Swing vs. Latin - Heath vs. Ros

The Coffee Song

Swing vs. Latin
Heath vs. Ros
Ted Heath and His Music
Edumdo Ros and His Orchestra
Arrangements by John Keating
Produced by Tony D'Amato
Recording Engineer: Arthur Lilley
Phase 4 Stereo
London SP 44038
1964

From the back cover: Ten minutes before recording time Mr. Heath and Mr. Ros entered the studio leading their respective bandsmen. As the bandsmen took their places and started to warm-up their instruments the studio air which had been up to that point friendly, but firm, was being filled with multicolored sounds. From Ros's sector came the steely patter of tight-skinned drums, the barely disciplined sound of a jungle flute, the piercing top notes of muted trumpets; claves were struck; maracas were shaken; cabanas whirled.

On the other side of the partitions, in the Heath quarter, one could hear the forceful, deep-throated tones of the trombones; rapid running fingers of the saxophones; the clear brassy ring of jazz trumpets. The Heath drummer with bass drum, two tom-toms, snare drum, four cymbals, brushes, sticks and hammers, was last to set-up. Testing his kit for sound, he looked up confirming readiness.

The scores were on the stand. The engineer turned on the red light, and the big battle, Swing versus Latin, was on.

South America Take It Away
The Coffee Song
In The Still Of The Night
Come Rain Or Come Shine
Desafinado
Misirlou
Ted Meets Ed
Heat Wave
Malaguena
Speak Low
Anything You Can Do