At last.. four hard-to-get Les Baxter LPs from the late 1950s in a decent 2 cd pack. I've been looking for these albums for ages. "South Pacific" is good but I was never all that keen on Rogers & Hammerstein, so as far as I'm concerned, this package really gets swingin' on track 13: "Congo Train", the first cut from the "African Jazz" LP. Some great music on this album. "Safari" will remind you of Ellington's "Caravan". This is not to say that "South Pacific" is bad. It is basically the soundtrack from the movie sans vocals, but with a groovy bongo backdrop and that exotic Baxter touch. Hey...it's fine, but I personally prefer "African Jazz".
Disc 2 is a trip down the Amazon for the first 12 tracks. We start off in Rio with "Brazilia", hit the canoes and start paddling down the river by track 2:"Rain Forest". The rest of the "Jungle Jazz" LP doesn't disappoint although somehow we end up in Haiti for "Voodoo Dreams" and "Isle Of Cuba". The final LP on Disc 2 is "Wild Guitars" and it is NOT a rock album. Aside from the first track, "Sabre Dance", the rest of this side is Latin-American/Cuban influenced. So infectious that it'll have you doing the samba in your sleep. There are some vocals here, most notably on "Tell Me, Margarita" and "Cubana Malata". The problem with these Real Gone Jazz releases is the total lack of track information. We have no idea who the soloists or singers are. All you get in the way of information is a very short biography and a Les Baxter discography.... but when I get four classic albums for seven quid, I'm not gonna complain too loudly. Still, original liner notes would have been fun.
The remastering seems better that some discs in the "Eight Classic Albums" series. The selection of the "4 Classic Albums" is intelligent and may save you, if you are not a dyehard collector, from the pain of hearing less than brilliant "easy listening" stuff. The item came from Germany and arrived as announced. One has to remark the high quality of the different kinds of protective covers that are used in Germany for deliveries abroad.
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