Hi Fly (Rio Nido album)
Encyclopedia
Hi Fly was the second recording by the Minneapolis jazz vocal group Rio Nido
. The group changed from a trio to a quartet with the departure of Tom Lieberman and the addition of Roger Hernandez and Dave Maslow. With this release, Rio Nido focused on the vocalese
style. The original LP
was long out-of-print until being re-released on CD in 2007 by the Japanese label Bittersweet America.
Rio Nido
-Band history:Rio Nido was a jazz vocal trio that began as part of the Minneapolis West Bank music scene in the early 1970s. The first incarnation of the group consisted of Prudence Johnson on vocals, Tim Sparks on vocals and guitar, and Tom Lieberman on guitar and vocals...
. The group changed from a trio to a quartet with the departure of Tom Lieberman and the addition of Roger Hernandez and Dave Maslow. With this release, Rio Nido focused on the vocalese
Vocalese
Vocalese is a style or genre of jazz singing wherein lyrics are written for melodies that were originally part of an all-instrumental composition or improvisation. Whereas scat singing uses improvised nonsense syllables, such as "bap ba dee dot bwee dee" in solos, vocalese uses lyrics, either...
style. The original LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
was long out-of-print until being re-released on CD in 2007 by the Japanese label Bittersweet America.
Track listing
- "That's the Way to Treat Your Woman" (Eddie VinsonEddie VinsonEddie "Cleanhead" Vinson was an American jump blues, jazz, bebop and R&B alto saxophonist and blues shouter. He was nicknamed Cleanhead after an incident in which his hair was accidentally destroyed by lye contained in a hair straightening product.-Biography:Vinson was born in Houston, Texas...
and Charles Taylor) arr. by Rio Nido - "The Crawl" (Mickey Tucker, lyrics by Tim Sparks and Willie Murphy) arr. by Slide HamptonSlide HamptonLocksley Wellington "Slide" Hampton is an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.He was a 1998 Grammy Award winner for "Best Jazz Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist", as arranger for "Cotton Tail" performed by Dee Dee Bridgewater...
- "You Don't Know What Love IsYou Don't Know What Love Is"You Don't Know What Love Is," a popular song of the Great American Songbook, has one the craziest histories of any song. It was written by Don Raye and Gene de Paul for the Abbott and Costello 1941 Universal picture Keep 'Em Flying, in which it was sung by Carol Bruce...
" (Raye-De Paul) arr. by Slide HamptonSlide HamptonLocksley Wellington "Slide" Hampton is an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.He was a 1998 Grammy Award winner for "Best Jazz Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist", as arranger for "Cotton Tail" performed by Dee Dee Bridgewater... - "60 Minute ManSixty Minute Man"Sixty Minute Man" is a rhythm and blues record released in 1951 by The Dominoes. It was written by Billy Ward and Rose Marks and was one of the first R&B hit records to cross over to become a pop hit on the pop charts...
" (Dominoes) arr. by Rio Nido - "A Night in TunisiaA Night in Tunisia"A Night in Tunisia" is a musical composition written by Dizzy Gillespie in 1942 while he was playing with the Earl Hines Band. It has become a jazz standard....
" (Dizzy GillespieDizzy GillespieJohn Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
and Frank Papareill, lyrics by John Hendricks) arr. and additional lyrics by Rio Nido - "The Cool One" (Benny GoodmanBenny GoodmanBenjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
, lyrics by Mary Jo Knox) arr. based on Jazztet - "Oblivion" (Bud PowellBud PowellEarl Rudolph "Bud" Powell was an American Jazz pianist. Powell has been described as one of "the two most significant pianists of the style of modern jazz that came to be known as bop", the other being his friend and contemporary Thelonious Monk...
, lyrics by Jim Nance) arr. by Rio Nido - "Hi-Fly" (Randy WestonRandy WestonRandy Weston , is an American jazz pianist and composer, of Jamaican parentage.-Biography:Weston studied classical piano as a child. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he ran a restaurant that was frequented by many of the leading bebop musicians...
, lyrics by Jon Hendricks) arr. and additional lyrics by Rio Nido
Personnel
- Prudence JohnsonPrudence JohnsonPrudence Johnson is an American jazz and folk vocalist.-Biography:Prudence Johnson grew up in a musical family in Moose Lake, Minnesota. In the early 1970s, Prudence was a co-founder with Tim Sparks of the vocal jazz group Rio Nido...
- vocals - Tim SparksTim SparksTim Sparks is an American acoustic guitar player, singer, arranger and composer.- Biography:Raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he was given his first guitar when a bout of encephalitis kept him out of school for a year...
- vocals, guitar - Roger Hernandez - vocals, drums
- Dave Maslow - vocals, bass
- Dave Karr - sax, flute
- Jimmy Hamilton - piano
Production notes
- Produced by David Karr and Rio Nido
- Engineered by Dick Hedlund
- Mastered by Miles Wilkinson
- Photography by Ann Marsden
- Logo and album design by John Hanson