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Thursday, September 6, 2018

Fire & Frenzy - Valente/Ros

Baiao (Mono)

Fire & Frenzy
Caterina Valente with Edmundo Ros and His Orchestra
London International Series
TW 91253 & STEREO SW 99019
1961

On the cover: New York City artist, Barbara Bert has rendered an exciting cover story for this album: an oil painting whose colors, bold brush strokes and dramatic composition bind together the conception so appropriate to the music contained on this record – fire & frenzy!

From the back cover: When Caterina Valente sat down with London Records' Artist and Repertoire executives to discuss her next LP for the company, the notion was proffered that she make a record with Edmundo Ros; thirteen seconds later the notion had turned into fact, and the fact has become the record of the year.

From Billboard - February 6, 1961: Caterina Valente does a superb job on this set of Latin tunes most of which fall into standard category. Edmundo Ros' fine work does an exceptionally fine job of backing the thrush. Besides standards like "Misirlou," Adios" and "Frenesi" there are not so often heard but equally intriguing tunes like "Estralita Del Sur" and "Felicidade Infeliz." The excellence of the performance and the names involved might make the set a consistent seller.

Misirlou
Estrellita Del Sur
Felicidade Infeliz
Fale Baixinho
Saudades Da Bahia
Canto Karabali (Jungle Drums)
Baiao
Recado
Ba
Contiga En La Distancia
Adios

3 comments:

  1. Love this. Fire & Frenzy! What a great title, and the original artwork of Barbara Bert is spectacular. Thirteen seconds. I wonder if that is a "record." :) FYI: the audio file does not work or is not actually there.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! Might try to play the file again. Could have been a server issue.

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  2. Ah. My bad. My "browser does not support the HTML5 audio element." Oops!

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