🎵 AotW AOTW: Letta Mbulu - THERE'S MUSIC IN THE AIR (SP-4609)

[Captain Bacardi]

Letta Mbulu
THERE'S MUSIC IN THE AIR
A&M SP-4609

Released 1976

Format: Vinyl/8-Track/Cassette/CD (Japan)

Produced by Herb Alpert
Associate Producer: Caiphus Semenya

Songs:

• 1. Music Man (Caiphus Semenya) - 3:37
  2. Tristêza (Reunião De Tristêza) (Sivuca/Severino De Oliveira) - 3:53
  3. Let's Go Dancing/You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling (Joan Armatrading/Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil/Phil Spector) - 7:07
  4. Sacred Drum (Caiphus Semenya) - 3:34
  5. Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady (Harriet Schock) - 3:32
  6. Mara A Pula (Clouds Of Rain) (Caiphus Semenya) - 3:41
  7. Feelings (Morris Albert) - 2:37
  8. Rainy Day Music (Caiphus Semenya/Will Jennings) - 2:27
  9. There's Music In The Air (Caiphus Semenya/Will Jennings) - 6:53
  
  Arrangers: Caiphus Semenya/Letta Mbulu/Herb Alpert
  Orchestrations: Johnny Mandel/Donald Cooke/Caiphus Semenya

Musicians:
Letta Mbulu - Vocals
Richard Tee - Keyboards
Joe Sample - Keyboards
Chuck Rainey - Bass
"Spider" Webb - Drums
Jim Gordon - Drums
Freddie Harris - Guitar
Lee Ritenour - Guitar
Erroll (The Crusher) Bennett - Percussion
Louis Johnson - Bass (1, 8 )
James Gadson - Drums (1, 8 )
Bernard Purdie - Drums (1, 8 )
Herb Alpert - Flugelhorn Solo (7)
Caiphus Semenya - Vocals (2, 3, 7, 8 )
Singers: Sharon Routt, Oren Waters, James Gilstrap, Alexander Brown, Denise Trammel
Woodwinds: William Perkins, Jerome Richardson, Bernard Fleischer, Jack Nimitz, Ernest Watts, Herman Riley
Horns: Bob Edmondson, George Bohanon, Dick Hyde, Charles Loper, Marion "Buddy" Childers, Gene Goe, Warren Luening, Bobby Shew, Benjamin Powell, Sidney Muldrow, Robert Bryant, Reunald Jones, JohnAudino
Strings: Wilbert Nuttycombe, Gordon Marron, Marvin Limonick, Bobby Bruce, Mari Tsumura, Marilyn Baker, Shari Zippert, Jay Rosen, Jerome Reisler, Dan Neufeld, Samuel Boghossian, Anne Goodman, Raphael Kramer

Recorded at A&M Studio "B", Hollywood, California
Engineered by Steve Mitchell
Assistant Engineer: John Beverly Jones
Re-Mix Engineers: Steve Mitchell, Herb Alpert, Caiphus Semenya
Mastering Engineer: Bernie Grundman

Parts of "Sacred Drum" and "Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady" are sung in Letta's native languages - Xhosa and Sepedi. "Tristêza" is sung in Portuguese.

Art Direction: Roland Young
Album Design: Chuck Beeson
Illustrations: Joe Garnett

Special thanks to Freddie Harris for his feel, smile and righteousness. Thanks to John Barnes for the Bridge Modulation in "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling".

"She's a root lady, projecting a sophistication and warmth which stirs hope for attaining pure love, beauty and unity in the world. Letta's music is simply too beautiful to miss." - Quincy Jones




Capt. Bacardi

 

[seashorepiano]

Re-Mix Engineers: Steve Mitchell, Herb Alpert, Caiphus Semenya

Caiphus Semenya penned the song "My Son," which appears on Nat Adderley's You, Baby.

 

[Dave]

Fairly tepid Alpert Production in a fairly good Quasi-Afro Pop/Soul Music Setting...!



