JazzWax

Early Salsa: The Story of Ghetto Records

If you plan on discussing the origins of salsa, you'd better make a large pot of Café Rico coffee. You're going to be arguing late into the night. There are multiple definitions of the music as well as a raging debate over its roots, starting point and how it evolved. To me, as a former resident of Washington Heights, the definition is rather simple: salsa began at the dawn of the 1970s and followed the boogaloo as a popular style in New York's Latin communities.

The boogaloo was a funky Latin-soul form that originated in the early 1960s by black and Puerto Rican musicians. At clubs, the music encouraged a freestyle dance form, much in the way discotheque go-go dancing surfaced around the same time in response to big-beat pop music. Dance partners did their own thing across from each other and never touched. Salsa, by contrast, restored touch dancing as couples sought a more intimate form on the dance floor.

Most notable about salsa is the distinct lead vocal approach known as son montuno, a conversational shout style, and the unison horn arrangements, which have a certain bravado and are crafted to mirror background singers. It should be noted that salsa had a profound influence on the rise of disco's touch-dancing in the early 1970s, as soul dance beats merged with the sleek heat of Latin dance music. This fusion gave rise to several disco dances, including the hustle, an early incarnation of Salsoul Records and a range of cross-over artists, including Yambu and Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. That's the short story.

Now, Vinyl Me Please and Now-Again Records have released The Story of Ghetto Records, a blockbuster box of seven early salsa albums on Ghetto Records, a label formed by Joe Bataan and George Febo in 1970. The seven albums are Joe Acosta's ‎The Power Of Love, La Fantastica's ‎From Ear To Ear, Paul Ortiz Y La Orquesta Son's Los Que Son, Candido Y Su Movimiento's ‎Palos De Fuego, Eddie Lebron'sGhetto Records Presents...Eddie Lebron, Papo Felix and Ray Rodriguez's Papo Felix Meets Ray Rodriguez and Joe Bataan's previously unreleased Drug Story.

If you want to hear the real deal, these seven albums provide a smashing early salsa survey. It's the sound you would have heard live at Latin clubs in New York in the early 1970s. The flavor on these albums is so rich and pure, you can't still. One track after the next engages and captivates with a brash, brassy and bossy sound. I've been listening to the box for days in a state of joy. Caliente!

JazzWax: You'll find the limited edition The Story of Ghetto Records (VMP/NAR) on vinyl here for $319.

Lacquers for all titles (except Drug Story) were cut by Bernie Grundman at Bernie Grundman Mastering. All seven titles are pressed on exclusive 180g black vinyl.

Hopefully these individual albums will be digitized soon.

JazzWax tracks: The following tracks aren't from the new vinyl albums but they are in the box and will give you a taste of what you're getting:

Here's Joe Acosta's I Need Her...

Here's La Fantastica's Borinquen...

Here's Paul Ortiz Y La Orquesta Son's Son Los Que Son...

Here's Candido Y Su Movimiento's El Lobo...

Here's Eddie LeBron's Fui Sincero...

Here's Joe Bataan's Drug Story...

Drug Story

And here's Papo Felix Meets Ray Rodriguez's Work Out (Part 1)...

John Stein: 'Lifeline'

It's rare when a two-album set is released celebrating the career of a living jazz artist. It's even rarer that the double album should now be No. 4 on JazzWeek's jazz album chart. That's exactly what has happened with John Stein's Lifeline (Whaling City Sound). Both accomplishments are a testament to John's straight-up swing and eclecticism over the years and his passion for for tasty jazz chords and Brazilian rhythms. [Photo above of John Stein by Frank Herzberg]

Released in June, Lifeline features 26 tracks spanning 23 years and 15 albums, 13 of which have been issued by Whaling City Sound. John began playing the guitar at age 7 and jazz at age 13. Born in Kansas City, Mo., John started out in the late 1960s as a rocker. But at age 30, he attended the Berklee College of Music and taught at the esteemed Boston music school after he graduated. While in Boston, John hopped over to Cambridge and completed a masters degree in education from Harvard and somehow found time to learn to play the upright bass.

John has worked with artists such as Bill Pierce, John LaPorta, David "Fathead" Newman, Larry Goldings, Frank Herzberg and Bob Freedman and he has gigged with Fathead, Lou Donaldson, Lonnie Smith, Idris Muhammad and many others. Deeply influenced at a young age by the album Getz/Gilberto, John also has a passion for Brazilian rhythms, which pepper Lifeline. And Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall are musical heroes and inspirations.

What's special about John's playing is his soulful attack on standards ranging from Moonlight in Vermont and Nica's Dream to On Green Dolphin Street and The Night Has a Thousand Eyes. The same is true for the set's originals, including Up and At 'Em, Brazilian Hug and Four Corners. 

John's new double album is a true lifeline—to give him time to recuperate. Like Pat Martino, Mike Stern and other guitar greats who suffered major health setbacks and had to rebuild their chops, John was up against the wall recently. As he writes in Lifeline's album notes:

Nearly a year ago, I began having strange symptoms with my eyesight. Unfortunately, those were initially misdiagnosed. By the time additional physical issues developed and increased suddenly, I found myself in a full medical crisis. I had somehow contracted a rare autoimmune disease, Myasthenia Gravis, which affects the nervous system and doesn’t allow various muscles to work properly; it corrupts the connection between the nerves and the muscles.

My own body’s immune system, purposed to protect me from outside dangers, was attacking itself. My illness made it impossible to breathe on my own. I couldn’t walk and my eyesight was much-diminished by double vision. My throat muscles were deeply affected by the disease. I was not able to swallow, so I could not eat or drink normally and my speech was severely limited.

