BENITEZ AND NEBULA

'Night Life / Essence Of Life'

NEW CD Digipack

2 tremendous 70s albums from Eddie Benitez -- both of them a great mix of jazz, funk, and Latin soul! Eddie's style here is totally great, and very unique -- a laidback approach to the groove that has echoes of the Chicano soul coming out of LA in the early 70s -- but which is often a lot more fluid, and with strongly jazzy overtones on guitar. Most numbers feature great organ or keyboards -- really setting up the flow of the record nicely -- and there's almost a Santana-inspired quality to some of the tracks -- but one that really goes back towards Latin music much more strongly, thanks to lots and lots of heavy congas and percussion! CD version features 19 tracks from both albums -- with titles that include "Nightlife", "Viejo", "We Are The One", "Hey Girl", "Dreams Can Come True", "Love's Way", "Waiting For Your Love", "Anyone", "Essence Of Life", "Latin Thing", "Hermano", and "Nueva Generacion".

Eddie Benitez's story is full of contrasts: a classical trained child prodigy turned Latin Rock superstar while hanging out in his teen years with the likes of Charlie Palmieri (his guardian angel, as he still names him), Louie Ramirez, Tito Puente and pretty much all the crew from the Fania All-Stars... and making a name for himself while at it. His debut album on Fania, ¿Night Life," brought him to the spotlight in 1976, earning his band Nebula rave reviews and the props of many of his peers, including names like George Benson, Al DiMeola and Carlos Santana. He also has the distinction of being the first Latino act ever to be featured at the mythical CBGB's. His career, not to mention his life, was screech halted twice, first with cancer and most recently this past November when a massive heart attack almost swept him from us. But here he is back,on his own, back with his band Nebula and, sooner than you may expect, back with a brand new project. 1973 marks the year when the first incarnation of Eddie¿s band, Benitez & Nebula, comes to surface. At 13 years old back then, Eddie¿s first band consisted of Gregory Hernandez on congas, Louis Castro on timbales, Jimmy Cruz on drums and vocals, Bob Farian on keyboards and Victor Rodriguez on bass and lead vocals. With a few additions to the band¿s original core, most significantly the presence of the late Nancy O¿Neill on lead vocals and, for studio purposes, the then up-and-coming Ruben Blades on background vocals and the virtuoso team of Nicky Marrero (a key member of the Fania All-Stars and one of the most influential percussionists of all times) and the late Frankie Malabe (a revered conga stylist and innovator as well as a stalwart of the essential Alegre All-Stars in the 60¿s and early 70¿s), Benitez & Nebula record their debut album ¿Night Life¿ in 1976. Produced by late studio wizard Louie Ramirez, one of Latin music¿s most creative and complete gentlemen, this June ¿76 release left an impressive mark, especially on the West Coast¿s Latin rock circuit, where Nebula claims their slice of the cake in a market headed by the likes of Carlos Santana himself. Between ¿Night Life¿ and Nebula¿s second release, ¿Essence of Life¿ lays a three-year hiatus, yet the band never stopped touring and playing the rock circuits. By the time ¿Essence of Life¿ is recorded, Nebula had already undergone a critical lineup change. Because of disciplinary problems, the original band was dismissed, only remaining Greg Hernandez and Nancy O¿Neill from the original band. The remaining band would now consist of keyboard/trombone player Johnny Caro, Nancy¿s brother Dino Cedeno on vocals, drummer Joe DiCarlo, Tommy Hebb on bass, Jose Morales on timbales and additional keyboard player Larry Dvoskin. Former band member Jimmy Cruz doubles on background vocals for this album as well. Currently, Eddie Benitez is closely associated with George Benson¿s productions and is currently, by the time these lines are written, pre-producing an upcoming new project to be released soon with projected guest performances by pop icon Prince and Benson.

Tracks list
1. NightLife
2. Mariposa
3. Viejo
4. I'm So Sad
5. We Are The One
6. Hey Girl
7. Dreams Can Come True
8. Love's Way
9. Waiting For Your Love
10. Anyone
11. Essence of Life
12. You Make Me Feel
13. Eternal Paradise
14. Seven Ways
15. Latin Thing
16. Souls Ecstasy
17. Wonderful
18. Hermano
19. Nueva Generacion

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