Herbie Mann Village Gate

At the Village Gate is the album that first brought Herbie Mann to widespread popular attention, thanks to the inclusion of "Comin' Home Baby," which soon became one of the flautist's signature songs. By the time of the record's release in 1962, however, Mann had already been a bandleader for years, honing his pioneering blend of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian music with hard bop's funky structures just under the public radar. As a result, At the Village Gate sounds more like a summation than a beginning. The nearly 40-minute album is a mere three tracks long, with an epic 20-minute version of "It Ain't Necessarily So" taking up the entirety of the second side of the original vinyl. The highlight, however, is a stunning take on the standard "Summertime," one that turns the Gershwin tune into an easy swinging, proto-bossa nova song that features a glorious extended solo by Mann over a conga beat…

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.

The immodest title of this one carries a double connotation; it was probably the first album of jazz in which the leader recorded entirely on bass clarinet and, less significantly, the first Riverside album recorded on the West Coast. The first achievement - which Mann and producer Orrin Keepnews thought of three years before Eric Dolphy broke out his bass clarinet on records - ought to be more widely known, but the usual prejudices among critics regarding Mann's subsequent popularity among record buyers have decreed otherwise. In any case, Mann phrases on the bass clarinet pretty much the way he does on flute, with a definite personality, plenty of swing, and a airy outlook that makes the instrument sound less sinister…

Herbie Mann was quite unpredictable in the 1960s - from one album to the next, you never knew if he would embrace hard bop, bossa nova, Latin jazz, soul-jazz, or whatever else he was in the mood for. He could be commercial one minute, esoteric and experimental the next. One of Mann's more commercial LPs from that period, The Beat Goes On, is a generally funky, groove-oriented soul-jazz effort with strong Latin leanings. Much of the material brings to mind Pucho and the Latin Soul Brothers, and comparisons to Pucho are unavoidable on cuts that range from Mann's "More Rice Than Peas, Please" to a version of Sonny & Cher's "The Beat Goes On" and a Latin boogaloo interpretation of Joe Liggins' "The Honeydripper" (which features King Curtis on tenor sax). Afro-Cuban rhythms are a high priority, although Mann gets into more of a bossa nova groove on vibist Dave Pike's "Dream Garden." Jazz purists hated this release, but let them say what they will - this LP is full of highly infectious grooves and makes a great party album.

Herbie Mann was quite unpredictable in the 1960s - from one album to the next, you never knew if he would embrace hard bop, bossa nova, Latin jazz, soul-jazz, or whatever else he was in the mood for. He could be commercial one minute, esoteric and experimental the next. One of Mann's more commercial LPs from that period, The Beat Goes On, is a generally funky, groove-oriented soul-jazz effort with strong Latin leanings. Much of the material brings to mind Pucho and the Latin Soul Brothers, and comparisons to Pucho are unavoidable on cuts that range from Mann's "More Rice Than Peas, Please" to a version of Sonny & Cher's "The Beat Goes On" and a Latin boogaloo interpretation of Joe Liggins' "The Honeydripper" (which features King Curtis on tenor sax). Afro-Cuban rhythms are a high priority, although Mann gets into more of a bossa nova groove on vibist Dave Pike's "Dream Garden." Jazz purists hated this release, but let them say what they will - this LP is full of highly infectious grooves and makes a great party album.

2007 two CD set containing the complete recordings of Herbie Mann with Chick Corea, consisting of the three complete albums Monday Night at the Village Gate, Standing Ovation at Newport and Latin Mann: Afro to Bossa to Blues (all recorded in 1965), plus all seven of the tracks from the album The Roar of the Greasepaint the Smell of the Crowd in which both musicians are present. For the first time ever on one release! This material is either long out of print or is only available in Japan on limited edition! Includes a 12-page comprehensive booklet! 26 tracks.

Herbie Mann - Standing Ovation At Newport (1965) {Atlantic–Wounded Bird WOU 1445 rel 2000}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 218 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 83 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 9 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1965, 2000 Atlantic / Wounded Bird Records | WOU 1445
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Crossover Jazz / Flute

The performance by Herbie Mann's group was one of the high points of the 1965 Newport Jazz Festival. This album includes Mann's "Mushi Mushi" from an earlier date, but it is the lengthy versions of "Patato," "Stolen Moments," and particularly the encore "Comin' Home Baby" from Newport that are most memorable. During this period, the flutist's group included vibraphonist Dave Pike, two trombonists, the young Chick Corea on piano, bassist Earl May, drummer Bruno Carr, and Patato Valdes on conga. For "Comin' Home Baby," composer Ben Tucker, who had played earlier in the day as part of Billy Taylor's Trio, sits in on bass.