Playboy's Centrefolds 1961 1963

The Latin Jazz Quintet had an odd history. The short-lived group, which had quite a bit of turnover during its life, is today best-known for two sessions (one for New Jazz and a more obscure set for United Artists) in which it was joined by Eric Dolphy. Those two dates (particularly the New Jazz outing) found Dolphy largely ignoring the Latin Jazz Quintet and vice-versa; at no time does the adventurous soloist and the more conventional ensemble react to or even acknowledge each other! Conga player Juan Amalbert was the original leader of the LJQ with the lineup on their first recording (the Dolphy New Jazz date) also including vibraphonist Charlie Simmons, pianist Gene Casey, bassist Bill Ellington, and Manny Ramos on drums and timbales…

The Impressions/The Never Ending Impressions is a kind of odd pairing of two LPs on one CD, covering four years of releases by the group in completely different idioms and with partly different lineups – it's also a good overview of their early history on ABC Records…

Grant Green, being known mainly as a soul-jazz guitarist, eventually gravitated into the popular boogaloo sound, a derivation of Latin music. The Latin Bit is the natural bridge to that next phase, though a bit premature for most in 1961-1963, even relative to the subsequent bossa nova craze. Pianist Johnny Acea, long an underrated jazzman, is the nucleus of this session, grounding it with witty chops, chordal comping, and rhythmic meat. ~ AllMusic

By 1961, flutist Herbie Mann was really starting to catch on with the general public. This release, a follow-up to his hit At the Village Gate (two songs are from the same gig while three others actually date from seven months earlier), features Mann in an ideal group with either Hagood Hardy or Dave Pike on vibes, Ahmed Abdul-Malik or Nabil Totah on bass, drummer Rudy Collins and two percussionists. Mann really cooks on four of his own originals, plus "Bags' Groove," blending in the influence of African, Afro-Cuban and even Brazilian jazz.

Betty Carter recorded only two albums during the 1961-1968 period. Her chance-taking style and unusual voice were mostly ignored and it would not be until the late '70s that she was finally "discovered." This Atlantic CD finds Carter backed by orchestras arranged by Claus Ogerman and Oliver Nelson. Her style was a lot freer than it had been in her earlier records but was still more accessible than it would be. Her repertoire, which includes the title cut, "Theme from Dr. Kildare," "Two Cigarettes in the Dark" and her own "Who What Why Where When" was already becoming eclectic. This is an interesting historic release.