Personnel: Everett Barksdale, George Barnes, Don Arnone, Barry Galbraith, Al Chernet (guitar); Frederick Buldrini, Lewis Eley, Joseph Malignaggi, Jacques Margolias, Julius Brand, Al Rudnitsky, Sylvan Shulman, Dick Kesner, Arnold Eidus, Arnold Hicks, Aladdin Pallante, Maurice Wilk, Carl Sanofsky, Charles Bilek, Jack Zayde, Charles Libove, Raoul Poliakin, Max Pollikoff, Max Hollander, Emanuel Green (violin); Maurice Bialkin, Harvey Shapiro , Alan Shulman, David Soyer (cello); Robert Cooper, Henry Freeman, Don Robinson , Blas Vasques, Abraham Richman, Clifford Shank, Rene Bloch, Sam "The Man" Taylor , Sid Cooper, Willie Maiden, Bob Tricarico, Buddy Lucas (saxophone); Sol Schlinger (baritone saxophone); Clyde Reasinger, Bill Regis, Don Dennis, W. Maynard Ferguson, Ernie Royal, Rolf Erickson, Louis Valiz n, Bill Castagnino , Walt Stuart, Pete Candoli, Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Nottingham (trumpet); Tibor Shik (French horn); Milt Bernhart, Robert Alexander , James Hill, Tommy Mitchell , Joe Colvin, Harry Betts, Frank Saracco, Alan Raph (trombone); Ernie Hayes (piano, percussion); Dick Hyman (piano); Eddie Gomez , Ray Vasquera, Shelly Mampe, Estephan Valera, Modesto Martinez, Mike Pacheco, Ed Shaughnessy, Carlos Vidal (drums); Juan Cheda (bongos); Steve Barrios, George Devens, Johnny Pacheco, Phil Kraus , Ray Barretto, Willie Rodriguez (percussion).
Liner Note Author: Peter Grendysa.
Recording information: Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA (04/08/1954-04/17/1962); Webster Hall, New York, NY (04/08/1954-04/17/1962).
Photographer: Richard Weize.
At the height of his popularity in the late 1950s, Perez Prado turned away from his ever-popular mambos, teaming up with Shorty Rogers to create two of the most interesting exotica records of all time. VOODOO SUITE / EXOTIC SUITE combines these two great albums.
Each is an impressionistic tone poem inspired by the roots of America music. VOODOO SUITE combines Afro-Cuban rhythms with the frenzied tempos of hard bop, resulting in a virtual history of jazz that's as entertaining as it is informative. THE EXOTIC SUITE OF THE AMERICAS recalls Nelson Riddle in its pop arrangements of Dixieland, Latin American elements, and Caribbean melodies. EXOTIC SUITE is every bit as riveting as VOODO SUITE, building into a frenzied Carnival-style finale. For fans of Prado's typical mambo-rock, there are several great tracks compiled here, too, including the perky "Midnight in Jamaica" and the raunchy "Son of a Gun," as well as excellent mambo versions of jazz standards "In the Mood" and "St. James Infirmary," among others.
