JACK COSTANZO Afro Cuban Jazz ORIG GNP Mr Bongo LISTEN

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Jack Costanzo and his Afro-Cuban Band - Mr. Bongo (1957): Original deep groove GNP mono pressing of this 53 year old gem! This LP looks VG+ and plays in marvelous condition. An absolutely KILLER Afro-Cuban LP! Not some bongo corn fest.LP has a few light marks that cannot be felt and don't greatly affect the sound.  Here I’ve included a sound sample of the track with the most noticeable scuffs (not really so noisy!):

Cover is beautiful! The white's are brilliant and the red's glow! Rare to find a record of this era with such a perfectly maintained cover! It has no seam splits, tears, cut-outs or writing, it was in a plastic sleeve that seems to have kept it this amazing for it's 50+ years.  The back cover shows little to no sleeve wear at all.  Original GNP Deep groove label. Labels show almost no spindle wear and are in great shape like many of the R&B and Jazz LPs I'm listing (Check 'em out!).

Tracks:

A1 Caravan      
A2 Melado De Cana     
A3 La La La         
A4 El Resbaloso         
A5 Coco May May         
B1 Chopsticks Mambo         
B2 Abaniquito         
B3 Just One Of Those Things     
B4 Goza Negra         
B5 Bongo Festeris     

Personnel:
Jack Costanzo Bongos and Leader
John Anderson, Paul López, Tony Terran Trumpets
Willy Gallardo Timbales
Manuel Ochoa (Kaskara) Vocals and Maracas
Eddie Gómez Claves
Ramón "Ray" Rivera Conga
Eddie Cano Piano
Ernesto Montez Bass
Marda Saxon Vocal

Great review from Descarga.com:

Dubbed "Mr. Bongo" by the eminent jazz critic Leonard Feather, Jack Costanzo is credited with introducing the bongos into American popular music when he joined Stan Kenton's band in 1947. The backbone of this CD reissue is 1956's Mr. Bongo, Jack's first album on Gene Norman's GNP Crescendo label. He deliberately emulated the trumpet conjunto format of Cuba's La Sonora Matancera to achieve the album's fat sound and tips his hat to the group by covering their hit "Melao de Caña". Personnel include the incredible pianist Eddie Cano and trumpeter Paul López, who wrote most of the arrangements and features on Duke Ellington’s "Caravan" and Cole Porter’s "Just One Of Those Things". Jack describes Eddie as "an exciting soloist taking after the master Noro Morales, who played like a conga drum player and I know the pianos yelled for help when he hit them." Eddie particularly shines on the novelty "Chopsticks Mambo". In fact, we are spoilt for Cano solos, by my count, he features on another six tracks. Jack's keeps his soloing to a minimum, but the driving "Abaniquito" showcases a fine example of his hard-hitting bongo pyrotechnics. Singing lead vocals on Mr. Bongo are Kaskara (Manuel Ochoa) and Jack's wife at the time, Ohio-born Marda Saxon. Kaskara was born in Holguin, Cuba, and relocated to the US in 1945 where he worked with Pérez Prado and René Touzet prior to his association with Costanzo.

No Reserve! I ship worldwide and will happily combine shipping on other winning bids to save on postage.

Shipping In the US, LP is shipped via media mail ($4.00, additional LPs only $1 each) or priority shipping (based on ZIP code). Airmail to Canada is $8.00. Outside the US, shipping to all other locations is $15.00.

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All orders are shipped well protected in record mailer boxes with cardboard or bubble wrap fillers.  Without insurance, the package becomes the responsibility of the postal system to deliver it undamaged.  I am not responsible if it does not get to you.  On overseas packages I can provide the date sent and Customs form number. I can also provide the tracking number on REGISTERED and EXPRESS mail packages. For domestic shipment within the US I can provide the date sent.

Thanks.