Dave

 

[Mr Bill]

This is one album I can listen to over and over again. Not a bad tune on the disc (though "Feelings" is the only cut that I would even consider calling "tepid" and I would have to be in a foul mood to even do that). Also, Caiphus Semenya is Letta's husband (and co-producer/arranger of the Alpert/Masekela efforts)...

I'm still looking for a CD of it over here in Japan where it got a CD release. Fortunately I received a CD-R from a corner friend to hold me until such time as I find the gen-U-Wine Disc...

--Mr Bill

 

[Captain Bacardi]

This is a favorite of mine as well. I actually bought this after reading a glowing review of it in a men's magazine. Letta Mbulu has a very distinctive voice, and these songs are a great match for her. The opening tune "Music Man" isn't a favorite of mine at all, but the rest of the album is great. I love the feel of "Tristêza", very erotic sounding. My favorite song is the joyous "Rainy Day Music" (how can anyone not like this song?), followed by "Mara A Pula" and "Sacred Drum". The title tune is another sensual song and a perfect ending for this album. I especially love the way they start to fade the song out only for it to fade back in. Very nice album. 4 stars.



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Harry]

Courtesy of another Cornerite, I have a copy of this CD, but never had spent the time to listen to it. I brought it with me today and gave it a spin in the office; it's really quite good overall.

Oh, and Captain - I think it's "Sacred Drum" - since I can't imagine what it's "scared" of.

Harry

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Oh, and Captain - I think it's "Sacred Drum" - since I can't imagine what it's "scared" of.

Ahhh, you finally nailed me on one!



Capt. Bacardi
...now hitting the 'edit' button online...

 

[Dave]

OK, here's my Old Review of this album, back when we held it as our Jazz AOTW, the first time around:

One of Herb's own "Personal-Discovery Artists", Letta is a very rarefind... Almost as rootsy as Miriam Makemba and Ms. Mbulu's singing parts of "Sacred Drum" and "Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady" in her native languages give those songs a very interesting bent, as does her version of "Tristeza (Reuniao De Tristeza)", as well as the handful of musicians, including Mr. Herb Alpert's Flügelhorn (as opposed to trumpet) solo, on Morris Albert's often-covered "Feelings"! (And sometimes seeing "Albert's" album filed with "Alpert's" albums--perhaps as a result...)


Dave

--So a quick and not-quite-so-fair re-listen to it this, years later, are enough that I have "mixed-feelings", hence this album being both "fairly good" and "tepid", really just depending on my mood and revising yet, another Artist I rarely get to hear, just on account of Letta Mbulu and her brand of EZ Listening/Jazz/(R&B?) still being out of the scope of and a far cry from other Female Singers, whom I more major-ly most-often listen to and enjoy... --Really don't remember what I gave it, (Ratings, in Number of Stars) that time, either...



Dave

 

[Mr Bill]

Mbulu is certainly not an "Alpert Personal discovery" as she and husband Semanya were part of Miriam Mikeba's band and road show since at least the 1960s...

If anything, the work with Semenya on this album led the Herb & Hugh collaborations, probably one of the first such intercontinental music collaborations between an American hit maker and an African hit maker. And the Herb & Hugh LPs notably pre-date the acclaimed Paul Simon/Ladysmith Black Mambazo collaboration by nearly a decade. If anything, Herb was a trend setter...

Unlike the good Cap'n, I enjoy "Music Man," but "Rainy Day Music" should've been a hit single. One can only wonder if it failed to get airplay because DJs weren't sure how to pronounce "Mbulu."

--Mr Bill

 

[Captain Bacardi]

One can only wonder if it failed to get airplay because DJs weren't sure how to pronounce "Mbulu."

Which, of course, is pronounced 'oom-BOO-loo'.

Letta had an earlier acclaimed album called Naturally that many critics cite as her best work.



Capt. Bacardi