Robin Jones - 1972 - El Maja

The Robin Jones Seven

1972

El Maja

01. El Maja 3:17

02. Santa De La Luna 3:21

03. Hot Chili Sauce 2:56

04. Oya 2:57

05. Gina 3:25

06. Atlas 6:52

07. Batucada Da Vida 4:27

08. The Wailer 3:12

09. Warm Loving Eyes 3:34

10. Chant Afrique 3:33

11. El Lobo 3:34

12. Carica Papaya 2:33

Bass – Percy Borthwick

Bongos – Simon Morton

Congas – Tony Uter

Drums, Percussion – Robin Jones

Keyboards – John Porter

Saxophone, Flute – Olaf Vas

Trumpet – Roy Edwards

Percussionist Robin Jones was one of the earliest - and eventually longest-serving - exponents of Latin jazz in the UK. While he guested on hundreds of records and was still playing a couple of years before his death at 84 last year, Jones only ever released a handful of albums under his own name. Arguably the best - and certainly most popular amongst Britain's legion of jazz-dancers - was 1972's 'El Maja', credited to the Robin Jones Seven. A scintillating fusion of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazillian rhythms laden with sprightly woodwind and brass sounds, jaunty piano, jazz-funk Rhodes sounds and notable nods towards rhythm and blues, the hard-to-find album has now been reissued by legendary London jazz DJ Paul Murphy's Jazz Room Records imprint. It should be an essential purchase for anyone who loves Latin jazz.