LES BAXTER – African Jazz + TAK SHINDO – Mganga: The Primitive Sounds Of Tak Shindo. Tikitune Records TK 5000. NEW UNPLAYED CD. This item does not come factory sealed. 2 complete albums on 1 CD. Originally issued in 1956 & 1958, respectively. This edition issued in 1995. African Jazz, originally issued on Capitol Records, is mono (I don’t believe it was ever issued in stereo); Mganga, originally issued on Edison International Records, is in stereo. TRACKS, Mganga: Mombasa Love Song, Safari To Kenya, Ryoba Festival, Slave Chains Of Mtumwa, Bantu Spear Ance, Rains Of Okavango, Huts Of Kichwamba, Mganga, Mwanza Market Place, N’Ga The Maiden, Watusi Drum Dance, and Port Of Trinkitat. African Jazz: Jungalero, Elephant Trail, Walkin’ Watusi, Ostrich Hunt, Cairo Bazaar, Rain, Lost City, Banana Boy, Safari, Mombasa After Midnight, Congo Train, and Balinese Bongos. DESCRIPTION, Tak Shindo – Mganga: Les Baxter, the more recognized name here, gets top billing on the cover art, but it is Tak Shindo whose Mganga is featured first on this release. A bona fide musicologist by education, Tak Shindo was responsible for some of the more authentic uses of exotica instruments in exotica recordings. Shindo, born in 1922 in Sacramento, California, served in the U.S. Army Military Intelligence Service as a Japanese language instructor at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. After his discharge, he studied under the G.I. Bill at Los Angeles State College (now Cal State University, Los Angeles). After graduating with a bachelor's degree in music, he did graduate work at the University of Southern California over the course of the next decade, including study with the great film composer Miklos Rozsa, and eventually earned a masters degree. Shindo's graduate work took that long because he was also working full time as a studio composer. He worked with most of the big television and movie studios of the time, including Columbia, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Desilu, Disney, NBC, and CBS. Among the shows he worked on were Hawaiian Eye, The Dinah Shore Show, Gunsmoke, and The Untouchables. While with CBS television, he penned the themes to The Ed Sullivan Show, Wagon Train, and Adventure. In addition to this release for the Edison International label, Shindo also issued albums for Capitol and Mercury, all feature a mix of eastern and western musical styles and instrumentation. Most of them use a standard studio band with Oriental instrumentation, covering standard Western material such as Caravan and Wagon Wheels. The novelty effect was perhaps shorter-lived than the caliber of craftmanship Shindo put into them deserved. Although most of his work on others' recordings went uncredited, his name does show up on two interesting albums: The Yellow Unicorn, which features Rod McKuen reciting his poems to a mix of Japanese and western instruments played by Shindo and Julie Meredith; and East Meets West, on which organist Paul Marks plays Japanese pop and folk songs on the Wurlitzer while Shindo provides suitable accompaniment on the koto and other Japanese instruments. Shindo studied Japanese music extensively and was often tapped to score or provide incidental music for films dealing with Oriental subjects and settings, like Sayonara, Stop Over Tokyo, and Dawn of Asia. He collected Japanese instruments, wrote a history of Japanese music, and lectured extensively on Oriental music. In the mid-1960s, he joined the faculty of Cal State Los Angeles and left the studio system. He remained active in the Nisei veteran's organization, Go For Broke, and composed two pieces for the first anniversary celebration of the Go for Broke Monument in downtown Los Angeles in 2000. He passed away in 2002. Due, in part, to this release, Mganga, is probably the best known of his exotica work. However, Brass and Bamboo and Accent On Bamboo, both issued later on Capitol Records, were more typical of his output.
