Big Stick / Dateline

構成数 : 1枚
合計収録時間 : 00:00:00
Not easily classified, Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers' mix of jazz, soul, Latin music, and even bits of pop and psychedelia might have caused him and his band to be relatively overlooked, despite the high and at times exhilarating quality of the music. This two-fer brings together a couple of his late-'60s albums, 1968's Big Stick and 1969's Dateline, onto one disc. Big Stick, the only Pucho album done without a horn section, is the more adventurous of the pair, even if its eclecticism sometimes makes it sound a little like it was taken from sessions for albums of different intentions. In part that's due to the presence of the appealingly rough'n'ready singer Jackie Soul on four tracks, pushing the music toward pop-soul on "No One Knows" and "Big Stick" in particular. The use of a clavinet (by Neal Creque, who also contributed organ and wrote about half the material) on "Swamp People" gives it an exotic, entrancing feel, though -- perhaps wanting to assure listeners they weren't getting too far out -- there's also a cover of Bobby Hebb's soul smash "Sunny," as well as a medley of "Yesterday" and "Going Out of My Head." Dateline is far more conventional, entirely instrumental Latin jazz, but certainly satisfying, even if it lacks the highs of Big Stick. "Yambo" is a modern mambo, and "Tell Me," one of several songs written or co-written by Creque, shows how he and the band could bring sentimental soulful pop into their approach without selling out. Although pieces of both of these albums show up on various best-of collections, it's good to finally have them in their entirety on one CD, with capable historical liner notes. ~ Richie Unterberger|