Baja Marimba Band
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The Baja Marimba Band was a musical group led by
marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...
player
Julius Wechter Julius Wechter (May 10, 1935 – February 1, 1999) was an American musician and composer who played the marimba and vibraphone. He also played various percussion instruments. He composed the song " Spanish Flea" for Herb Alpert and was leader of Th ...
. Formed by producer
Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...
after his own Tijuana Brass, the Baja Marimba Band outlasted the Tijuana Brass by several years in part due to TV producer
Chuck Barris Charles Hirsch Barris (June 3, 1929 – March 21, 2017) was an American game show creator, producer, and host. Barris was known for hosting ''The Gong Show'' and creating ''The Dating Game'' and ''The Newlywed Game''. He was also a songwrite ...
, who included the group's music on his game shows in the 1970s.


History


Origin

During his youth,
Julius Wechter Julius Wechter (May 10, 1935 – February 1, 1999) was an American musician and composer who played the marimba and vibraphone. He also played various percussion instruments. He composed the song " Spanish Flea" for Herb Alpert and was leader of Th ...
took up several percussion instruments including the vibes and
marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...
. In 1956 his group the Julius Wechter Quartet released a jazz album entitled ''Linear Sketches''. In 1958, Julius joined Martin Denny's band where he played marimba (replacing
Arthur Lyman Arthur Lyman (February 2, 1932 – February 24, 2002) was an Hawaiian jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His group popularized a style of faux-Polynesian music during the 1950s and 1960s which later became known as exotica. His albums became ...
) as well as numerous other percussion instruments. Four years later he was paid $15 as a session man on Herb Alpert's debut album, ''
The Lonely Bull "The Lonely Bull (El Solo Toro)" is a song by Sol Lake recorded by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass among others. The song was the title track to the album '' The Lonely Bull'', released in December 1962. The Herb Alpert single represents the fir ...
''. Wechter soon composed "
Spanish Flea "Spanish Flea" is a popular song written by Julius Wechter in the 1960s with lyrics by his wife Cissy Wechter. The original version was recorded by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Cover versions of the song have been recorded by dozens of art ...
" for Alpert, which became a hit for him. Alpert encouraged Wechter to form his own group, The Baja Marimba Band, to help cash in on the faux- Mexican popularity of Alpert's own
Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and
< ...
Brass.


Formation

In 1962, the Baja Marimba Band was formed using session men to supplement Wechter. These musicians included, at one time or another,
Roy Caton Roy Vernon Caton (January 28, 1927 – July 29, 2010) was an American trumpet player and session musician. Biography Caton was born to Vernon and Eleanor Reed Caton in Frackville, Pennsylvania. At the age of seven, he received a cornet from a f ...
,
Tony Terran Anthony Terran (May 30, 1926 – March 20, 2017) was an American trumpet player and session musician. He was part of the Wrecking Crew, a group of largely uncredited session musicians in Los Angeles, California, who helped famous artists record ...
,
Pete Jolly Pete Jolly (born Peter A. Ceragioli Jr., June 5, 1932 – November 6, 2004) was a two-time Grammy-nominated American West Coast jazz pianist and accordionist. He is known for his performance of television themes and movie soundtracks. Biogr ...
, Lew McCreary,
Nick Ceroli Nicholas Mathew Ceroli (December 22, 1939 – August 11, 1985) was an American jazz drummer. Biography Ceroli was born in Niles, Ohio, United States. He did a tour of Central and South America in 1963 with Ray Anthony, and that same year ...
,
Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...
,
Tommy Tedesco Thomas Joseph Tedesco (July 3, 1930 – November 10, 1997) was an American guitarist and studio musician in Los Angeles and Hollywood. He was part of the loose collective of the area's leading session musicians later popularly known as The Wrec ...
, Leon Russell, and
Emil Richards Emil Richards (born Emilio Joseph Radocchia; September 2, 1932 – December 13, 2019) was an American vibraphonist and percussionist. Biography Musician Richards began playing the xylophone aged six. In High School, he performed with the Hartf ...
. 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 to 1971 was Bernie Fleischer on reeds, Ervan "Bud" Coleman on guitar (replaced upon Coleman's death in 1967 by Charlie Chiarenza), 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
Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...
,
Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...
,
Don Ellis Donald Johnson Ellis (July 25, 1934 – December 17, 1978) was an American jazz trumpeter, drummer, composer, and bandleader. He is best known for his extensive musical experimentation, particularly in the area of time signatures. Later in his lif ...
,
Terry Gibbs Terry Gibbs (born Julius Gubenko; October 13, 1924) is an American jazz vibraphonist and band leader. He has performed or recorded with Tommy Dorsey, Chubby Jackson,Theroux, Gary"Gibbs, Terry".''Grove Music Online''. Oxford University Press. R ...
,
Buddy DeFranco Boniface Ferdinand Leonard "Buddy" DeFranco (February 17, 1923 – December 24, 2014) was an Italian-American jazz clarinetist. In addition to his work as a bandleader, DeFranco led the Glenn Miller Orchestra for almost a decade in the 1960s and ...
,
Charlie Parker Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
, and Dizzy Gillespie. The group would appear on stage dressed in
sombrero A sombrero (Spanish , ) is a type of wide-brimmed Mexican men's hat used to shield the face and eyes from the sun. It usually has a high pointed crown, an extra-wide brim (broad enough to cast a shadow over the head, neck and shoulders of the w ...
s and old clothes, with fake mustaches, smoking cigars, and drinking beer, all of which was regarded as humorously-exaggerated Mexican stereotypes. The group appeared in goofy group photos on their album covers, stylishly created by Peter Whorf Graphics, 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 Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...
and
Sérgio Mendes Sérgio Santos Mendes (; born February 11, 1941) is a Brazilian musician. His career took off with worldwide hits by his group Brasil '66. He has over 55 releases and plays bossa nova heavily crossed with jazz and funk. He was nominated for ...
and Brasil '66 in the musically fertile mid-1960s. The albums were cross marketed successfully by A&M, with 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 a light and sophisticated mixture of bossa nova, jazz, and pop elements. The band performed in Maxwell House coffee commercials, during the peak of the group's popularity.


