As a founding member of Philadelphia’s MFSB, vibraphonist Vincent Montana, Jr. played on countless hits by The O’Jays, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, The Three Degrees, Billy Paul, and others. But Montana had a bigger vision: a full-fledged disco orchestra combining the soulful Philly sound with the infectious dance rhythms of Latin America. The result was The Salsoul Orchestra, formed for the groundbreaking disco/dance label Salsoul Records by Montana and his MFSB bandmates. Between 1975 and 1978, Montana produced, arranged, and conducted eight albums for The Salsoul Orchestra, including LPs from…
Merry Christmas All: SoulMusic Records, The Second Disc Team Up for The Salsoul Orchestra’s Deluxe “Christmas Jollies I + II: The Extra Jolly Edition”
As a founding member of Philadelphia’s MFSB, vibraphonist Vincent Montana, Jr. played on countless hits by The O’Jays, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, The Three Degrees, Billy Paul, and others. But Montana had a bigger vision: a full-fledged disco orchestra combining the soulful Philly sound with the infectious dance rhythms of Latin America. The result was The Salsoul Orchestra, formed for the groundbreaking disco/dance label Salsoul Records by Montana and his MFSB bandmates. Between 1975 and 1978, Montana produced, arranged, and conducted eight albums for The Salsoul Orchestra, including LPs from…
You Know How Good It Is: BBR Expands Vincent Montana’s “Goody Goody” For CD
It’s that time of year again when radio stations everywhere turn to the sounds of the holiday season. One of the tunes always in frequent rotation is a bit of light swing from The Salsoul Orchestra’s 1976 disco classic Christmas Jollies: “Merry Christmas, All.” The voice of that perennial belongs to Denise Montana, daughter of its composer-arranger-conductor, the late, great MFSB vibraphonist and Salsoul Orchestra leader Vince Montana. Now, another project uniting Vince and Denise Montana has come to CD courtesy of Big Break Records. Underneath its rather typical risqué cover, Vincent…
Dance A Little Bit Closer: Gold Legion Uncovers “The Salsoul Records Story”
Just in case you didn’t already know, there’s plenty of gold to be found from the Gold Legion label. Since its inception, Gold Legion has reissued and remastered classic disco records from master tape sources, adding copious annotation and bonus tracks to flesh out the stories behind the music. Some of Gold Legion’s previous releases have been dedicated to iconic singer-actress-model Grace Jones, “Turn the Beat Around” diva Vicki Sue Robinson, The Emotions as produced by Maurice White and Charles Stepney, Blondie’s Debbie Harry, and Oscar and Grammy-winning producers Paul Jabara and…
Do The (Salsoul) Hustle: Big Break Celebrates Salsoul Records Legacy with Four Reissues
By 1975, Philadelphia soul had become too big even for the City of Brotherly Love. In the first half of the decade, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff had, along with the third member of their Mighty Three, Thom Bell, reinvented the sound of soul music. The Pennsylvania city had become synonymous with sweeping strings, punchy horns and the hi-hat cymbal of drummer Earl Young, offering up music that could be dramatic, sweet and funky, sometimes all within the same three-minute song! Bell had long kept a foot outside the Philadelphia International Records…
