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Bongos and Bagels

You are currently browsing the archive for the Bongos and Bagels category.

Drummed up

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Chaino and his African Percussion Safari “Jungle Echoes” on Omega.   (See Chaino Africana post for more)

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (41 votes, average: 4.46 out of 5)
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Chaino fools

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“CHAINO AFRICANA” on Dot Records. “Spellbinding primitive rhythms by Chaino, percussion genious of Africa”. The music here and from other Chaino records is on a CD reissue called “Chaino Africana and Beyond”.

Chaino is one of the elusive figures of space age pop. After growing up in Chicago, Leon Johnson left home and lived a fairly wild life, eventually taking up the bongos and making a name for himself as “Chaino” (taken perhaps from the great Cuban conga player, Chano Pozo?) on the “chitlins” circuit of black nightclubs. In the late 1950s, he went to Hollywood and met producer Kirby Allan, who had recently been inspired by African tribal music during a trip to Kenya. Allan and Johnson went into the famed Gold Star studio in early 1958 to try to create an American-ized version. They eventually succeeded in getting jazz impresario Norman Granz to release some of these cuts on the luridly-titled, Jungle Mating Rhythms. At the same time, they were able to sell tracks to three different small West Coast jazz labels, Score, Tampa, and Omega, and all four albums were released virtually simultaneously. A few months later, Allan signed with the Silent Majority label, Dot (home to Lawrence Welk for a fifth album, Africana. A sixth album, Temptation, was recorded for Omega but was barely out the door before the label went bankrupt.   — Space Age Pop

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (46 votes, average: 4.78 out of 5)
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Afro-Jazz

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Guy Warren of Ghana on British EMI Columbia Records. African-inspired jazz from the cream of 1960s Brit jazz musicians . Guy Warren is joined by Don Rendell , Ian Carr, Trevor Tomkins, Dave Green, Amancio d’Silva and Michael Garrick to produce a memorable and rare meeting of two worlds. Beautiful moments from Rendell on tenor and soprano.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (12 votes, average: 3.42 out of 5)
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Beat poet

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“Mr Percussion” Bobby Christian.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (12 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)
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Five honkies and a donkey

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Fun with photoshop!

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (10 votes, average: 2.80 out of 5)
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Burnin’ up

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The Wild Rhythms of Jack Costanzo (aka “Mr. Bongo) “Latin Fever” Liberty Stereo.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (48 votes, average: 4.77 out of 5)
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Pepsi light

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1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (10 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
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How low can you go?

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“Limbo Party” by “Ivy” Pete and his Limbomaniacs!   This comes from Bradley Loos who’s impressive collection of records is available for all to appreciate on flickr!

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (22 votes, average: 4.23 out of 5)
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Rhythm schtick

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“Off Beat Percussion” Starring Don Lamond and his Orchestra. Command Records. Stereo.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (15 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)
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Cinco de bongo

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1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (6 votes, average: 2.50 out of 5)
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