Les Baxter – African Jazz: Well known in the world of exotica and lounge music, for this 1956 release Les Baxter has taken the basic rhythms... tribal chants, message patterns of the drums, even the Watusi "nanigo" rhythms used in their ceremonial rites... all these he has used as the beginning for a dozen original, Africa-inspired compositions. No one has been able to duplicate Les' music; imitate perhaps. One of the reasons is that he continually devotes a part of his life to traveling around the world, studying primitive music and instruments, understanding and absorbing them, thus enabling himself to use them as a part of his own musical vocabulary. Into these rhythmic and instrumental elements, Les pours a unique melodic and harmonic approach, using traditional instruments in highly untraditional ways, hearing and writing sounds that the instrumentalists have never before played, and then combining all the devices of composition and performance into something so unusual, so rich, so colorful that it bears the unmistakable stamp of Les Baxter. In this series of vivid impressions, Les has employed the talents of some outstanding jazz virtuosos. Larry Bunker is heard playing vibraphone, xylophone, and marimba. Milt Bernhart is featured on trombone. And Plas Johnson provides some surprising tenor sax passages. High fidelity enthusiasts will be particularly appreciative of this album, for Les displays not only the total exploration of instrumental tonalities but also the imaginative use of non-musical sounds such as the thrilling rumble of echoing thunder, the shriek of a train whistle, along with exotic African percussion instruments. It is all part of the Les Baxter genius for creating a rich, singular, ear-arresting kind of music, the kind found in African Jazz. SIDE BAR: Les Baxter was the composer of the Whistler theme for the Lassie television series.
THIS ITEM IS NEW AND UNPLAYED. Used items will include condition details for inserts, disc, and jewel case/digi-pak/mini-jacket.
NOTE TO POTENTIAL BUYERS: If the tray card, bar code, jewel case, insert, or digi-pak is punched, marked, or cut in any manner, denoting a promotional/review copy, I will state that as part of the item description. Also if an issue is a "music club" edition, that will be noted in the item description. (The below information last updated 5/22/23)
If you have any questions or if you have additional information, especially corrections, to the description, please e-mail me. I particularly enjoy when an artist, band member, or someone who has personal background knowledge of a particular album/artist and offers their insight/information of that recording, which I will include with the description for future listings of that release. As a collector of many years, part of the hobby side for me is to learn about the background of the artists and music that I collect. Hopefully, sharing some of this information in my descriptions will help educate and enhance your listening experience.
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY OTHER CURRENTLY LISTED ITEMS AND EBAY STORE.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
All CDs come sealed in standard jewel cases and are US releases unless noted otherwise. Mini-Jackets, digi-paks, and variable packaging will also be noted. Any item that does not come sealed or include an outer sleeve will be placed inside of an outer sleeve at the time it is received by me. All items that do not come in an outer packaging wrap are inspected by me prior to shipping. It is not unusual to find small/tiny imperfections on the play side of the CD disc, especially on European manufactured CDs; these small imperfections do no affect the playback of the disc. Also an unsealed jewel case may show light signs of warehouse/transit storage wear on the outer surface of the jewel case. If an unsealed jewel case is received by me broken, it will be replaced with a new jewel case before shipping; sealed CDs received with minor cracked/damaged jewel cases will be noted as such in the item’s description and will be shipped as is.
ABBREVIATIONS:
SS or SLD: Still Sealed or Sealed. Short abbreviation that will appear in the title line of my listings. This item is new and unplayed. Also appears in the listing description as Sealed CD or Factory Sealed CD.
NEW CD: This item is new and unplayed, but was received from a supplier without being shrink wrapped or cellophane wrapped; more common on imports but also many of the smaller independent US labels do not seal their CDs; some have it both ways (for which I have no prior knowledge of or choice when placing my orders). Other companies use resealable clear outer sleeves which are used on some import and domestic releases. If I receive an item this way it will be shipped as I received it and not opened up. Items received unwrapped are placed inside of a resealable clear outer mylar sleeve at the time they are received.
GFC or GF: Gate fold cover, refers to a style of mini-jacket CDs.
S/T: Self-Titled
2/1: This denotes that 2 albums are on 1 single CD.
REMAST: Remastered. More specific sourcing will follow within the item’s description when available.
OOP: Out Of Print.
MIX: This sometimes appears in my title line and refers to a group's/artist's music having a mix of styles such a rock track with jazz then followed by a straight rock track followed by a psych rock track, etc., as opposed to a blues album with the album's tracks having predominantly one style.
