#esquivel

Other Worlds, Other Sounds

Esquivel, 1958

Esquivel - More Of Other Worlds, Other Sounds (1962)

Space age bachelor pad airport.

Esquivel is sort of the Thelonious Monk of lounge music.

THEM: "Hey, Monk! Why you stickin' these weird discordant notes in a nice melodic song? They don't belong!"

MONK: "Why not? I like 'em!"

THEM: "Hey, Esquivel! Why you stickin' these weird silly sounds in a nice romantic song? They don't belong!"

ESQUIVEL: "Why not? I like 'em!"

These are NOT in any rank order.

6)  Peggy Lee, Christmas Carousel  (Christmas albums where about half the tunes are originals can be iffy propositions, unless that artist is Peggy Lee.  Her version is White Christmas gets me every time.)

7)  Barbara Cook, Count Your Blesssings  (This album couldn’t be more welcoming unless it came with hot cider and muffins.  Cook was a Broadway pro, and to my amazement Cook was nearly 80 when she recorded this gem.)

8) El Vez,  Merry MeX-mas.  (If you think a Christmas album by a mexican Elvis impersonator may not be an album that holds up, you have not heard Señor E. Vez.  Humorous, well-produced, poignant.  Remember Santa Claus is sometimes brown.)  

9)  Tammy Wynette, Christmas with Tammy    (Classic Tammy Wynette, produced by Billly Sherril who did some of her popular her hits.  If you have not heard Tammy in a while, it’s too easy to forget what a tremendous voice she had.)

10)  Juan Garcia Esquivel, Esquivel! Merry Xmas From the Space-Age Bachelor Pad (This is a rare one, as it was never an actual album when originally recorded.  However, with the resurgence of his popularity in the 1990s his various Christmas singles were pulled together. To lengthen the then-new CD, they added some modern voiceover from the man himself! TBH it’s a little odd, but the vintage stuff is Esquivel at his exuberant best.)