Ray Barretto The Other Road

Percussionist Ray Barretto has long been a legend in both the jazz and salsa communities, performing and recording with Tito Puente, Oliver Nelson, and Herbie Mann. THE OTHER ROAD, originally released in 1973, highlights the jazz side of Barretto’s musical personality while still maintaining roots in Afro-Cuban and Latin sounds. A set of originals, save for a cover of the Thelonious Monk classic “’Round (About) Midnight,” ROAD features smooth, classy ensemble playing and inspired soloing from the likes of Art Webb, Manny Duran (who also contributed arrangements), and Roberto Rodriguez. Barretto gives the Monk tune a bolero rhythm, putting an unexpected Latin spin on a well-known ballad.

George Benson - The Other Side of Abbey Road (1969) {A&M 8283930282}
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© 1969 A&M Records / PolyGram | 82839 3028 2
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Crossover Jazz / Jazz Pop / Guitar

Just three weeks after the U.S. release of the Beatles' swan song, Abbey Road, Creed Taylor ushered George Benson into the studio to begin a remarkably successful pop-jazz translation of the record (complete with a parody of the famous cover, showing Benson with guitar crossing an Eastern urban street). It is a lyrical album, with a hint of the mystery and a lot of the cohesive concept of the Beatles' original despite the scrambled order of the tunes.

Creed Taylor matched two of his most famous artists, Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith, on this session (Montgomery's last for Verve), and the results are incendiary - a near-ideal meeting of yin and yang. Smith comes at your throat with his big attacks and blues runs while Montgomery responds with rounder, smoother octaves and single notes that still convey much heat. They are an amazing pair, complementing each other, driving each other, using their bop and blues taproots to fuse together a sound. The romping, aggressive big band charts - Oliver Nelson at his best - on "Down by the Riverside" and "Night Train," and the pungently haunting chart for Gary McFarland's "13" (Death March)" still leave plenty of room for the soloists to stretch out. "James and Wes" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside" include drummer Grady Tate and conguero Ray Barretto, with Smith's own feet working the organ pedals…

Wes Montgomery - Down Here On The Ground (1968) {Verve Originals B0012700-02 rel 2009}
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© 1968, 2009 Verve / UMG | B0012700-02
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Guitar

Wes Montgomery acceded to the whims of producer Creed Taylor for this, one of the very first CTI productions that would, over the next decade, popularize jazz with string backdrops or rhythm & blues beats. Much to either the delight or chagrin of urban or traditional jazz fans, the music changed, and Montgomery was in the middle, though his delightful playing was essentially unchanged. On the plus side, the legendary guitarist was allowed to collaborate with great musicians like bassist Ron Carter, pianist Herbie Hancock, flutist Hubert Laws, and percussionist Ray Barretto. While the small orchestral trappings never dominate this session, the seeds for a more grandiose style of music had been planted with the release of this date in 1968.

Wes Montgomery acceded to the whims of producer Creed Taylor for this, one of the very first CTI productions that would, over the next decade, popularize jazz with string backdrops or rhythm & blues beats. Much to either the delight or chagrin of urban or traditional jazz fans, the music changed, and Montgomery was in the middle, though his delightful playing was essentially unchanged. On the plus side, the legendary guitarist was allowed to collaborate with great musicians like bassist Ron Carter, pianist Herbie Hancock, flutist Hubert Laws, and percussionist Ray Barretto. While the small orchestral trappings never dominate this session, the seeds for a more grandiose style of music had been planted with the release of this date in 1968…

Wes Montgomery - So Much Guitar! (1961) {OJC Remasters Complete Series rel 2013, item 26of33}
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© 1961, 2013 Riverside / Concord | 60th Anniversary of Riverside Records | 0888072345966
Jazz / Hard Bop / Guitar

Concord Music Group will release five new titles in its Original Jazz Classics Remasters series. Enhanced by 24-bit remastering by Joe Tarantino, several bonus tracks on nearly each disc (some previously unreleased) and new liner notes providing historical context to the original material, the series celebrates the 60th anniversary of Riverside Records, the prolific New York-based label that showcased some of the most influential jazz artists and recordings of the 1950s and '60s.

Latin-Soul-Rock by the Fania All-Stars is a half-live, half-studio album. In addition to featuring a few of the actual Yankee Stadium recordings, such as the now-infamous Larry Harlow/Heny Alvarez–penned “Congo Bongo,” the record demonstrated how well the Fania All-Stars could play with others in the studio, namely Billy Cobham, Jan Hammer, and Jorge Santana; and at the same time, flex their Latin rock and funk muscles on tunes like the Marty Sheller–arranged “There You Go” and “Viva Tirado,” recently made a hit by El Chicano; and then there was the Bobby Valentín–arranged “Smoke,” which wouldn’t have been out of place spinning on one of Kool Herc’s turntables a few miles down the road from the “House that Ruth Built.” It was fusion, it was funk, it was salsa.