Toccatina Afro-Cuban Rhumba
Ralph Font And His Orchestra
Cover: Three Lions Photograph by George Pickow
Westminster WP 6118
1959
Westminster WP 6118
1959
From the back cover: THE MUSIC – When Irving Berlin wrote Everybody's Doin' It back in 1911, what everybody was doin' was the rag. Probably all that some enterprising young adapter needs to do today to get a million-copy seller is to record Every- body's Doin' It Cha-Cha-Cha, because everybody – or almost everybody – is.
Some years ago when songwriters began foraging through the world's great musical masterpieces in a hunt for more and more themes to turn into Tin Pan Alley songs, the reaction of the purists was that Tchaikovsky, Chopin and all of the others thus marauded were turning over in their graves. If that was true then, you can be sure that today they are flipping.
And flip is what you'll do, too, though not in quite the same way, when you hear Ralph Font and his orchestra take on Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin, Mozart, Brahms, Schubert and the other distinguished gentlemen whose compositions are recorded in this hi-fi album. How Mr. Font came to ignore Johann Sebastian Bach is a mystery, because the possibilities there for incongruity seem endless. Consider, if only for a moment, The Well-Tempered Clavier Cha-Cha-Cha!
You'll notice that some of the longhairs in this album have not been turned into cha-chas but, rather, into beguines, mambos, rhumbas and merengues. Your first thought might be – aha!, now here's a melody that absolutely refused to conform to the unique and ubiquitous cha-cha, but don't be too sure. Chances are that anybody who can twist the Minuet in G into the Cha-Cha in G threw in a few other rhythms here and there simply for the sake of variety.
This is not Music To Entertain Your Grandmother By, but when the dear old lady has turned off her hearing aid and toddled off to bed, why not put the album on and prepare to have a high old time yourself. – FRANCES RICKETT
THE ARTIST – According to Walter Winchell, RALPH FONT has "one of the best Latin outfits in town," and Variety calls the Font Orchestra "a smooth dance combo that is always easy to follow." Thousands have danced to the music of Ralph Font in many of the best night spots from New York to Florida (currently the Chateau Madrid in Neu York) and millions more have heard the orchestra on Font's own Fiesta Americana show on the Dumont TV network or as a frequent guest on Ed Sullivan's show. One and all they agree that Ralph Font and his boys are the best there is with Latin-American rhythms, and that the Font beat makes even the least – Latin gringo feel that he is south of the border.
Some years ago when songwriters began foraging through the world's great musical masterpieces in a hunt for more and more themes to turn into Tin Pan Alley songs, the reaction of the purists was that Tchaikovsky, Chopin and all of the others thus marauded were turning over in their graves. If that was true then, you can be sure that today they are flipping.
And flip is what you'll do, too, though not in quite the same way, when you hear Ralph Font and his orchestra take on Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin, Mozart, Brahms, Schubert and the other distinguished gentlemen whose compositions are recorded in this hi-fi album. How Mr. Font came to ignore Johann Sebastian Bach is a mystery, because the possibilities there for incongruity seem endless. Consider, if only for a moment, The Well-Tempered Clavier Cha-Cha-Cha!
You'll notice that some of the longhairs in this album have not been turned into cha-chas but, rather, into beguines, mambos, rhumbas and merengues. Your first thought might be – aha!, now here's a melody that absolutely refused to conform to the unique and ubiquitous cha-cha, but don't be too sure. Chances are that anybody who can twist the Minuet in G into the Cha-Cha in G threw in a few other rhythms here and there simply for the sake of variety.
This is not Music To Entertain Your Grandmother By, but when the dear old lady has turned off her hearing aid and toddled off to bed, why not put the album on and prepare to have a high old time yourself. – FRANCES RICKETT
THE ARTIST – According to Walter Winchell, RALPH FONT has "one of the best Latin outfits in town," and Variety calls the Font Orchestra "a smooth dance combo that is always easy to follow." Thousands have danced to the music of Ralph Font in many of the best night spots from New York to Florida (currently the Chateau Madrid in Neu York) and millions more have heard the orchestra on Font's own Fiesta Americana show on the Dumont TV network or as a frequent guest on Ed Sullivan's show. One and all they agree that Ralph Font and his boys are the best there is with Latin-American rhythms, and that the Font beat makes even the least – Latin gringo feel that he is south of the border.
From Billboard - November 23, 1959: The title of this set means that such longhair tunes as Minuet In G, Humoresque and Dance Of The Hours have been turned into cha chad. The idea is good, but the cha chas, as played by Ralph Font Ork, are routine.
I don't know how the Billboard reviewer decided that the set was "routine". This is smoking space age fun. Font shows a sense of humor in his inventive arrangements as well as the occasional electric guitar passage. The reviewer failed to mention the sales potential of the fab cover!
Minuet In G Cha-Cha
Toccatina Afro-Cuban Rhumba
Humoresque Cha-Cha
Liebestraum Bolero-Cha
Fur Elise Cha-Cha
Waltz In E Minor Beguine
Dance Of The Hours Cha-Cha
Rondo Alla Turca Mambo
Serenade Beguine
Hababera From Carmen Cha-Cha
Melody In F Merengue
Waltz In A Flat Beguine
