The frenzied piano of Carmen Cavallaro gets a nice does of Latin rhythms on this set – and the set's a great example of the way that cocktail piano and Latin were strongly linked in the New York scene of the 50s! Carmen's style here is certainly different than that of Joe Loco, Noro Morales, or others who skirted the same territory – but the difference is also not that great, and it was Cavallaro's earlier sense of drama and color that often helped inspire piano work in players who followed. The rhythms are especially great here too – not straight Latin all the time, but a nice mix of inventive and exotic touches from bass and percussion that really liven things up, and make the tunes come across with modes that are quite different than their familiar readings. Titles include "Dolores My Own", "Frenesi", "Andalucia", "Maria La-O", "Perfida", "Adios", and "Poinciana". LP, Vinyl record album

Four full albums from the great Martin Denny – presented here with bonus tracks too! First up is the initial Exotica album – the birth of a sound and the birth of a legend – Martin Denny's first album in the Exotica series, and a record so great it named an entire genre! Denny certainly didn't invent the tropical style of easy listening that came to be known as "exotica" in the 50s – but with a record like this, he delivered the goods better than anyone else – by taking away all the too-sweet styles of Hawaiian music, and serving up a stripped-down, jazzy kind of sound! The album features Denny's classic original quartet – with Arthur Lyman on vibes and Augie Colon on bongos – and titles include "Stone God", "Jungle Flower", "Busy Port", "Lotus Land", and his hit recording of "Quiet Village". Exotica 2 is the second album in Denny's legendary Exotica trilogy – a set of records that provided the extreme definition of the small sub-genre that today has become the stuff of legend! Denny's still working here in his classic format – a small group with heavy piano lines, playful percussion, and some birdcalls sung by the members of the group! The set's a mix of strange songs from strange sources, all given the sublime Denny twist – and titles include "Singing Bamboos", "Escales", "August Bells", "Ebb Tide", "Rush Hour In Hong Kong", and "Soshu Night Serenade". Exotica 3 is sublime late 50s work from Martin Denny – his third album under the Exotica banner, and almost a deeper and weirder album than the other two! The sound here is extremely haunting – even more freed from conventional melody than the rest, and very fixated on the tonal possibilities that could be produced from Denny's unique grouping of percussion, piano, bass, and vibes. There's few tricks or gimmicks on the set – just a spare and other-worldly approach to music that's totally great! Titles include "Manila", "Mama Iti E Papa E", "Bamboo Lullaby", "Ringo Oiwake", "Moon Of Manakoora", "Congo Train", and "Beautiful Kahana". Quiet Village is an undisputed classic in the exotica genre – and the record that yielded Martin Denny his biggest hit! The title track "Quiet Village" was originally written by Les Baxter, but it was Martin Denny's approach that really managed to send the tune over the top – using spare percussion, rhythmic piano, and just the right amount of vibes and bird calls to give the track a really haunting feel. That approach is echoed throughout the set – with shifting instrumentation that includes celeste, bongos, marimbas, and marimbula as well! Titles include "Quiet Village", "Paradise Found", "Sake Rock", "Martinique", "Tune From Rangoon", and "Pagan Love Song". CD features bonus tracks too – "Llama Serenade" and "The Enchanted Sea" and more. CD

Pre-US work from Juan Garcia Esquivel – 2 early albums recorded in Mexico in the mid 50s! First up is Las Tandas – a set that's got a hip mix of jazz, swing, and Latin orchestral touches – presented here with some spoken announcements at the beginning of each track, in a way that supposedly sounds "live" – although the recording of the instruments is more in studio-level quality. Titles are all quite unusual – and often offer an odd extrapolation of older modes from the decade before – slightly re-arranged in more modern 50s orchestral modes. Titles include "Politecnio Rock & Roll", "Goya Universidad Rock & Roll", "Una Y Otra Vez", "Collar De Perlas", "Potpourri Curiel", and "Tren Nocturno". To Love Again is one of the rarest of Esquivel's RCA albums – a set that was recorded in Mexico, but issued as one of his first albums in the US! The sound's a bit romantic, but it's still got plenty of elements of his classic RCA work – including his unique approach to arrangements, and his penchant for lots of nice little instrumental flourishes that burst out of the larger ensemble with a nice sense of flourish! Titles include "Jungle Drums", "Vereda Tropical", "Siboney", "Hornblowers Serenade", and "Nocturnal". CD

