Caliente

Gary C. King, Gato Barbieri, Lenny White | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: 1976
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000002GC0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,089 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #96 in Music > World Music > Caribbean & Cuba > Cuba

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some Like Creamy, Some Like Chunky..., October 9, 2002

By 

Oliver Towne (CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caliente (Audio CD)

...And some can enjoy both. People, people. Music never has to be an either/or proposition. It's not the Angels vs. the Yankees for crying out loud. Believe me, I have plenty of Monk, Mingus, Coltrane--even Ornette--in my collection, but that doesn't stop me from digging this masterpiece by Gato Barbieri.

I first heard "Caliente" in 1978, when I was 20 years old and more into rock than jazz. This was the album that taught me that string-sections are not necessarily anathema to 'cool' music--that is, when they are there for a specific colorative purpose, and not merely to add a calculated 'easy-listening' gloss. Not once, from the first time I listened to the LP to today when I own it on CD, have I ever questioned the essential artistic 'rightness' of the strings or anything else that appears on this beautifully arranged album.

And what a wall of sound. There's Barbieri's trademark passionate wail, of course. But it rides on a thick brew of funky, percolating keyboards: clavinet, electric piano, acoustic piano, and synthesizer; rock, jazz and Brazilian-tinged acoustic and electric guitars (along with seventies-era effects pedals); popping, driving, brooding electric bass; Latin percussion; propulsive drumming; and, yes, brass, strings, the whole enchilada--all being played by the top studio musicians of the day with a chemistry and inspiration that makes me wonder what kind of Amazonian extract was being passed around. I can't think of any other record to compare it to, and I doubt there are any. I'm not sure if even Gato, his wife, and Herb Alpert knew what they'd pulled off, because, sadly, they weren't able to do it again. (I was greatly disappointed by the follow-up album.) In the end it's just one of those 'moment-in-time' things, both for the listener and the artist. I happened to be in the perfect receptive mood when I first heard "Caliente," and Gato & Co. were in a perfect creative space when they made it.

I recommend this to open-minded individuals who enjoy music they can dive into and drift away on. It is alternately hot, cool, romantic, exuberant, dark, earthy, spicey, and playful. Put it on some late evening when you are by your lonesome and feeling moody.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Saxophone!!, June 11, 1998

By 

Anthous "anthous" (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caliente (Audio CD)

Go out right now and buy this CD. Gato can blow. Oh my, and the band...the band. Musicians this talented are rare. I first heard him on the radio, playing Europa. I think I badgered the DJ for a week trying to find out who was playing the hottest, most erotic saxophone I've ever heard. Haven't been getting served? Might I suggest Gato Barbieri's Caliente, a bunch of votive candles, and some cheap wine. Send the kids to grandma's and the dog outside. Secure all breakables. Oh yeah, make sure the CD player is on repeat. ;-)

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hot., August 23, 2005

By 

Emile J. Roberts Jr. "radiant leo" (NYC, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Caliente (Audio CD)

Some of the most intense listening for a saxophone lover. His performance on this album creates magical images of fire and smoke. All while making love on a water bed. No children please.