Teddy Stauffer Und Sein Orchester - Holiday In Acapulco (1964)

Returning briefly to the 'authentic Latin' vs 'ersatz Latin' contrasts of previous weeks, here's an interesting example.  Teddy Stauffer (1909-1991) was a Swiss-born bandleader who enjoyed success in 1930s Germany until the Reichsmusikkammer's crackdown on 'degenerate' swing music.  After unsuccessfully trying to secure a visa in the US, he wound up in Mexico and spent most of the rest of his life based in Acapulco.  So in Stauffer's case, the "Holiday" of this album's title ended up lasting more than four decades.

Holiday In Acapulco was originally released on Telefunken in West Germany, having been recorded in London.  In strictest terms, sure, it's faux-Mexicana - but at least under the direction of an artist who'd rebuilt his life and career "south of the border".  These fourteen beguines, sambas and rumbas all burst into life with the genuine verve of a bandleader immersed in the music of his "spiritual home", with great arrangements underpinned by lively percussion.  As per previous Dutton Vocalion CDs posted here, the remaster is a top-notch job.  Cover art above from CD is a bit washed-out looking (best I could get), so here's a decent-res image of the original LP cover.

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Chaquito - The Great Chaquito Revolution (1970) / Latin Colours (1972) (2010 compilation)

Couldn't resist posting some more 'ersatz Latin' from John Gregory aka Chaqutio, mainly because this twofer reissue from Vocalion just sounds so good.  All the superbly arranged brass and organ, funky percussion & bass guitar and odd vocal effects make for a particularly satisfying pair of top-flight fauxotica LPs from the early 70s.

By this time, as in the wider easy listening industry, the pop and rock hits of the day had started to appear in an effort to maintain wide appeal.  So here we have a stab at Light My Fire, not quite up there with Jose Feliciano's original (kidding, I'm just not a big Doors fan), and a great rendering of Aquarius from Hair.  The Great Chaquito Revolution also includes a couple of trips to the movies, in an ear-bendingly bizarre version of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly and a nicely produced take on The Big Country with its trippy-sounding brass introduction. (anyone else always expect Chris Squire to come thundering in after they hear that theme?)  Latin Colours is a similar mix of classic tunes and more contemporary covers, all superbly arranged and great fun to listen to.

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Previously posted at SGTG: Latin Classics Vol. 1

The Great Chaquito Big Band - Latin Classics Vol. 1 (1990 compilation)

From the late 1950s to mid '70s, a series of budget LPs appeared first on the Fontana label then on Philips, marketed as "the authentic sound of Latin America" and credited to bandleader Chaquito.  What wasn't widely known outside the easy listening industry (and I didn't know this until about 20 years ago, having grown up with this stuff around the house as long as I can remember) was that "Chaquito" was actually the London-born John Gregory (1924-2020), and the players responsible for this "authentic" Latin sound were all British session musicians.

Regardless of lack of authenticity, this music has stuck with me all my life as it's so much fun to listen to, and really well played and arranged.  Picked up this compilation because it included the Chaquito version of Guantanamera, one of my earliest musical memories from a various artists tape.  It's a great arrangement of the tune, really atmospheric in the intro and coda and in the way it builds then falls away again.  Other Latin classics given the "Great Chaquito Big Band" treatment are Brazil, One Note Samba, Desafinado, Frenesi and lots lots more.  All have superb playing and arrangements, with intricate percussion and occasional fun little vocalisations.  More next week.

 

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Esquivel And His Orchestra - Infinity In Sound (1960)

Zippy, zesty fun from Mexican bandleader Juan Garcia Esquivel (1918-2002), at the height of his powers as an ear-bending arranger.  All of Esquivel's sonic delights and little quirks are on display across 11 classic tunes: punchy brass and nifty percussion, slide guitar, "zu zu" vocals, cool little breezes of flute (as on Harlem Nocturne and Autumn Leaves, to name but two favourites) and more.  All of it pristinely rendered in RCA "Living Stereo", "New Orthophonic High Fidelity Recording" and suchlike marketing terms of the era; it's transferred to CD very well.  Esquivel became known as the king of "Space Age Pop" when this stuff came back in vogue in the 90s, but it's just great fun to listen to in any decade.

For fellow aficionados of obscure formats - an RCA Tape Cartridge release; note sides swapped compared to original sequence. (Pic: discogs.)

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Stanley Black - Cuban Moonlight/Tropical Moonlight

Stanley Black (1913-2002), born Solomon Schwartz in Whitechapel, London, has been one of my favourite easy listening bandleaders for the past few years since discovering the likes of 'Exotic Percusssion' on some of the classic easy listening/exotica blogs that have come and gone.

 I found Tropical Moonlight (1957) in a charity shop for about 50p (the early 70s Decca Eclipse reissue above) in 2005, and it's been a firm favourite ever since - just a slick, stripped back percussion ensemble and Stanley on classy, languid piano.  Fourteen tracks, well-chosen repertoire, half an hour of pure escapism.  On this CD that I got hold of last year (picture at top), Tropical Moonlight is preceded by the not-quite-as-good album Cuban Moonlight (1959), but I thought I'd just upload the full twofer CD for completeness.

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