A classic Christmas album of makeout music from British bandleader Stanley Black! It's clear that the guy on the cover has his mind on a lot more than what's under the tree – and after pouring some bubbly, and treating his lady to some diamonds, he's ready to put on the moves – either that, or he's somehow got his teeth stuck in her hair! Regardless of the setting, though, Stanley Black serves up some nicely mellow music for the later hours of Christmas Eve – string-laden readings of Holiday tunes, done up in a nice mix of familiar and original tunes – with titles that include "Dreaming", "Christmas Island", "Santo Natale", "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", "Christmas Alphabet", and "By The Fireside". (Holiday Music, Now Sound) CD

A nice little album – despite what might be a gimmicky concept! The set offers up Latin versions of Jewish tunes – but even that's not much of a gimmick, when you consider how important the Jewish audiences were to the growth of Latin music in the New York in the 50s and 60s. From DJs like Symphony Sid, to vacationers at the Catskills, to dancers in classes at Arthur Murray on Long Island or the Palladium in Manhattan, the Jewish audiences were some of the strongest for the New York Latin acts – and it's no surprise that you get albums like this cropping up to address the situation! Calle's group is a fine Latin jazz ensemble, and they've got a clarinet in the mix on a few tracks, snaking away in an almost klezmer-like fashion over the piano/percussion grooves of the album. Players include a rock-solid batch of Latin and jazz musicians – including Charlie Palmieri on piano, Ray Barretto on congas, Willie Rodriguez on timbales, Clark Terry on trumpet, and Doc Cheatham on trumpet – plus John Cali on lute – the real name of Juan Calle, who also did all the arrangements. Ed Powell sings a bit of vocals, but most of the action here is instrumental – and very much in the best Riverside Latin mode of the time, but with a Jewish twist! Titles include "Papirossen", "Beltz Mein Shetele Betlz", "Die Greene Koseene", "Frilach A Nacht", and "Yossel Yossel". (Latin, Now Sound) CD

A great illustration of the way that Martin Denny expanded his groove in the 60s – on some sweetly inventive records like this! On Latin Village, Martin Denny changes the rhythms from tropical to Latin – but the overall groove is still highly in his best exotica mode, and nicely augmented by some additional instrumentation! There's some traces here of the shift in production for instrumental music from the time – a bit of electric bass echoing out at the bottom of some cuts, more echo than usual on the piano lines, and a floating quality that's almost even more sublime than the original Liberty sessions. But the core Denny elements are also still in place – tinkling piano, island percussion, and a playful approach to familiar rhythms that never fails to please. The Latin is more of a nod to harder Latin modes than anything else, but it does make for a nice, if subtle change – one that works especially well when Denny's piano is out front, but compressed a bit in the mix. Titles include "Flying Down To Rio", "Ho Ba La La", "Something Latin", "Girl From Ipanema", and "Latin Village". The Versatile Martin Denny definitely lives up to the versatile in the title – working through a whole host of different 50s and 60s easy tunes – played in ways that are much wider-ranging than usual! Some are percussive and slightly exotic, some have more strings and tinkling piano, and some get slightly playful instrumentation – in a very nice way. Titles include "Little Bird", "Theme From Mondo Cane", "Exotique Bossa Nova", "Quiet Village Bossa Nova", and "Strawberry Tree". CD

