Throughout the 1970s, Chuck Mangione was a celebrity. His purposely lightweight music was melodic pop that was upbeat, optimistic, and sometimes uplifting. Mangione's records were big sellers yet few of his fans from the era knew that his original goal was to be a bebopper. His father had often taken Chuck and his older brother Gap (a keyboardist) out to see jazz concerts, and Dizzy Gillespie was a family friend. While Chuck studied at the Eastman School, the two Mangiones co-led a bop quintet called the Jazz Brothers who recorded several albums for Jazzland, often with Sal Nistico on tenor…

In 1971, the Jazz Crusaders reinvented themselves for the first time. First they dropped the word "jazz" from their moniker, and secondly they wholeheartedly embraced electric bass and guitars in their mix. Their new "debut" is a wonder of jazz-funk as a natural evolution out of hard bop and soul-jazz. While the wonderful horn interplay between saxophonist Wilton Felder and trombonist Wayne Henderson is still everywhere evident, the badass, beat-driven rhythm section has Joe Sample playing funky Rhodes piano against Chuck Rainey's basslines and an orgy of guitars – led by Larry Carlton's brilliant lead work. These are all anchored by Stix Hooper's never out-of-the-pocket, popping kit work. Certainly other acts had used the same instrumentation, but the sheer sophistication in the Crusaders compositions and charts combined with their dedication to grooved-out accessibility – and Stewart Levine's magnificent production – made them a singular entity even in the up-and-coming jazz-rock fusion scene.

Sadao Watanabe - How's Everything: Sadao Watanabe Live At Budokan (1980) {2016 Japan Crossover & Fusion Collection Series SICJ 168}
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© 1980, 2016 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICJ 168
Jazz / Fusion / Contemporary Jazz / Crossover Jazz / Saxophone / Flute

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. Comes with liner notes. 2016 reissue of this live album, recorded in July 1980 at the legendary venue the Budokan in Japan over two nights. The album features a who's who of Jazz Fusion musicians including Richard Tee, Steve Gadd, Eric Gale, Ralph MacDonald, Anthony Jackson, Jeff Mironov and Dave Grusin. Grusin also arranged and conducted the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra on these two magical nights. How's Everything contains versions of the Sadao Watanabe classics 'Up Country' and 'Nice Shot'. a positively must-have CD for all Jazz Fusion fans. Robinsongs.

Sadao Watanabe - Orange Express (1981) {2016 Japan Crossover & Fusion Collection 1000 Series SICJ 167}
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© 1981, 2016 Columbia / Sony Music Japan | SICJ 167
Jazz / Fusion / Groove / Crossover Jazz / Saxophone / Flute

Reissue with the latest DSD remastering. Comes with liner notes. Sadao Watanabe hits a sweet fusiony groove – riding the Orange Express to LA, and picking up some great Dave Grusin arrangements on the way! The album's got the sweetly soulful finish of others from the classic years of Japanese fusion – a style that's as much influenced by mainstream soul as it is by jazz – but which comes across with some top-shelf playing throughout, thanks to a lineup that includes George Benson, Bobby Broom, Eric Gale, Richard Tee, and Marcus Miller – not to mention Watanabe and Grusin themselves! Titles include "Orange Express", "Ride On", "Straight To The Top", "Mbali Africa", and "Bagamoyo/Zanzibar".