· Collector's Edition
· Issued in Digipack
· 2 Original LPs on 1 CD
· Original Cover Art and Liner Notes
· Stereo Recordings
· Newly Remastered in 24-Bit
For years, the Bobby Montez Quintet was one of the best Latin Jazz groups on the West Coast. A short time after the quintet was formed in 1956, they became the house band of the tiny “M” Club in East Los Angeles.
Their success awoke the interest of such popular L.A. venues as the Crescendo, Melody Room, Interlude, and Latin Quarter, where they eventually made the delight of their Latin jazz audience in the late 50s and early 60s, and spurred the Sunday night dance sessions at the famous Palladium ballroom.
Montez believed that VIVA! MONTEZ —the second album on this compilation— represented “our best interpretations of Mambo and Cha-Cha-Cha to date.” For the leader, his chief aim from the beginning was to find a modern approach to Latin music. In his own words, “this, and the full utilization of vocal sounds combined with the instrumentation, has been and still is of great importance to me and my music.”
Tracklist
Total time: 70:57 min.
01. African Fantasy (Bobby Montez) 4:04
02. Chango (Bobby Montez) 4:05
03. Jungle Sunset (Bobby Montez) 3:58
04. Kon-Tiki (Bobby Montez) 6:55
05. Swinging at the “M” (Bobby Montez) 3:55
06. Speak Low (Weil-Nash) 3:56
07. Carioca (Youmans-Eliscu-Kahn) 3:21
08. Cha Cha Cha por Nueva York (Bobby Montez) 4:56
09. Summertime (Gershwin-Heyward) 5:48
10. My (Bobby Montez) 3:48
11. Holiday in Havana (Bobby Montez) 3:08
12. Garden of Allah (Bobby Montez) 3:44
13. Brazilian (Bobby Montez) 3:37
14. Jungle Stars (Bobby Montez) 4:42
15. Tremendo Cha Cha (Bobby Montez) 3:08
16. But Heaven Knows (Bobby Montez) 3:51
17. Guajira Josephina (Bobby Montez) 3:43
Album details
Sources:
Tracks #1-9, from the album “Jungle Fantastique!” (Jubilee JGM 1085)
Tracks #10-17, from the album “Viva! Montez” (World Pacific / Stereo-1803).
Issued in Australia as “Viva! Percussion!” (Light Music Club SLM-97)
Personnel on "Jungle Fantastique!":
Bobby Montez, vibes & piano; Carlos Ortega Avelar, piano & vibes; Jimmy Baiz, bass; Miguel Gutierrez, timbales; Louis Miranda, conga.
Recorded at Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, 1958
Personnel on "Viva! Montez":
Bobby Montez, vibes & piano; Carlos Ortega Avelar, piano & vibes; Rubén Provencio, bass; Miguel Gutierrez, timbales; Ray Rivera, conga.
Recorded at Pacific Enterprises Inc./Rex Studios, Los Angeles, 1960
Photography: Charles Varon (Jubilee), Woody Woodward (Pacific)
Cover art design: Sy Leichman, F. Gill & Woody Woodward
Liner notes: Mort Goode & Bobby Montez
Original recordings produced by Albert Marx (#1-9) and Richard Bock (#10-17)
Produced for CD release by Jordi Pujol
© 2021 by Blue Moon
Stereo · 24-Bit Digitally Remastered
Blue Moon Producciones Discograficas S.L.
