by Simon B » Sat Apr 19, 2003 7:40 pm
My introduction to the sounds of Sabu Martinez was through Palo Congo - what an album, folkloric and fiery, Sabu fantastic on the drum, scorching quinto solos. Liner notes by a knowledgable-sounding writer called Hsio Wen Shih. I presume he is/was a Chinese-American music journalist. Listen to this lovely first sentence:
'The emotional kinship between the world of this recording and the world of jazz seems so strong at times that the distances between the worlds seems no wider than the pavement of West 54th Street which separates the Museum of Primitive Art from the Museum of Modern Art.'
But on Sabu - got three more albums on re-pressed vinyl the other day - Afro-Temple, In Orbit, and Astronauts de la Pachanga. I am bowled over. I know I am generally enthusiastic about Latin music but this stuff is mind-blowing. And Sabu himself - what am eccentric figure; on the back cover of Afro-Temple I mentioned he's dressed in cowboy gear and holding a camel amidst scrub-land! With tracks like 'Martin Cohen loves Latin Percussion' and 'All Camels Hump' you can't go wrong. But the music is far from ironic - no it's heavy, exotic, spiritual. Sabu himself gives us a spoken introduction on the first track - he has this incredible voice that sounds like a narrator from a 1950s film noir.
Some of you will own this material already and perhaps even have known him. Is the great Sabu Martinez still alive? Is he still living in Sweden, which the liner notes state that he is? What the #### is he doing now?
Simon B