🎵 AotW AOTW: Alpert & Masekela - MAIN EVENT - LIVE! (SP-4727)

[Captain Bacardi]

Herb Alpert & Hugh Masekela
MAIN EVENT - LIVE!
A&M SP-4727

Released 1978
Peaked at #31 on the Jazz Album chart (1978)

Format: Vinyl/8-Track/Cassette

Produced by Herb Alpert, Hugh Masekela and Mosa Jonas Gwangwa
Associate Producer: Don Hahn

Songs:

• 1. Foreign Natives (Mosa Jonas Gwangwa) - 9:15
  2. People Make The World Go 'Round (Thom Bell/Linda Creed) - 5:35
  3. Besame Mucho (Consuelo Velazquez) - 4:14
  4. I'm Comin' Home (Herb Alpert) - 5:22
  5. She-Been (Mosa Jonas Gwangwa) - 3:30
  6. Kalahari Nights (Mosa Jonas Gwangwa) - 6:24
  7. Shame The Devil (Mosa Jonas Gwangwa) - 6:58
  8. Mama Way (Henry Sithole) - 5:50

Musicians:
Herb Alpert - Trumpet
Hugh Masekela - Flugelhorn, Vocals (8 )
Mosa Jonas Gwangwa - Trombone, Vocals (8 )
Larry Willis - Piano, Synthesizer & Electric Piano
Arthur Adams - Guitar
Jeff Sigman - Guitar, Acoustic Guitar (8 )
Manolo Badrena - Percussion, Snare Drum (3)
David Williams - Upright and Electric Bass
Buddy Williams - Drums
Tommy Tedesco - Acoustic Guitar (3)
Michael Boddicker - Synthesizer Programming (3, 5, 6)
Caiphus Semenya - Vocals (8 )
String Quartet (3, 4, 8 ) - Charles Veal, Jr., Kenneth Yerke, Denyse Buffum and Ray J. Kelly
Orchestrated by Michel Colombier

Recorded Live at The Roxy and A&M's Sound Stage
The Remote Truck was provided by The Record Plant
Engineered by Don Hahn and Derek Dunann
Mastered by Bernie Grundman at A&M Recording Studios, Hollywood

Art Direction: Roland Young
Design: Grafis
Photography: Bonnie Schiffman
Inner Sleeve Photography: Jim McCrary
A Special Thanks to Stewart Levine and Caiphus Semenya



Capt. Bacardi

 

[rickster]

This a good album, and it should be out on CD . it is MUCH better than the studio album they did ---- I don't know how "She-Been" was NOT a hit single. What a GREAT hook !!!!!! And the crack studio session band helps so much. One of the best things Herb has done. The live sound is terrific, thanks to genius engineer Don Hahn.

 

[Dave]

Satisfies the need for wanting to hear Herb Live and a 2nd LP with Hugh Masakela is the way to do it...

Hard to pick a favorite as they are all done very good and despite the over-dubs done down at the A&M Soundstage, the setting for all the footage of this concert is done very seamlessly well...



Dave

 

[martin]

According to Hugh Masekela the album was a total failure due to the lack of a producer. He tells of his work with Herb in his very interesting autobiography "Still Grazing". He takes full responsibility for the duos lack of success and says it has mostly to do with his own lifestyle and his extended use of drugs and alcohol at the time.

- greetings from the warm north -

Martin

 

[toeknee4bz]

As this was the first LP that I ever bought, I was, at 13, a typical teenager. You know... Indulgence Extraordinaire. I remember playing this record all night long! Not just because I got it for a song @ $2.99, I just couldn't escape the mindset that this record was severely different from my mom's old TJB albums. I had never heard the debut Alpert/Masekela project. Sassy, vibrant, intense, and plain downright crazy, I knew that this album was speaking the following words: "This is not your mother's Herb Alpert record."

Clocking in @ 9:15, "Foreign Natives" is the longest-running track on any Herb Alpert record. Largely due to the minute-plus drum solo by Manolo Badrena and the trombone breakdown by Mosa Jonas Gwangwa, this opened the door to the album with an in-mistakable reality: "This is not your mother's Herb Alpert record."

My favorite tracks, however, would have to be "Besame Mucho" and "Kalahari Nights". "I'm Comin' Home" is also a showcase of Herb's songwriting talent, and is a compositional fave as well. A truly remarkable composition which never gets the recognition it deserves IMHO.

There are no "duds" on this album, but if I had to pick one to leave off (due to space, etc.), it would have to be the lengthy, repetitive "Mama Way". While it has its charm, 5:50 of the same lyric could have been embellished a little more with the horn ad-lib coming in sooner, or perhaps sharing more prominent solos with Tommy Tedesco. All in all, though, it's still a "listenable" track.

This album is one of those "like it or hate it" releases, and I loved it. Even if it's not my mother's Herb Alpert record, my whole family will attest to the fact that this album started the ball rolling for me buying everything I could get my hands on, new or used, by Herb Alpert.


Shaming the devil,
Tony

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I remember how excited I was to see this LP in the record store. Herb Alpert live at last! I was a huge fan of the first Herb/Hugh album, and with the added bonus of a trombone soloist it should be better. I wasn't too disappointed. "Foreign Natives" is a hot jam, with the high-flying horns spinning off of each other, as well as a pretty cool percussion/drum feature. Easily the best song of the album. "People Make The World..." is very hip and I loved the excitement towards the end when the horns did the "hook". "Besame" has a great groove to it, although the horn solos died down for awhile in the middle of the tune. Mosa Jonas Gwangwa's trombone work is a highlight throughout the rest of the album (incidentally, Gwangwa is Masekela's cousin). I really liked "Shame The Devil", even though there were some botched notes. "Mama Way" is a perfect closer and gives Herb some blowing room. Love the rhythm of this tune. This is a fun album, although not quite as good as their first. 3 & 1/2 stars.





Capt. Bacardi

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I need to pull this out and listen to it again. I really like "Foreign Natives." In fact I opened my home-made Herb "solo" compilation with it. I think I liked the MAGIC MAN version of "Besame Mucho" better but I need to give this one another chance...haven't heard this in a lo-o-o-o-ng time.

I remain convinced that there are more tracks in the vault from these shows that would make a nice lengthy CD release!

 

[Captain Bacardi]

A photo from the tour in 1978 from Masekela's book "Still Grazin'":

Capt. Bacardi

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I remain convinced that there are more tracks in the vault from these shows that would make a nice lengthy CD release!

Mr. Bill has mentioned in the past that he saw the Roxy show and they played "Skokiaan", "Lobo" and "Grazin' In The Grass" along with the other tunes mentioned in this album. Too bad there's not a concert video of these performances as well.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[David S]

I've actually always liked the Besame Mucho version on this recording. Better than this, though, is the introduction to the music of Jonas Gwanga and Caiphus Semenya, which Masekela has very well covered over the years. See especially his recording of "Ziph'inkomo". Simply beautiful.