Personnel:
Herbie Mann (fl), Haygood Hardy (vb), Dave Pike (marimba), Billy Bean (g), Bill Salter, Don Payne (b), Willie Bobo (d), Carlos Patato Valdés (conga), Jose De Paula (tambourine), Carmen Costa (maracas), Johnny Pacheco, Willie Rodriguez (perc)
Reference: FSRCD 770
Bar code: 8427328607704
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This gentle and warm blend of jazz and bossa nova was inspired by flautist Herbie Manns 1961 Brazilian tour. A well-chosen, simpatico group invests these attractive compositions with warmth while slipping deftly into the blend of relaxation and lyricism the idiom calls for.
As leader, Mann generally takes on the theme statements, but his unpretentious yet always melodic playing works well in this context. A major benefit to the sessions is Billy Bean, a superb guitarist with a great gift for improvisation, whose versatility adds considerably more orchestral colour and texture to Manns group. Vibist Haygood Hardys rhythmically sinuous and serpentine solos are also consistently well constructed, while the rhythm section, which carries the soloists along irresistibly, yet always with restraint, is one of the best Mann ever had.
-Right Now
"Herbie Mann spent much of his career at Atlantic, which he signed with in the early 1960s and recorded for until 1985. The flutist provided a very wide variety of music during his long stay at Atlantic; this rewarding 1962 LP found him combining bop with various forms of world music. Mann has long been famous for his love of Brazilian music, and that interest serves him well on the charming "Borquinho" and Luiz Bonfa's "Manha de Carnaval," as well as two Antonio Carlos Jobim pieces: "Desafinado" (a major hit for Stan Getz in the early 1960s) and "Meditation." But Mann goes for more of an Afro-Cuban flavor on his exuberant "Free for All" and Lester Young's "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid," and he successfully incorporates elements of Jewish and Middle Eastern music on the moody "Challil." Now for the bad news: like so many of Mann's Atlantic dates, Right Now has long been out of print and has yet to be reissued on CD."
Alex Henderson -All Music Guide
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"Cuenta Ruy Castro en su magnífico libro sobre la historia de la bossa nova (Turner) que Herbie Mann estuvo confraternizando con João Donato, uno de los compinches de João Gilberto, durante los dos años previos a la celebración del American Jazz Festival en Río y São Paulo en 1961. La anécdota ilustra acerca del temprano interés que mostró por aquella. De 1962 a 1965 grabó cinco álbumes centrados en su repertorio: este CD recoge los dos primeros (en portada, el retrato que le hizo Lee Friedlander para Right now), grabados con el mismo combo titular (que incluía a músicos como Willie Bobo y Carlos Patato Valdés) y en apenas unos meses. Para el resto contó con los padres del género: Jobim y el mencionado Gilberto."
Rafa Martínez (15 Mayo, 2013)
Culturas / La Vanguardia
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"I realize that Stan Getz receives all of the accolades for bringing bossa nova from Brazil to America, but there are those conspiracy theorists that state that actually Bud Shank and Herbie Mann beat Getz to the punch. Here are a couple session s from 1962 that has Manns flute flying down to Rio with a sleek band that includes Billy Bean/g, Willie Bobo/dr, Carlos Valees/perc, Haygood Hardy/vibes and a handful of other percussionists. The music goes down like a salty marguerite on a hot sunset, with pieces such as Minha de Saudade and Desafinado feeling like a cool summer breeze. A bit of bop pops in with Jumpin With Symphony Sid but he makes it blend in with Cool Heat and One Note Samba like various salsas at the taco bar."
George W. Harris (September 3, 2013)
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