🎷 AotW: CTI Tamba 4 - WE AND THE SEA (SP-3004)
- Thread starter Captain Bacardi
- Start date
All the CTI releases
I get REALLY tired of all the Taylor/Sebesky bashing on this forum . Let me point to one Taylor/Sebesky arranged/Randy Weston project. It was on the CTI label, came out in 1972 and is a masterpiece of brass/big band
arranging and production. And it's not all that commercial, either. They DID take chances at CTI and A & M, you just have to take the time to seek out the really good stuff. The album is called "Blue Moses" and is available on Amazon from Japan. Lets not forget, as I've stated many times before on this forum, that the A&M and CTI things WERE NOT MEANT to be straight ahead jazz dates-- they were basically jazz-flavored pop projects, designed specifically to reach a wider audience. And in that respect they succeeded, for the most part.
arranging and production. And it's not all that commercial, either. They DID take chances at CTI and A & M, you just have to take the time to seek out the really good stuff. The album is called "Blue Moses" and is available on Amazon from Japan. Lets not forget, as I've stated many times before on this forum, that the A&M and CTI things WERE NOT MEANT to be straight ahead jazz dates-- they were basically jazz-flavored pop projects, designed specifically to reach a wider audience. And in that respect they succeeded, for the most part.
JOv2
Well-Known Member
Sorry, man -- hey, if it's any consolation I'll take Taylor/Sebesky in a heartbeat over Dave Grusin's famous orchestral-jackhammer charts that chronically smother the soloist. Anyway, you're correct in that these things were never intended to be passed off as "jazz" LPs... (Of course, Herb knew a "pure jazz" production unit would not turn a profit for A&M...so to get a decent return (desperately needed given the costly packaging) he needed to make it more accessible. Creed had a strong ($$) track record with "pop-jazz" over at Verve anyway with Wes (30min LPs, top-40 covers, 3-min songs, orchestrations, etc.), so he just continued the approach for Herb... Of course, it's one thing to have a Montgomery or Mann LP turn a profit for you, but stuff like that Artie Butler LP could never have been expected to break even against the high production and packaging costs!)big band rickster said:
I look at it like this: as "jazz" LPs they're pretty dismal; as "pop" LPs they're quite good -- in fact, the first four are wonderful!!
Yup. That's the Calling Out Loud LP. Grey Moss resembles the tuneful/lyrical melodies that Joe Zawinul would bring to Miles Davis' In A Silent Way prep and recording sessions. The other piece is Ivan's Holiday -- again, another haunting piece...with Nat using that wacky veritone attachment to get the "electric cornet" sound. (Remember Eddie Harris and Bunk Gardner using this thing? Apparently it was all the rage during '67-'68. Just the thing that probably sold for 5$ back in 1986 -- and now'll cost you like 300-smackers on e-bay!)big bad rickster said:
Do you know if Varitone was the correct name for the attachment? Selmer had their Varitone saxophones, which had a microphone in the neck, and a control box that provided a handful of effects. Eddie Harris and Sonny Stitt were two who used it on recordings; other than that, it never gained a following.
I could see something similar for a cornet--makes me wonder if someone retrofitted a Varitone setup to the cornet in this case.
I could see something similar for a cornet--makes me wonder if someone retrofitted a Varitone setup to the cornet in this case.
seashorepiano
Active Member
The Liner notes for YOU, BABY indicate that Nat used the Varitone. I recall the writer remarking about Nat's "husky tone" or something like that. He probably also used it on CALLING OUT LOUD. FWIW, JJ & K also used Varitones for part of BETWIXT & BETWEEN.
Dave
Well-Known Member
Brasilian jazz in its purest, most simplest form... Free from any strings, brass, or electronic effects, marking the ambition of the day, which would diminish such an unspoiled musical worth...
Not that anything like that could take anything away from these guys... You don't have to be "big, into jazz", to like...!
Dave
Not that anything like that could take anything away from these guys... You don't have to be "big, into jazz", to like...!
