Vol. 13: That Latin Feeling

The “BERT KAEMPFERT COLLECTION”

During 25 years of cooperation with POLYDOR, Bert Kaempfert arranged, composed and produced a countless number of songs. From 1961 until shortly before his death in 1980, close to 40 LP productions with and by Bert Kaempfert and his Orchestra were released in Germany alone under the Polydor label.

These albums contain more than 460 productions of his own beautiful compositions together with evergreens and world standards.

Polydor considers it a duty to re-release in loose order the more popular albums of this exceptional composer and bandleader with the original tracklistings. At the same time, the facilities of the modern CD-technique are of benefit to reproduce the original recordings.

The album THAT LATIN FEELING was released in 1964. The original conver text reads as follows:

THAT LATIN FEELING is an album that captures a wonderfully exciting atmosphere – a mood of fun and fiesta time… exotic romance… music with the unique quality that only the Latin rhythms possess.

How does Bert Kaempfert create this magic? With the same superbly danceable and listenable style that has made each of his succeeding album releases a bigger favorite than any before.

His continental background, of course, gives him a certain instinctive flair for the Latin tempos. Certainly in the soaring trumpet notes, he communicates the emotional quality of this graceful and stirring music. And as the Kaempfert tones ring out, you truly share the glow of THAT LATIN FEELING.

Bert has gathered a wonderful array of tuneful treats in this album – including many great standards. Sweet And Gentle, The Breeze And I, Poinciana, Maria Elena, Bésame Mucho – they’re all here, offering bossa nova, cha cha, rumba-bolero or merengue. And you’ll also find yourself swept up in the beat of some delightful originals.

Feel the inclination to get a melodic change of pace? Well, there’s no need to pack a bag, or get a visa stamped. Bert Kaempfert will take you all the way – to THAT LATIN FEELING.

THAT LATIN FEELING

There hardly exists a musician anywhere in the world capable of resisting the timeless spell of Latin American melodies and rhythms, and Bert Kaempfert was no exception. His early compositions from the fifties Catalania or Explorer (also known as Louisa) already perfectly illustrate his “Latin Feeling.” In the production presented here Bert Kaempfert departs from his own uniquely swinging style (world famous since the release of A Swingin’ Safari) and couples on to the typical “eighth-note beat” of Latin American music – this and its melodies.

All-Time Standards like O Cangaceiro from the 1953 soundtrack of the film “The Bandit” take their place alongside some truly Kaempfert originals. You will find Maria Elena, a huge hit in 1963 for the guitar-playing duo Los Indios Tabajaras, and the sultry lovesong Bésame Mucho, or The Breeze And I, made famous in Germany by Catarina Valente. And of course there is Brazil’s very own Bossa Nova which exploded across the United States at that time, represented here by Say Si Si and Bert’s Bossa Nova.

On THAT LATIN FEELING Bert Kempfert shared arranging credits with Helmut Brüsewitz, his colleague and friend. Recordings took place in the Polydor Studio Hamburg-Rahistedt under the auspices of Bert’s sound engineer Peter Klemt. In order to get that Latin American sound the habitual horns and strings of the Kaempfert Orchestra were enlarged by introducing a wide variety of exotic percussion instruments: bongos, cabasa, congas, cowbell, güiro, maracas, sandpaper blocks, timbales, triangle, marimbaphone and xylophone – played by Bert kaempfert’s drummer Rolf Ahrens and by percussionists Hans Bekker, Günter Platzek, Max Raths and Manfred Sperling.

This time Ladi Geisler is not only to be heard on the “cracking” bass guitar; he also takes over the solo guitar on Maria Elena, The Breeze And I and Bésame Mucho. Trumpet solos come from Werner Gutterer (Poinciana), Heinz Habermann/Werner Gutterer (Trumpet Fiesta) and Manfred Moch (Bert’s Bossa Nova). Emil Wurster plays his tenor sax on Bert’s Bossa Nova and Say Si Si (together with Karl-Hermann Lühr, flute). Finally, Willi Surmann’s bass clarinet gives a certain something to the “clicking” of Chicken Talk.

Volker Rippe
(Translation: Ewen Campbell)