Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Clare Fischer and Salsa Picante Present "2 2"

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Released
  
February 1981

Artist
  
Clare Fischer

Label
  
Pausa Records

Clare Fischer & Salsa Picante Present "2 + 2" (1981)
  
Machaca (1981)

Release date
  
February 1981

Genre
  
Latin jazz

Clare Fischer & Salsa Picante Present

Recorded
  
September 1980 at Capitol Records

Clare Fischer albums
  
First Time Out, Alone Together, ONE ‑ to get ready: FOUR, The State of His Art, Surging Ahead

Clare Fischer & Salsa Picante Present "2 + 2" is an album by American keyboardist/composer-arranger Clare Fischer, recorded in September 1980 and released in February 1981 by Pausa Records, and in Germany on the MPS label, as Foreign Exchange – The First Album. Tracks 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 would be reissued on CD in 1999, and as a digital download in 2012, as Latin Patterns, a compilation of remastered highlights from four of Fischer's MPS LPs from this period.

Contents

The album represents a number of firsts for Fischer, including his first Grammy (specifically, the album's final track, "Guajira Pa' La Jeva," named 1981's Best Latin Recording), as well as a pair of recording debuts, first, that of 2 + 2, the vocal quartet with which Fischer supplemented his Latin jazz ensemble (thus tying together two key components of his wide-ranging musical universe), and, of equal if not greater import, that of his son Brent Fischer, marking the beginning of a fruitful – and more than three-decade-long – professional association.

Reception

Los Angeles Times jazz critic Leonard Feather awarded the album four stars, making particular note of the album's seamless blend of vocal and instrumental units:

Their blend is splendid, they are at times expertly integrated with the band through Fischer's compositions, lyrics and arrangements; and they are quadrilingual, starting in German and proceeding to English, Spanish and doo-be-doo, the Esperanto of jazz. The rhythm, generally timbales-oriented, could have used more bottom. Darlene Koldenhoven, the lead soprano, is a striking discovery.

Track listing

All selections composed by Clare Fischer except where noted.

Side A

  1. "Du, Du...." (trad./arr. Clare Fischer) - 5:57
  2. "Legacy" - 2:35
  3. "Morning" - 3:36
  4. "Guajira Pa' La Jeva" (words - Jose "Perico" Hernadez, music - Poncho Sanchez and Clare Fischer) - 4:30

Side B

  1. "Leavin'" - 3:25
  2. "Funquiado" - 6:46
  3. "Thru the Ages" - 4:21
  4. "Melancolico" (words - Barbara Ransom, music - Clare Fischer) - 7:07

Personnel

  • Clare Fischer - leader, Fender-Rhodes electric piano, Yamaha EX-42 organ, Yamaha YC-30 combo organ
  • Gary Foster - flute and soprano sax; on side A (tracks 2 & 3) and side B (tracks 1 & 3) - sopranino and alto sax, plus sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, bass and gran bass recorders
  • John Chiodini - electric guitar; on side A (tracks 2 & 3) and side B (tracks 1 & 3) - acoustic guitar and hollow-bodied electric guitar
  • Poncho Sanchez - conga, bongo, campana
  • Ramon Banda (only on side A, tracks 1 & 4, and side B, track 2 & 4) - clave
  • Alex Acuña (only on side A, tracks 1 & 4, and side B, track 2 & 4) - timbales, percussion
  • Roland Vazquez (only on side A, tracks 1 & 4, and side B, track 2 & 4) - drums
  • Brent Fischer - electric bass
  • Oscar Meza - string bass
  • Luis Conte (only on side A, tracks 2 & 3, and side B, track 1 & 3) - timbales, percussion
  • Andre Fischer (only on side A, tracks 2 & 3, and side B, track 1 & 3) - drums
  • José "Perico" Hernandez - guest vocalist on A4 and B4
  • Darlene Koldenhoven - lead soprano
  • Mary Hylan - Second soprano (sings lead on first bridge of "Morning," rock section of "Thru the Ages," and first part of "Guajira")
  • Amick Byram - tenor (solo on "Leavin'")
  • John Laird - baritone

    • References

    Clare Fischer & Salsa Picante Present "2 + 2" Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA