Baja Marimba Band
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The Baja Marimba Band was a popular musical group led by marimba player Julius Wechter, initially intended by producer Herb Albert to cash in on the "south of the border" craze started by his own Tijuana Brass. However the BMB outlasted the TJB by several years, thanks largely to producer Chuck Barris featuring BMB music on his game shows through the mid-70s.
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[edit] Background
Wechter took up several percussion instruments as a youngster, including the vibes and marimba. At age 21 he released his first solo album, called Linear Sketches (1956). The album was a straight-ahead jazz date billed as the Julius Wechter Quartet.
In 1958 Julius joined Martin Denny's band where he played marimba (replacing Arthur Lyman) as well as numerous other percussion instruments. Four years later he was paid $15 as a session man on Herb Albert's debut album, The Lonely Bull. Wechter soon composed the popular song Spanish Flea for Alpert, who saw his potential and encouraged him to form his own group for A&M Records.
In 1964 The Baja Marimba Band was born, using using session men to supplement Wechter. These musicians included, at one time or another, Pete Jolly, Lew McCrary, Nick Ceroli, Hal Blaine, Tommy Tedesco, and Leon Russell. The band hit the charts with its first single "Comin' in the Back Door" and recorded a dozen albums for A&M, as well as being Alpert's support act. The main lineup from 1965-1971 was Bernie Fleischer on reeds, Bud Coleman on guitar, replaced by Charlie Chiarenza in 1968, Frank DeCaro on rhythm guitar, Dave Wells on trombone, Lee Katzman on trumpet, Curry Tjader on percussion, Mel Pollan on Fender bass, and Frank DeVito on drums. Most, if not all, of the band's musicians were seasoned jazz musicians who performed with such artists as Stan Kenton, Don Ellis, Terry Gibbs, Buddy DeFranco, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie.
The act drew some criticism from Mexican-American advocacy groups because they'd appear onstage dressed in sombreros, old clothes, with fake mustaches, smoking cigars and drinking beer - all rather stereotypical Mexican behavior. This "bad boy" image appeared in goofy group photos on their album covers, and added a comedic allure.
Seen by many as a marketing gimmick, the group rode the wake created by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass and Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 in the musically fertile mid-'60s. The albums were cross marketed successfully by A&M, images of Baja Marimba Band albums appearing on the record sleeves of other A&M products. All three acts were the staple of A&M during this period. The content was considered "adult contemporary" or "easy listening" and consisted mainly of standards, originals and pop covers. Despite the humorous album covers, the music inside was very sophisticated. It was a mixture of bossa nova, jazz, and pop elements.
All three groups lost momentum by the end of the 60's as the genre faded away; by the late '60s as Alpert's Tijuana Brass disbanded, the Baja Marimba Band stayed together for one more album on A&M in 1971 called As Time Goes By before a brief reunion in 1973 with an album called The Baja Marimba Band's Back on Bell Records. During the '70s Julius and his wife, Cissy collaborated on film scores and musicals.
One last reunion took place in the '80s which lasted a couple of years and produced an album called Naturally in 1982. It featured two original members, guitarist Charlie Chiarenza and trombonist Dave Wells. Original drummer Frank DeVito toured with the group during this time, but was replaced for the recording by drummer Ed Roscetti. Still later, Julius Wechter formed a new group in the early 1990's called The Baja Marimbas with marimbaist Jules Greenberg, and they released one album New Deal.
Wechter succumbed to lung cancer in 1999, ending the Baja Marimba Band.
[edit] Discography
Note: All of the band's albums are out of print. Only one, Fresh Air (not one of their better albums), has been reissued on CD (in Japan).
[edit] Original LPs
- Baja Marimba Band, A&M SP-104 (1964)
- Baja Marimba Band Rides Again, A&M SP-4109 (1965)
- For Animals Only, A&M SP-4113 (1965)
- Watch Out!, A&M SP-4118 (1966)
- Heads Up!, A&M SP-4123 (1967)
- Fowl Play, A&M SP-4136 (1968)
- Do You Know The Way To San Jose, A&M SP-4150 (1968)
- Those Were The Days, A&M SP-4167 (1968)
- Fresh Air, A&M SP-4200 (1969)
- Greatest Hits, A&M SP-4248 (1970) (compilation)
- As Time Goes By, A&M SP-4298 (1971)
- Foursider, A&M SP-3523 (1973) (compilation)
- The Baja Marimba Band's Back, Bell 1124 (1973)
- A Treasury of the Award-Winning Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass plus selections from the Baja Marimba Band, Longines Symphonette LWS-500-505 (1974)
- Naturally, Applause APLP-1008 (1982)
- New Deal (credited to "The Baja Marimbas"), Bay Cities BCD-2001 (1990)
[edit] CD reissues
- Digitally Remastered Best, A&M POCM-1575 (Japan) (1998) (compilation)
- The Best of The Baja Marimba Band, Collector's Choice Music CCM-203-2 (2001) (compilation)
- 36 All-Time Favorites, Timeless/Traditions Alive (2002) (compilation)
- Fresh Air, A&M (Japan) (2006) (reissue)
