The Baja Marimba Band
Chris Covais | 12/30/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"It is such a thrill to see this great gem being remastered onto cd. The classic A&M album from Julius Wechter & The Baja Marimba Band released in 1969 is superb. The album opens with the latin standard, Cielito Lindo. It is treated with a nice arrangement. Antonio Carlos Jobim's Wave is a beautiful number. Julius is playing the vibes on this track. Second to "Sunrise Sunset," as a "marimba workout," I'll Marimba You, has Wechter and fellow marimbaist, Curry Tjader trading lines in excellent fashion to make quite a foot tapping number! Wechter made his vocal debut on "I don't wanna walk without you," arranged by Nick Decaro. The horns still keep this track in the Baja Fashion. The great up-tempo latin number, Fresh Air composed by Wechter is a number that makes you sing along with. An interesting take on the Beatles' Elenore Rigby is next. The Baja men make this track interesting, and surprisingly, "haunting." The next song is "Windmills of your Mind," arranged by Nick Decaro. This number is absolutely stunning! "Samba Nuevo," is another uptempo swinger! "Here" is also a nice track. The album comes to a close with an original from reedist Bernie Fleischer. "Madagascar," is prehaps the best track on the whole album. Its got a really "cool" vibe to it. All in all, it is very nice to see this album being released. Let's hope more of the classic Baja Marimba Band albums will be released in the near future."