Tino Contreras y Su Grupo – La Rana Loca (1980)
The group performed eight concerts in front of a full house at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. You can enjoy a perfect view of the historic Palacio on the 9th floor of the Sears department store right across the street. (Apparently Sears is still doing ok in Mexico.)
Staffan Abeleen Quintets – Mr. Minor (Sweet Alva, 1974)
After Noodles appeared on the cover of Bruno Gerussi’s Fuzzy Love LP she rocketed to superstardom and was courted by the likes of Andrea Jürgens and Adèle Taffetas for their album covers. In fact, she was so crazy-in-demand that Staffan Abeleen was on a three-year waitlist before he finally received the joyous news of Noodles’ availability.
Claude Vinh San & Son Orchestre Jazz Tropical – En Dansant Le Séga Piqué
Vatche Yeramian – She’s Mine (Tenor Sax & Violin, 1973)
Ronnie Dunne Quartet – I Hope You’re Satisfied
(Introducing the Versatile Ronnie Dunne Quartet, 1967)
In the autumn of 1965, Ronnie Dunne made desperate phone calls to several of his fellow jazz instrumentalists from England, begging them to fly down to Spain in order to help him fulfill a performance contract he had no recollection of signing. He called Buckie, Dave, and John not only because they owed him money, but also for their excellent musicianship — they had all played with the best jazz musicians in England. Yet upon their arrival in the Canary Islands, Ronnie’s shady management team demanded that they all SING as well as play! Besides the fact that there was nothing in the contract requiring them to vocalize a single syllable for the next 50 years, “none of us had even entertained the idea of singing before” said Ron. Naturally the group was tempted to book the next flight home, but after only a year of practice, their four harmonizing voices and numerous instruments made them stars in the Canaries and Majorca. Then they travelled all over Scandinavia, appearing on countless TV and radio broadcasts, stage shows and cabarets. They even made cameos in 3 films, if you can believe that. Their debut album was a mix of covers, swedish folk songs, and original compositions. The originals (including the song above) are the best of the bunch.
Rosa King – Summertime (1977)
The price of cotton’s jumping and swordfish are high out of their minds… for a few more days anyway.
Meta Roos & Nippe Sylwéns Band – Here We Are Falling In Love Again
Meta Roos and Nippe Sylwéns Band must have been the hippest jazz outfit in all of Sweden back in 1978. And not just because of Meta’s feathered bangs, which were considered cutting-edge fashion at the time. Or because of these highly-covetable headphones:
There’s not a lot of information in English about Meta Roos, unfortunately. All I know is that many years later she would sing the theme song “A World Full Of Life” in the Swedish dubbed version of The Lion King, and provide the voice of the mother weasel in… well, some movie that has a mother weasel.
The mystery is still out on Nippe. Swedish translation sites seem to indicate that either the word nippe or sylwén means “jewelry”, from which we can conclude only one of two things: that his ancestors were the makers of fine quality gemstone necklaces, or his parents were a tad kooky in choosing “Jewelry” as the first name for their baby boy. But we mustn’t worry ourselves over these petty details when there is music to enjoy. For now let’s venture back to 1978 for a cozy evening at the Gyllene Cirkeln jazz club in Stockholm…
Paul Bley Synthesizer Show – Parks (1971)
Sombory Jazz de Fria – Nananina (Musique Sans Paroles, 1976)
I like pretty much everything I’ve heard from Guinea’s state-run Syliphone label, and this laid-back instrumental groove is no exception. Musique Sans Paroles was one of the label’s compilation albums and also featured Momo Wandel, Ballets Africains, and Quintette Guineenne.
Fernando Gelbard – Alevacolariea (Didi, 1974)
Synthesizers and Fender Rhodes were unusual in Buenos Aires in 1974, but Fernando Gelbard chose to forgo his acoustic instruments and become the first Argentinian musician to make a jazz record exclusively on the new electronic instruments.