XT, XTKS, or #XTKS: Usually in lower case type as part of the title line, denotes bonus tracks on this release (extra track, extra tracks, or the number of extra tracks).
ULC, LRC, etc.: Upper Left Corner, Lower Right Corner, etc. used in referencing the area of a defect or blemish to the jewel case or packaging.
MULTIPLE ITEM PURCHASERS:
A shipping discount will be applied to all multiple item purchases. My automatically generated invoices do not apply discounted shipping (I’m kinda old school). Shipping discounts are automatically applied by two methods:
1) Complete your purchase via the shopping cart and request an invoice total,
The shipping amount will reflect the discount price for you to make your payment. This method seems to pose some difficulty in navigating to the request invoice link
2) Purchase and pay the full individual shipping amount and I will automatically refund the shipping discount to you once processed for shipping. (This seems to be the preferred method of my customers)
US customers whose purchase includes CD(s) along with LP(s) will be shipped in a single package via media mail. Single purchases of 4 or more CDs and/or packages (box-sets as one example) that exceed the first class weight limit (16 oz.) will ship via media mail.
INTERNATIONAL customers whose purchase includes CD(s) along with LP(s) will be shipped in a single package at the current rate and weight.
A shipping discount only applies if all items purchased ship in a single package.
Please e-mail me with any questions you may have.
TERMS OF AUCTION/SALE:
Buyer pays for POSTAGE & HANDLING:
US and INTERNATIONAL shipping information is as of May 22, 2023. Any subsequent increase in shipping costs will take precedence over the below rates.
U.S. Shipping:
$4.95 via USPS first class mail for the first single or double CD set.
$3.90 via USPS media mail for first item, additional items determined by weight.
$1.25 for each additional single CD set and/or
$1.50 for each additional double CD set.
All US packages are processed for shipping via eBay and include a tracking number. You will receive confirmation of shipping via eBay with your tracking number; check you purchases file.
Payment for all customers is handled via eBay's managed payment service, which offers a variety of options.
Items are shipped in professional corrugated mailers.
If there are any other needs of your purchase please e-mail me before you make your purchase and I will do my best to accommodate them.
INTERNATIONAL Shipping:
I ship worldwide via eBay’s International Shipping Service for all purchases.
Items are shipped in professional corrugated mailers.
Older listed items may still list First Class Package International Service as the shipping method. As eBay’s International Shipping Service is implemented it will take precedents
Multiple item purchases will be shipped at the current rate based on weight.
Tracking is included check and monitor tracking via your purchases folder (not USPS).
If you are planning on purchasing multiple items you may request a shipping total estimate prior to making your purchase.
CURRENT INTERNATIONAL RATES are set by Ebay's International Shipping Service based on the weight and size of your package. I ship world wide:
*ALL CUSTOMERS*
HANDLING TIME:
Packages are usually shipped with in 24-hours, excepting weekends and holidays. NOTE: This is not the same thing as delivery time, which begins once a package is turned over to the post office; averaging 3-7 business days for US delivery and 5 days to 3 weeks for international delivery. As for eBay’s International Shipping Service, I have been using it selectively and increasingly over the past three years and with its improvements in security, delivery times, convenience, and price make it an easy choice.
RETURN POLICY:
If returning an item(s) to me you may request a prepaid shipping label for your return.
Refunds are issued once the item has been received.
I appreciate a brief comment as to the reason for your return.
NON-ARRIVAL OF PACKAGES:
US Customers: Please wait at least two weeks from the confirmed shipping date before contacting me about the non-arrival of your package. All packages are shipped with confirmation/tracking via eBays shipping program. Check your purchases folder to track.
INTERNATIONAL Customers: Please wait at least 3 weeks (or more) from the confirmed shipping date before taking any action. Follow eBay’s International Shipping program terms/instructions for resolution of any transit and delivery issues.
ALL CUSTOMERS: If there is a problem with your purchase please e-mail me first with details before filing a resolution.