#cubop

[music-crush]

Machito

Feliz cumpleaños, Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo aka Machito!

[atomic-raunch]

Mario Bauza, Jose Mangual, Carlos Vidal, and Ubaldo Nieto, part of Machito and his Afro-Cubans at the Glen Island Casino, 1947.

[1001albumsrated]

#12: Machito - Kenya (1958)

Genre(s): Afro-Cuban, Latin Jazz, Cubop

Staying in the Afro-Cuban vein from the last entry in 1001 Albums, this time around we have Kenya, by Machito. As I mentioned in my Palo Congo review, this kind of music is a big blind spot for me. This is the second album on the list that I truly have never seen.

To my light understanding, Machito is a pretty big deal in this scene, and influenced many of the American jazz artists who took on some Latin trappings (there was an era where this sound was extremely trendy: see Miles Davis & Gil Evans' Sketches of Spain for a prime example of it done well).

Kenya, in contrast to Palo Congo, feels much more like jazz in a traditional sense, whereas Palo Congo seemed much closer its Afro-Cuban roots. Aside from the percussion, the rest of Machito's band is a fairly standard jazz orchestra, and plays with many of the American bebop trends and styles of the time in mind. That being said, these guys are anything but a schmaltzy big band. While the band is very tight and clearly well-composed and rehearsed, they pull no punches. When Machito puts the gas pedal down, it goes all the damn way down. The opening track, Wild Jungle, is a great example of the sort of blistering, frenetic energy the band can conjure.

This is an interesting listen, partially on account of how popular these sounds became in filmmaking in particular. These driving congo rhythms have soundtracked many a high speed chase scene over the years. The difference is, this is the *real thing*. There's a sincerity and authenticity here that the Hollywood imitators always seem to lack, a true driving energy behind the music. Add in some lightning fast bebop solos and you're in business. And even when they drop the tempo back for a song or two, there's still a powerful driving force behind the slinky lounge tunes on the disc.

Unfortunately, like Palo Congo, this album is long out of print (a situation that well predates the original 2005 release of 1001 Albums). Also, when doing some digging on the release history, I discovered that everything I'd read about this album to date really buried the lede that Cannonball fucking Adderley is on this thing. That explains the excellent sax solos. I'm surprised he didn't get some kind of callout on the cover. Anyways, I ended up listening in hi-res on Qobuz, and will be keeping an eye out for a copy of the album. Sonically, the recording is kinda rough. I'm not sure if the master that made it to streaming was a later generation tape copy, or if it was just rough to begin with (supposedly the version on Qobuz is a 2000 remaster, so it's fairly likely the original tapes were lost or damaged in the intervening 42 years). In particular, more dynamic moments often sound completely blown out. It's possible this is an artifact from later tape generations, or it's equally possible the engineer thought this would be some laid back Nelson Riddle sort of affair and just had his gains set too high. I'd be curious to hear an original if one ever crosses my path to see if those problems persist on it.

Regardless, sonic warts and all, this album is loads of fun. Again, like Palo Congo, I'm in no place to judge the historical or cultural significance of this one, but aesthetically it's a great listen and well-worth one of our hotly contested 1001 slots. Really pleased to have discovered this album.

Next time: the energy stays high with Little Richard's rock n roll landmark album, Here's Little Richard!

[joebreidenstine]

Had a blast with @cubop_sextet opening up the 20th Annual College Park Jazz Festival this past Saturday! Coming up you can catch #CuBop at @thereillyartscenter Friday November 18th as part of the Reilly Noir Series 😎 7:30pm concert - we hope to see you! @marcobassocontinuo @steve11523 @jfrat_84 @mrhamilton1914 #jazz #jazzmusician #jazzfest #festival #collegeparkjazzfest (at Orlando, Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkqgxHDr6al/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[joebreidenstine]

Playing with #CuBop tonight at @bluebambooartcenter! Always a hang with this band! 8pm :) (at Blue Bamboo Center For The Arts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CXEt0HQPbh9/?utm_medium=tumblr

[cu-bop]

https://www.facebook.com/events/1546459945550415/?ti=ls ↑映画『Cu-Bop』、オンラインでの凱旋上映が決定しました！ 『Cu-Bop』2019年から海外のフェスティバルを巡回上映し、昨年は北米大陸で3つの映画祭にて上映・受賞、コロナ禍の米国でキューバ旋風を巻き起こしました。 日本では昨年予定されていた上映がすべてキャンセルになり、1年半ぶりの凱旋上映となります。 1月23日の19時30分からは、『TOKYO Women's FILM Festival』のみなさんを交えてのオンライントークも行われます。トークのテーマは「キューバの女性たち」ですので、女性陣のご参加をお待ちしております。 「キューバに関して、どうしてもひとこと言いたい！」という女性のみなさま、質疑応答にご参加ください。よろしくお願いします。 #cubop #filmfestival #cuba #キューバ https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ8D_70p6vO/?igshid=1rb5ax2oy2yzr

[cu-bop]

映画祭『Gary International Black Film Festival』が閉幕しました。『BEST VISUAL MUSIC OR DANCE FILM』アワ一ドという価値ある賞をいただき、嬉しかったというよりは、ホっとした心境です。 僕の自主映画として上映開始した『CuBop』に、可能性を見いだしてくれた多くの映画人の皆さんが参加して、世界リリ一スを目標に再製作した『CuBop across the border』。その長かった上映ロ一ドもいよいよ終幕です。あともう1、2回大きな波が来ますのでご期待ください。 2015年に『CuBop』が完成したとき「今後映画を作り続けたとしても、これを越える作品を監督することは無理だな」と感じました。そのくらいの手応えがあった。でも、次回作はこれを越える作品になりました。 僕の次回作、ドキュメンタリ一映画『THE FOOLS』は、音楽に命を賭けた人々の記録です。観た者が一生忘れないような映画にすべく、最後の力を振り絞っています。完成まであと少しお待ちください。 #filmfestival #cubop #cuba https://www.instagram.com/p/CIUScRXJNCX/?igshid=u9ys10n6lxrz

[cu-bop]

米国の映画祭『Gary International Black Film Festival』での「Cu-Bop」の配信上映が無事終了しました。 今年2度目となる北米での配信上映ですが、既に現地から多くの反響をいただいております。 日本制作のインディペンデントのドキュメンタリー映画が、米国で再三にわたり上映してもらえるのは、やはり「外国人監督がアメリカ大陸の多様性を描いた」という希少性からでしょうか。 皮肉な話ですが、トランプ大統領とその支持者のおかげで、拙作が米国で注目されることになったとも解釈できます。あるフェスティバルの主催者からは「トランプ政権下の米国だからこそ、この作品を上映する意味がある」とメッセージをもらいました。 Cu-Bopはまだ米国でひと波乱、ふた波乱ありそうです。 https://garyblackfilmfest.com/calendar/ #garyinternationalblackfilmfestival #cuba #cubop #filmfestivals https://www.instagram.com/p/CH0Qtk9JJ3O/?igshid=uvpfj9dnjg3x