David Amram – Havana / New York
Flying Fish – FF 057 | Latin jazz
The product of a cultural exchange between musicians in two different nexus cities for musical innovation, this is a solid listen featuring members of the pioneering Cuban group Irakere (on Side Two only) and New York salsa band Típica ’73 (on Side One only) along with Pepper Adams, Eddie Gomez, Candido, Ray Mantilla and others.
The rather lengthy liner notes by Downbeat writer Arnaldo Jay Smith contain some dubious claims – “the first time Cuban and American musicians had played together in 17 years” is an absurd claim, unless the author intended that to mean on Cuban soil, which would be an important omission.* Nevertheless the notes confirm what the ear hears: Side Two is a live recording recorded in Havana, and of spotty audio quality, but musically it smokes. Side One was recorded in New York City after David Amram and his ensemble had returned from their trip, feeling inspired. I’ve never had any formal music training, so perhaps a trained musician can explain to me why the bass sounds so out of tune on the first two tracks. There is some complex harmony going on, and Amram was an established pro whose credits included Lionel Hampton, Oscar Pettiford, and Mingus, along with a bit of film scoring. So surely it’s my untrained ear, right?
*There is another claim I’m unsure about in the liner notes, possibly tinged with a bit of gallows humor but more likely motivated by imperial amnesiac whitewashing. The author claims this is the first time Americans had “visited” Cuba since 1961. I’m not sure I would describe the failed Bay of Pigs invasion as a “visit”… But putting that aside, scientific and cultural visas for research have been a thing for a long time, although they may not have begun until the 1980s or 90s. I feel like I once knew this detail of cultural history but I’m too exhausted / lazy to look it up right now. So, he might be correct about there not being any official non-military, non-clandestine Americans in the interval.
David Amram – Havana/New York
Label/Cat#: Flying Fish – FF-057, A Fine Catch – FC 27057
Country: US
Year: 1978
Genre: Jazz
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue
Tracklist
A1 – Havana/New York
A2 – Para Los Papines
A3 – Broadway Reunion (Recorded Live At Broadway And 44th Streets NYC)
B1 – En Memoria De Chano Pozo
More information: https://www.discogs.com/release/14517069-David-Amram-HavanaNew-York
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Flying Fish Records, Inc.
Copyright © – Flying Fish Records, Inc.
Recorded At – Variety Recording Studio
Mixed At – Variety Recording Studio
Published By – New Chamber Music, Inc.
Published By – C.F. Peters, Inc
Acoustic Bass – John Ore (tracks: B1)
Alto Saxophone – Jerry Dodgion (tracks: A1 to A3), Paquito D’Rivera (tracks: B1)
Arranged By – David Amram (tracks: A1 to A3)
Baritone Saxophone – George Barrow (tracks: A1 to A3), Pepper Adams (tracks: A1 to A3)
Bass – Eddie Gomez (tracks: A1 to A3)
Bongos – Johnny Rodriguez, Jr* (tracks: A1 to A3)
Bongos, Percussion [Tumbeau] – Johnny Rodriguez, Jr.* (tracks: A1 to A3)
Classical Guitar [Spanish Guitar], Piano, Flute [Wooden], Tin Whistle [Penny Whistle], French Horn, Percussion, Xylophone [Pentatonic] – David Amram
Claves – David Amram (tracks: B1)
Composed By, Producer – David Amram
Congas – Candido (tracks: A1 to A3), Candido (tracks: A1 to A3), Oscar Valdés (tracks: B1)
Congas, Percussion – Los Papines, Ray Mantilla
Design – Bob McCamant
Drums – Billy Hart (tracks: B1)
Electric Violin [Electric 5 String Violin], Percussion – Alfredo De La Fé (tracks: A1 to A3)
Executive-Producer – Glenda Roy
Liner Notes – Arnold Jay Smith
Photography By [Back Cover] – Arnold Smith*
Photography By [Front Cover] – Marco Glaviano
Recorded By – Andy Gonzales* (tracks: A3), Luther Greene (tracks: B1)
Recorded By, Mixed By – Joe Cyr (tracks: A1 to A2)
Tenor Saxophone – Billy Mitchell (tracks: A1 to A3)
Timbales, Percussion – Nicky Marrero (tracks: A1 to A3)
Triangle, Bells, Wood Block – Ray Mantilla (tracks: B1)
Trumpet – Arturo Sandoval (tracks: B1)
Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Thad Jones (tracks: A1 to A3)
Vocals – Bonnie Koloc (tracks: A1 to A3), Illana Morillo* (tracks: A1 to A3), Patti Smyth* (tracks: A1 to A3), Rahni Kugel (tracks: A1 to A3)
LINEAGE:
LINEAGE: Flying Fish FF-057 vinyl; Pro-Ject RM-5SE with Audio Tecnica Signet TK7E cartridge; Speedbox power supply; Pro-Ject Tube Box S2 preamp; Audioquest Black Mamba and Pangea Premier interconnect cables; RME Babyface Pro interface ; Adobe Audition at 32-bit float 192khz; Click Repair on light settings with output monitored in real time; further clicks and pops removed manually with Adobe Audition 3.0; dithered and resampled using iZotope RX Advanced. Converted to FLAC in either Trader’s Little Helper or dBPoweramp. Tags done with Foobar 2000 and Tag and Rename, Replay Gain tags added in Foobar2000.
16/44.1 FLAC
24/96 | 24/192
p/w: vibes
