Hats Off - The Mariachi Brass!

Hats Off
The Mariachi Brass!
Featuring Chet Baker
Arrangers: George Tipton & Jack Nitzsche*
Art Direction: Woody Woodward
Cover Photography: Peter Whorf
Engineer: Bruce Botnick
World Pacific WP-1842
A Product Of Liberty Records
1966

Available from online vendors so I will not be posting a sample. Presented here to share the cover art and jacket notes excerpt.

From the back cover: "I'm going to put the jazz into the Brass."

"When?" I asked.

"Eventually."

"When's eventually?"

"One of these days," he said, slightly bugged.

Talking was Herb Albert, leader of the Tijuana Brass. It was 1964, when the sound was new and just catching on. I was doing a piece for Variety.

Now it's 1966... same Hollywood saloon... another Variety interview.

"Remember what you said about jazz, Herb?" I asked.

"No, what'd I say?"

I refreshed his memory.

He studied his martini a moment. Then he looked up. "Does it look like I'm out of my mind?"

Of course he's not. And of course, he'd have to be if he were to tamper with what he's got.

But, there's no copywriter on an idea. At just about the same time (1964) another young man with a horn, then blowing up a storm in Europe, had the very same thought – get jazz into the contemporary frame, where it'll reach the most ears. His name is Chet Baker. He'd do it when he got back home.

But then, immediately upon his return, bang, he's back in the spotlight with the smash World Pacific album, "Michelle." Baker is 50-50 billed with saxist Bud Shank. The platter takes off and hits the charts big. It's a gas of a disc, but it's not "the sound" he was after.

More delay. The idea is now almost three years old and it's seething within him. He's perking again. Jazz buffs who remembered him "when" came pouring into Shelly Manne's Manne-Hole in Hollywood, where he kicked off his first engagement in the U.S. in many years. The SRO houses were also comprised of new, younger fans who'd never heard of him before "Michelle."

On the heels of his last night at the Manne-Hole, Baker decided the time was now. He welded the Mariachi Brass – 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 2 marimbas, 1 vibe, 1 drummer (Frank Capp), sundry miscellaneous percussion instruments and himself on the trumpet's big brother, the flugelhorn. He was ready. And so was the disc public. The first Mariachi Brass album, "A Taste Of Tequila," hit and hit hard. The people listened to Chet Baker and cried for more.

A jazzman from the word "go" (one-fourth of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet in the early 50's) Baker knew all about jazz's elusive nature – that exasperating habit it has of playing dead for seasons at a stretch. So he's got to be careful – don't shovel it, use a thimble if necessary, but get it in.

And get it in, he does. Dig the way he weaves, softly, intricately in and out of the chart-tied horns behind him in "Armen's Theme" and in the following cut, "Spanish Harlem." The solo turn, so long muted in today's pop music, is very definitely back! The old-time screech is out and it's a more refined sound, perhaps, but it's back, man and Baker put it there.

Everything is here from the groovy film lilt, "Phoenix Love Theme" (from the film "Flight Of The Phoenix") to the straight show tune, "On The Street Where You Live." Varied enough?

Ever get the feeling, after a listen to Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" that the instrumental tag at the end should have been extended? Well, Baker and the Mariachis pick up precisely where they left off. They erase the words, heighten the beat and take you on a three-minute "hike" you won't soon forget.

Jack Nietzsche arranged "Boots," "You Baby" and Chiquita Banana." All the rest were charted by George Tipton, the cat gone legit. "Happiness Is"? From the opening notes right to the final "kickoff" tag, you can smell the smoke in it – and if you're not careful, it'll choke you. "Hats Off" to Chet Baker and the Mariachi Bass? You Betcha! – Joe X. Price, Daily Variety.
From Billboard - May 28, 1966: Chet Baker's brilliant trumpet brightens the Mariachi Brass to just the right combination of pop and jazz. Arranges George Tipton and Jack Nitzsche provide superb settings for the Brass on "Happiness Is," "Bang Bang" and "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'."

Happiness Is
Sure Gonna Miss Her
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
The Phoenix Love Theme (Senza Fine - From the 20th Century-Fox film "The Flight Of The Phoenix)
These Boots Are Made For Walkin'
On The Street Where You Live
Armen's Theme
Spanish Harlem
Chiquita Banana
When The Day Is All Done (Foyo - From the Musical Entertainment "Wait A Mimim")
You Baby
It's Too Late