A pair of Enoch Light oddities from the 70s – both in Quad! First up is Beatles Classics – a very cool take on the sound of The Beatles – served up here by Enoch Light, but in a way that's a bit different than some of his other records of the time! The set features symphonic readings of tunes by the fab four – much more heavy on woodwinds and strings than you might expect, but still delivered with that sense of separation that can make Light's music so great – with solo standouts that are completely seductive! Titles include the suite "Hello Goodbye/Something/Penny Lane" – plus "Eleanor Rigby", "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", "Let It Be", "Hey Jude", "Michelle", and "Norwegian Wood". Serendipity has reverse sort of approach – as the set takes classical themes, but strips them down a bit for the 70s – the unique Enoch Light spin on themes from Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi, and Chopin! CD

The super-sound of Henry Mancini, served up here in a special SACD set! The first half of the package features cuts from two different RCA albums that collect together some of the best of Mancini's music from the 60s – key soundtrack numbers and other instrumentals – in a lineup of tracks that includes "Charade", "Hatari", "Peter Gunn", "Lujon", "Breakfast At Tiffany's", "The Brothers Go To Mothers", "Pink Panther", "Dear Heart", "Cheers", and "Baby Elephant Walk". Concert Sound has Mancini working with larger orchestrations than usual, in an expansion of his usual 60s groove! The tracks here are all somewhat long – suite-type numbers made up from smaller songs wrapped together in new Mancini arrangements that have a really cool feel in this setting! The orchestra is somewhat large, with strings and woodwinds – but in true Mancini fashion, there's also key solos from players who include Pete Candoli and Conrad Gozzo on trumpet, Dick Nash on trombone, Ted Nash on alto sax, and Jimmy Rowles on piano. Titles include "Peter Gunn Meets Mr Lucky", "The Music Of David Rose", "Academy Award Selections", and "A Tribute To Victor Young". Mancini Salutes Sousa is a very weird one – as Henry Mancini pays tribute to the work of John Philip Sousa! As you'd expect from Sousa's marches, most of the work has a parade band military sound – and Mancini, despite his grooviness, hardly breaks format to change the style of the work. The approach has touches of some of Mancini's more military soundtrack work – and the recording quality definitely has a classic Hollywood approach – but overall, it's still Sousa. Titles include "The Gladiator", "Washington Post", "National Fencibles", "The Thunderer", and "Drum Corps". CD set also features the rare bonus track "Man Of The World" – originally only on a 7" single! CD

A pair of early 70s easy listening gems – back to back on an SACD! First up is Tony & Strings – on which the sweet guitar of Tony Mottola mixes with some well-arranged strings – all given the lean presentation of Enoch Light in the 70s, which makes for music that's a great change from the way such sounds would have been handled a decade before! Titles include "It's Going To Take Some Time", "Nature Boy", "The Candy Man", "Song Sung Blue", "Street Of Dreams", "Theme From The Godfather", and the originals "Marcello's Mazurka" and "Bossa La La La". Close To You is a sweet set that's billed as "guitar for lovers", and which has the lean sound of Tony Mottola updated nicely with some Project 3 touches for the 70s! The record's got an unusual mix of tracks – some 70s, some older, and even a Christmas tune too – and Bucky Pizzarelli and Dick Hyman make guest appearances too! Tites include "Wave", "Didn't We", "Close To You", "Moon River/What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life", "Yesterday When I Was Young", "We've Only Just Begun", and "The Christmas Song". CD

A legendary sound library set from the 70s Italian scene – exactly the kind of record that got so many folks digging for sound library funk so many years ago! The record's a masterpiece of funky rhythms, jazzy instrumentation, and warmer touches – served up with plenty of Fender Rhodes in the mix, plus sweet flute lines, wah wah guitar, and just the right use of strings to give the whole thing almost a blacksploitation vibe at times! The set was billed to the team of Jay Richford and Gary Stevan – but it's actually the product of better-known sound library maestros Sandro Brugnolini and Stefano Torossi, who work here at a level that's at the top of their powers. There's almost a cop/crime vibe to the record at times – and although some instruments solo at points, the real groove lies in the tight vamping of the orchestra – which hits all the right notes to really send the whole thing soaring – often with a nice use of tone and color too! Titles include "Flying High", "Fearing Much", "Going Home", "Running Fast", "Walking In The Dark", and "Feeling Tense". (Sound Library, Now Sound) LP, Vinyl record album