Montana - A Dance Fantasy (Full Version - HQ audio)

Описание: With over 25 gold and platinum album awards, Vincent Montana, Jr. is truly a musical success story. During the '70s and '80s, the multi-talented composer/arranger/conductor/percussionist/bandleader and renowned vibraharpist was a member of MFSB, the studio house band for Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International Records (PIR), and later founded the Salsoul Orchestra for Joe, Stan, and Ken Cayre's Salsoul Records. Montana's Salsoul Orchestra set a high musical standard by introducing the first disco orchestra and inventing a new style of dance music. The orchestra's impact spilled over into the house music of the '80s and the disco-influenced electronica of the '90s.

Born and raised in South Philadelphia, Montana was playing local dance clubs by the time he was sixteen. During the early '50s, he worked in jazz clubs as a backup for such legends as Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughn, Buddy DeFranco, Stan Getz, Clifford Brown, and Red Garland. Eventually, Montana moved to Las Vegas, playing at the Freemont Hotel, the Golden Nugget, and others.

In 1974, Afro-Cuban pianist Joe Bataan introduced Vincent Montana, Jr. to the Cayre Brothers who owned Caytronics, a New York-based distributor of Latin music. Montana expressed to the NYC entrepreneurs his concept of a large orchestra sound that fused live strings and brass with Latin percussion and funk. The bandleader sought an orchestra capable of projecting his unique musical concepts. Merging these diverse talents was not easy, so Montana called on MFSB session mates Norman Harris (guitar), Ron Baker (bass), Earl Young (drums), and Don Renaldo (arranger). He enlisted session vocalists Jocelyn Brown (Inner Life), Ron Tyson (Love Committee, the Temptations), Philip Hurt, and Carl Helm. While searching the barrios of NYC and Philadelphia's Spanish Harlem for spicy congas, bongos, and timbales, he found percussionists Andy Gonzales, Manny Oquendo (both of Grupo Folklorico y Experiemental Nuevayorquino), Larry Washington, Peter Choki Quintero, and Roy Armando. At the same time, Montana was devising a name for this new sound. Combining the words salsa and soul, Montana came up with "Salsoul," which he thought perfectly reflected the origins of the sound and mirrored the fusion of musical backgrounds, religions, and nationalities of the orchestra members.

In 1978, Montana began recording for Atlantic as Montana, releasing the LPs Dance Fantasy and I Love Music, whose title track was a cover of the O'Jays' 1975 hit. Montana's music has earned him many honors, including Billboard's Top Disco Orchestra of the Year in 1975, 1976 & 1977, number one Pop Album Instrumentalist Group of 1977, Top Arranger of the Year in 1977, a 1976 award from the Latin New York Music Awards, a 1985 award from the Black Music Association, and a Billboard Hot Dance Music Club Play Award.

source : http://www.billboard.com