Though it's a budget collection, the music heard on
Brazilian Soft Shoe rates quite highly in the career of Latin jazz ambassador
Herbie Mann. Comprising a pair of co-billed LPs recorded just before he formed his Afro-Jazz Sextet in 1959, the disc includes music originally heard on the 1959 Roulette LP
Machito With Flute to Boot and the 1958 Mode LP
Flute Fraternity (with
Buddy Collette). For the first,
Mann is featured in front of
Machito's Orchestra, with the addition of
Johnny Griffin on tenor and
Curtis Fuller on trombone. His jaunty solos fit in well with
Machito's stately swing, while the titles alternate boppish experiments ("To Birdland and Hurry") with evocative overseas postcards ("African Flute," "Calypso John"). The other session is a slim and limber West Coast date, featuring
Mann and fellow reed player
Collette playfully trading solos -- in fact, "Herbie's Buddy" has them interacting first on flute, then tenor, then clarinet. In addition to this release, these two vital dates are also heard on
Afro-Jazziac Bop, a 2003 compilation released by Fuel 2000.