In an earlier era, I would have perished. Due to modern medical knowledge, technical advancements, treatments and excellent care, I am still here and grateful to be alive. It has been a long haul: two months living in a hospital, two of those weeks on a ventilator in the ICU, and much rehab ahead. I lost forty pounds while lying on a hospital bed though I was not overweight prior.

Now I have to regain my strength and I have to learn to breathe, swallow, and speak again, after being ventilated. I am finally home from the hospital and doing a variety of therapies. Playing guitar again is one of them. I was thrilled to see and touch my precious guitars, but instantly discovered I needed to build my strength and coordination back. I have found playing to be a surprising and fascinating experience.

All JazzWax readers wish John a steady and speedy recovery, and we're grateful that Whaling City Sound released this double album to give John time to bounce back and allow us to re-listen to John's past output. For those unfamiliar with John's playing, you now have a chance to discover a gorgeous guitarist. [Photo above of John Stein by Ken Rabiroff]

A special thanks to bassist Frank Herzberg.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find John Stein's Lifeline (Whaling City Sound) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Brazilian Hug...

And here's On Green Dolphin Street...

Bonus: Here's John on guitar with Teco Cardoso on sax and flute, Daniel Grajew on piano, Frank Herzberg on bass and Zé Eduardo Nazário on drums playing Joe Henderson's The Kicker from John's Watershed album...

And here's John playing Henry Mancini's Dreamsville last year, on his way to a miraculous recovery...

Heidi, Sonny and Johnny

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed supermodel, actress and Making the Cut co-host Heidi Klum for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). She talked about growing up in Germany, her parents' influence and how she wound up entering a modeling contest and beating out 24,999 other contestants. Heidi was an upbeat blast to interview, like a shaken-up, uncorked bottle of champagne. A ton of fun. [Above, Heidi Klum and daughter Leni on the cover of German Vogue in 2021]

Here's hilarious Heidi back in 2009 on a CBS TV show they should bring back—I Get That a Lot...

And here's Heidi on Ellen...

Bill Evans and Gary Burton. On July 6, 1973, the Bill Evans Trio, featuring Evans, bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morell with vibraphonist Gary Burton performed at Radio City Music Hall. The concert was broadcast on Voice of America and captured on tape. Here's the gig...

Gilles D'Elia, my photographer friend in Paris, has been busy with his camera. I last posted about Gilles here. As you can see above, Gilles is an extraordinary artist with an exceptional eye. If you love the image above as much as I do, you can visit Gilles's site, where he keeps a daily photo journal here.

Johnny Hodges. Here's Johnny Hodges soloing in concert with Duke Ellington in the early 1960s on All of Me...

David Allyn. After my post last weekend on David Allyn performing in New York in 1992, I heard from saxophonist and clarinetist Frank Griffith in the U.K.:

Marc, thanks so much for sharing the David Allyn 1992 clip, and Paul Cammarata, of course for providing it. The saxes in the clip are, from left, Loren Schoenberg, Jon Gordon, Jerry Dodgion, me and Mark Lopeman. David was 73 then and still in good form. I did three arrangements for the band: "These Foolish Things," "Up the Lazy River" and "Memphis In June." Keep up the good work!

Sonny and Bud. Here's take No. 2 of Fine and Dandy featuring tenor saxophonist Sonny Stitt and pianist Bud Powell, with Curly Russell on bass and Max Roach on drums in Januray 1950 [photo above of Sonny Stitt courtesy of Henri Selmer/Paris]

And here's All God's Chillun' Got Rhythm in December 1949...

Your old LPs. Not a week goes by without readers asking me what they can do to sell vinyl collections. Sometimes these emails are from people like me who are de-cluttering their spaces. Or they are executors of estates tasked with cleaning out a house. Or they are simply people trying to raise some cash.

Here's the answer. Reach out to Jim Eigo. Jim runs Original Vinyl Records in Warwick, N.Y. He's constantly in the market for vinyl albums in VG and better condition. He's looking for baby-boomer rock, punk, garage and small indie as well as reggae, blues and jazz.

To reach Jim, email him at originalvinylrecords@gmail.com. Or call him at (917) 755-8960. You may need to provide a list of what you're selling or a list of titles and conditions.

Waltel Branco. Following my Backgrounder post on arranger and guitarist Waltel Branco and his Henry Mancini tribute album, I heard from Carl Woideck:

Marc, until recently, I primarily associated Waltel Branco with an album that you know: "Mancini Tambiém é Samba." I realized that he was both a guitarist and an arranger, but I wasn’t aware of his work for TV. Check out this compilation, "Tema De Abertura" here (scroll down). The whole album is also on YouTube here...

Henry Mancini wrote some really great music for some really great films. But he also wrote music for some lousy films. One of the latter variety rarely comes up in conversation about Mancini because the movie is so awful: Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962),. Not so the main theme. Here it is...

Joe Alterman, the superb soul-jazz pianist and a favorite of JazzWax readers, and Stephanie Friedman are engaged. Joe popped the question on August 7 in Georgia (above). From all of us at JazzWax, congratulations! Unfamiliar with the chemistry between these two? Here ya go...

And finally, dig bassist Harvie S and pianist Kenny Barron at the Wilton Public Library in Wilton, Ct., on January 4, 2012. A special thanks to Nick Carter for videotaping here...

Like what you hear? Harvie and Kenny recorded two duo CDs together—Now Was the Time here and Witchcraft here, both on Savant.