Decline and reunions

All three groups lost momentum by the end of the 1960s as the genre faded away. By the late 1960s, Alpert's Tijuana Brass had disbanded, but the Baja Marimba Band stayed together for one more album on A&M in 1971 called ''As Time Goes By.'' They had a brief reunion in 1973 with an album called ''The Baja Marimba Band's Back'' on Bell Records. During the 1970s, Julius and his wife, Cissy, collaborated on film scores and musicals. One last reunion took place in the 1980s which lasted a couple of years and produced an album called ''Naturally'' in 1982. It featured Julius Wechter on marimba and three band alumni, Bernie Fleischer on reeds, guitarist Charlie Chiarenza and trombonist Dave Wells. New to the band were: Carmen Fanzone on horns, Jules Greenberg on 2nd marimba/percussion, Harvey Newmark on bass, and Kim Stallings on guitar. Original drummer Frank DeVito toured with the group during this time, but retired and was replaced for the recording by drummer Ed Roscetti. Still later, Julius Wechter formed a new group in the early 1990s called The Baja Marimbas with marimbaist Jules Greenberg, and they released one album, called ''New Deal''. After Wechter's death from lung cancer in 1999, the Baja Marimba Band disbanded.


Select discography


Singles


Studio albums

* 1964: ''Baja Marimba Band'' (A&M) * 1965: ''Baja Marimba Band Rides Again'' (A&M) * 1965: ''For Animals Only'' (A&M) * 1966: ''Watch Out!'' (A&M) * 1967: ''Heads Up!'' (A&M) * 1968: ''Fowl Play'' (A&M) * 1968: ''Do You Know The Way To San Jose'' (A&M) * 1968: ''Those Were The Days'' (A&M) * 1969: ''Fresh Air'' (A&M) * 1971: ''As Time Goes By'' (A&M) * 1973: ''The Baja Marimba Band's Back'' (Bell) * 1982: ''Naturally'' (Applause) * 1990: ''New Deal'' (Bay Cities)


Compilations

* 1970: ''Greatest Hits'' (A&M) * 1973: ''Foursider'' (A&M) * 1974: ''A Treasury Of The Award-Winning Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass Plus Selections From The Baja Marimba Band'' (Longines Symphonette) * 1998: ''Digitally Remastered Best'' (A&M Japan) * 2001: ''The Best of The Baja Marimba Band'' (
Collector's Choice Music Collectors' Choice Music (CCM) is an Itasca, Illinois, company originally primarily in two businesses, but since 2010 only in the second. CCM was best known for reissuing albums originally recorded in LP record form as compact disc The com ...
) * 2002: ''36 All-Time Favorites'' (Timeless/Traditions Alive)


References


External links


Julius Wechter's official website
* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1964 Percussion ensembles A&M Records artists Marimbists