Dave
Certainly Creed Taylor's claim-to-fame is not his role in the creation of fusion jazz in the 1970's which begat today's smooth jazz. Rather it can be argued that no person had a greater role in the promotion and popularization of Brazilian music in the 1960's than Creed Taylor. His musical imprint is on all the classic albums he produced in that period for Tom Jobim, Walter Wanderley, Astrud Gilberto, Stan Getz and the Tamba Four. Gene Lees, the writer of English lyrics to Jobim's "Song of the Jet". "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars" and "Double Rainbow" said in his book, Singers and the Song II, "were it not for Creed Taylor, I am convinced, bossa nova and Brazilian music generally would.....become a quaint parochial phenomenon interesting to tourists, instead of the worldwide music and the tremendous influence on jazz itself that it in fact became."
Of critical importance, in 1963 he produced the album "Getz/Gilberto" which was released in 1964 just when interest in Brazilian music had started to ebb away. What this album's huge success would do is give Brazilian music an enormous spark and gravitas that remains with us today. It has been said that the album's signature song "The Girl from Ipanema" is the second most recorded song in history, right after the Beatles "Yesterday".
Of critical importance, in 1963 he produced the album "Getz/Gilberto" which was released in 1964 just when interest in Brazilian music had started to ebb away. What this album's huge success would do is give Brazilian music an enormous spark and gravitas that remains with us today. It has been said that the album's signature song "The Girl from Ipanema" is the second most recorded song in history, right after the Beatles "Yesterday".
A couple of further notes about this album.
"Nós e o Mar" was originally recorded for their 1962 debut album Tamba Trio.
"Moça Flor" comes from their 1963 album Avanço.
The arrangements of "O Morro (Não Tem Vez)" and "Consolaçao" were originally recorded live, on the 1965 album 5 Na Bossa, a concert which also featured Edu Lobo and Nara Leão, although this version features a few more vocal parts. A faster two-minute version of "Consolaçao," in 6/8, was recorded on their 1963 album Tempo. And on the 1968 Philips album named Tamba Trio, both of these song appear again in the same arrangement as the 5 Na Bossa version, albeit a little faster in sections, and in far better sound quality.
A similar moody version of "Canto de Ossanha" is found on their album Tamba from 1966. Interestingly, the bass figure from the introduction of "Tristeza" is the same one used on the intro of "O Morro."
Tamba also has a track named "Iemanjá" but it is not the song found on this A&M/CTI album; the true title of the song is "Canto de Iemanjá," penned by Baden Powell and poet Vinicius de Moraes.
That leaves "Dolphin," which was written for this album.
"Nós e o Mar" was originally recorded for their 1962 debut album Tamba Trio.
"Moça Flor" comes from their 1963 album Avanço.
The arrangements of "O Morro (Não Tem Vez)" and "Consolaçao" were originally recorded live, on the 1965 album 5 Na Bossa, a concert which also featured Edu Lobo and Nara Leão, although this version features a few more vocal parts. A faster two-minute version of "Consolaçao," in 6/8, was recorded on their 1963 album Tempo. And on the 1968 Philips album named Tamba Trio, both of these song appear again in the same arrangement as the 5 Na Bossa version, albeit a little faster in sections, and in far better sound quality.
A similar moody version of "Canto de Ossanha" is found on their album Tamba from 1966. Interestingly, the bass figure from the introduction of "Tristeza" is the same one used on the intro of "O Morro."
Tamba also has a track named "Iemanjá" but it is not the song found on this A&M/CTI album; the true title of the song is "Canto de Iemanjá," penned by Baden Powell and poet Vinicius de Moraes.
That leaves "Dolphin," which was written for this album.
I think it's the "Japanese way" to keep reissuing these on different, allegedly "improved" CD formats every decade or so. 😁 Somewhat related, they also released the Luiz Eça & Cordas album on CD as well. But, none of the other Tamba Trio albums thus far.
Shop around a bit--maybe there will be another online seller who has them less expensive.
Qobuz has all three of the Tamba 4 albums available for download, with We and the Sea at $13.59 USD, and Samba Blim and California Soul at $12.09 USD. Not exactly collectable CDs, but at least they are still available to purchase.
www.qobuz.com
Shop around a bit--maybe there will be another online seller who has them less expensive.
Qobuz has all three of the Tamba 4 albums available for download, with We and the Sea at $13.59 USD, and Samba Blim and California Soul at $12.09 USD. Not exactly collectable CDs, but at least they are still available to purchase.
Tamba 4 Discography - Download Albums in Hi-Res - Qobuz
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