Product Details
Goodnight Ladies and Gents: The Creole Music of Lionel Belasco

Goodnight Ladies and Gents: The Creole Music of Lionel Belasco
Lionel Belasco

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Track Listing

  1. Good-Night Ladies And Gents
  2. Roses Of Caracas Waltz
  3. 'I Used To Do All The Heavy Things'
  4. Panama Paseo No.1
  5. Miranda
  6. Blow Wind Blow
  7. Venezuelen Little Tune
  8. 'I Used To Just Play The Piano'
  9. Prohibition
  10. Sly Mongoose
  11. Carmencita
  12. Caroline
  13. Maysotis
  14. Treasury Fire
  15. Caracas
  16. Hit And Run Away
  17. Iris
  18. Why Me Neighbor Vex With Me
  19. The Palms Of Maracaibo
  20. Esperanzas
  21. You Bob
  22. Oh Rufus Hold Me Tight
  23. Bournes Road
  24. Rosa Negra Vals Venezolano
  25. Go Away Gal
  26. Standing Up Behind The Bridge
  27. Venezuela

Product Details

  • Released on: 1999-04-06
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Formats: Import, Best of
  • Original language: English

Editorial Reviews

From Amazon.com
In the world of Calypso, Lionel Belasco is an iconoclast. He was born in Barbados; his father was a Sephardic Jew who sang baritone and played the violin, his mother a Trinidadian who classically trained the young pianist in their various homes in Barbados, Venezuela (whose music is highly in evidence in his work), and eventually Trinidad. But the young musician had a penchant for the local music and the local sports like stick fighting, and when he decided to become a professional, all of these images collided to create one of the most unique Calypsonians of any era. Classical piano, violin that crosses easily between Beethoven and European folk fiddle styles, and not a little of the "sweet band" jazz of American bands like the Paul Whiteman Orchestra are brought together by Belasco to great effect in these recordings made mostly in New York City, a place where he became something of a star in the '20s and '30s. The musicians are a star-studded lot: vocalist Wilmouth Houdini, violinist Cyril Montrose, and guitarist Gerald Clarke pepper these recordings, punctuating and counterpointing the structured songs of Belasco with a looser jazz feel. An added bonus on this 27-track collection are a number of solo performances and short interviews with Belasco in 1961, where he retells his story and explains the music. His songwriting was legend, his voice a charm, and his music some of the best of the era. --Louis Gibson