Bossa Nova Soul Samba [Original recording remastered]

Ike Quebec | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 28, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B000TZUSOY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,854 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #36 in Music > World Music > Latin Music > Samba
  • #61 in Music > World Music > Latin Music > Brazilian > Bossa Nova
  • #74 in Music > Blues > Jump Blues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blues in a Brazilian Tint, August 31, 2007

By 

Todd M. Stellhorn (baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bossa Nova Soul Samba (Audio CD)

Ike Quebec released a string of albums for blue note (for whom he was an A&R man as well as friend to owner Alfred Lion) during the early sixties, all of which are fantastic showcases for the deepest tenor sound this side of Ben Webster. Keeping in mind the overall greatness of the entire series of these albums the question becomes, for the Quebec fan who is looking to pick through his discography or the uninitiated looking for a place to start, what setting would you prefer to hear him in? If you like the organ-combo backing go with Heavy Soul and it's companion It Might as Well Be Spring. If you prefer a more conventional setting, though done so well as to make it unconventional, than hear Ike shine on the awe-inspiring Easy Living where Quebec shares the stage on some tracks with Stanley Turrentine and Bennie Green, and is backed up by Art Blakey and Sonny Clark. If it's shortish tracks and goodtime blowing you're in the mood for go with the excellent Complete Blue Note 45 Sessions . But if it's space in which to hear Quebec roam you seek, and that relaxed but vital romanticism that snaked it's way from his tenor, full of reflective passion and hard-living wisdom embedded in the spite and grease, than you have two options. One is his acknowledged masterpiece: Blue and Sentimental , and the other is his last album, an odd take on the bossa nova craze that Stan Getz helped to popularize: "Soul Samba". Despite the virtues of the wildly popular albums that Stan Getz did (Getz/Gilberto, Jazz Samba) "Soul Samba" is an entirely different bag. So much so that I would warn bossa nova fans away from this album, this one is firmly grounded in Jazz with a capital "J". Unlike Stan Getz, who sublimated himself to the overall ambiance of his bossa nova albums, Quebec and his tenor are front and center on "Soul Samba", so much so that I sometimes have to make a conscious effort to listen to what the other musicians are doing here (with the exception of Kenny Burrell who makes himself felt through out). The other big difference between the two albums is whereas the first was noticibly lacking in anything resembling the blues, this album is drowning in it. Every note Quebec plays is so thick with it that could you reach out into the air and cut one it would bleed a heavy blue. This is a laid back album and it's greatest virtue is that it showcases The Sound that only Ike could coax from the tenor, that gravel-voiced wonderful sound. Think of it as vintage Quebec blue note in the tint of a relaxed Brazilian glow. It might have been an attempt to popularize Quebec on the back of the bossa nova craze of the time, but it wouldn't have mattered as Ike would die a short three months later from cancer. If he was feeling the effects of his illness here it really doesn't show, or maybe it does in the voice of his tenor, but if that's the case then Mr. Quebec wanted to go out on top with a warm life-affirming romantic note. Highly recommended.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soul Samba Sublime, October 12, 2007

By 

JoeyD (los gatos, ca) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bossa Nova Soul Samba (Audio CD)

I can't believe I am only the second person to review this beautiful recording. Todd Stellhorn's review (see below) can't be topped, it's a perfect description of what most of you are missing out on by not owning this 1962 recording led by Ike Quebec. My applause goes out to R.V.G. and Blue Note for re-releasing this gem.

Quebec's playing is perfect as he emits so much tranquil, sensuous emotion from his bluesy tenor. And what truly is amazing about his flawless, tender performance is the fact that he was dying of cancer at the time and in intense pain. Yet, you would never know by listening to this serene, sunny recording. Quebec adds a flavor of blues and sultriness to his own unique interpretation of the bossa nova. Kenny Burrell co-stars on guitar and proves to be more than an exceptional subordinate to the great tenor. This is Burrell at his best, a bit restrained, but one of my favorite performances of his ever (which is saying a lot!). He compliments Quebec and the fine, rhythm section - Wendell Marshall (bass), Willie Bobo (drums), and Garvin Masseaux (chekere) - impeccably. As Quebec stated in the liner notes "Kenny was able to be more free with the beat. He helped a lot to create that floating feeling of bossa nova and he was able to feed me more flexibly and more subtly." And to elaborate a bit more on the other players, all three lay down the rhythms smoothly, never too flashy or bold, seemingly more than content to let Ike and Kenny shine (it really is all about these two on this particular effort).

I sincerely can't say enough about this one. Along with "Blue & Sentimental" this is my personal favorite of Quebec's work as a leader. If you are a fan of Quebec and/or Burrell you will really be in for quite a treat. I can promise you with every fiber of my being that you will not be disappointed for one minute of just over 48 minutes of soulful, bluesy, bossa nova jazz.

I would add another star if I could!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderfully Regrettable Coda, December 9, 2008

By 

Richard B. Luhrs (Jackson Heights, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bossa Nova Soul Samba (Audio CD)

The black, white and pink neo-film noir cover of this album does an excellent job of representing the prevailing mood within. Smoky, subtle and supremely hip, tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec's swan song BOSSA NOVA SOUL SAMBA is as classy a session as you can get - and you get it beautifully on this expanded and remastered edition.
Quebec's mini-comeback on Blue Note Records, for whom he recorded five truly superb albums in 1961 and '62 while slowly losing his battle against the cancer which would kill him in January 1963, is one of those happy accidents made all the happier by its tragic brevity. Chances are the great player would be all but lost to the sands of time had he not rejoined the BN roster in 1959; and the label would never have produced some of the finest music of what was unquestionably its finest era.
BNSS is the final piece of this short but significant association, and like all of Quebec's other sets of the period it benefits from a spare and innovative backing, an inspired solution of original and covered material and above all the vast emotional expanse of the leader's famously "big" sound. With Kenny Burrell on guitar and Willie Bobo at the drums, Ike was well-equipped to take on the bossa nova craze and the inspired performances here, individual and collective, do nothing less than create a gorgeous little world for three quarters of an hour - one we are fortunate indeed to have preserved on tape. Bassist Wendell Marshall and BN house percussionist Garvin Masseaux, heard here on chekere, acquit themselves equally well. This is possibly the essential late night album and even superior, in my own opinion, to the previous year's duly celebrated BLUE and SENTIMENTAL.
The relative brevity of most of BNSS's cuts is undoubtedly one of the sources of its strength. Tight, tasteful workouts - nine of them, compared to the more usual six or seven, as well as three alternate takes - force the best from Ike and his sidemen in efficient fashion. The atmosphere, however, though ceaselessly tweaked, never slips. Make no mistake: this is the sort of date that distinguishes the best from the merely great, and anyone with the least interest in mood music - or in moods, period - is urged to add it to his or her Christmas list.