CD REVIEW -
AND THEN!
EDMUNDO ROS
SELECTED
SINGLES 1950-1962
Jasmine JASMCD2826
[79:44]
Born in 1910,
Edmund William Ross was a
Trinidadian-Venezuelan
bandleader, arranger,
percussionist and singer who,
after moving to the UK, became a
big star in the firmament of
light music. In the late 1930's
jazz enthusiasts knew him as the
drummer on some Fats Waller
recordings.
He had come to
London to study classical music
at the Royal Academy but dropped
out with a passion for popular
music. He formed his [originally
five-piece] Rumba Band in 1939,
which soon became a popular
recording group.
Eleven years later
he had a top hit in the UK and
USA with Wedding Samba,
the opening number on this
release, selling three million
copies.
His biography
relates how later he got a 'smart
idea' of recording Broadway
musical melodies arranged to
different Latin rhythms: the
mambo, cha cha cha, rumba, samba,
baion, bolero, valse creole,
meringe [sic], guaracha
and the conga. His many LPs for
Decca were best sellers
throughout the 50s and 60s. No
wonder a contemporary reviewer
opined that 'one could not
imagine a really dull record from
Ros'.
[I believe
that one, or maybe more, of his
LPs featured some well-known
classical pieces also arranged in
Latin rhythms – ed.]
Both his Band
(five tracks) and 16-piece
Orchestra (26) are featured on
this very welcome compilation,
which includes some tracks issued
on CD for the first time as well
as many previously released
digitally with added reverb but
now in their original form.
Together with the
eponymous album title, other
noteworthy singles for me include
The Bullfrog (the B side
to Wedding), Chili
Sauce and Military Samba
(both taken from Ros's first
12-inch LP), Isle of Capri -
Cha Cha Cha, Colonel
Bogie – Merengue, The
Harry Lime Theme Cha-Cha, I
Talk to the Trees - Cha Cha,
Scotland the Brave (with
bagpipes), La Chaconga
(written by Ros) and One Note
Samba (the first bossa nova
recording he made).
Richard Moore's
liner notes tell us that Ros was
in demand as a vocalist from the
start, but I remain ambivalent
about his distinctive vocal tones
heard in varying amounts on most
of the numbers here.
The future Queen
Elizabeth evidently danced in
public for the first time to his
music. He was often invited to
play at Buckingham Palace and
received an OBE aged 90. He was
also a Freeman of the City of
London; and was referred to as
'Lord Latin' in one of his
album's liner notes. He died in
2011 just before his 101st
birthday.
This release is a
blast from the past for oldies
like me but if Ros is a new name
to you there is another of his
albums: a 2-CD set 'Rhythms of the
South' [JASCD763] available with a
lot more goodies at www.jasmine-records.co.uk.
©
Peter Burt, February 2025
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