Alberto Socarras - "Socarras his magic flute" - 1956

Latin Impressions by Socarras his magic flute

1956 Decca vinyl LP

Alberto Socarras: born in Manzanillo, Cuba - clarinet, flute, alto and soprano sax, bandleader.

(1908 - 1987)

Maestro Alberto Socarras is credited with recording the first real jazz flute piece in 1927. Socarras was a highly proficient Cuban clarinetist, and bandleader, who after his arrival in New York, performed with Lew Leslie's Blackbirds, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong.
In 1938, Alberto Socarras led the Cuban all Womens 'Orq. Anacaona', taking the band to Paris & London.Though his place in jazz history may be just a footnote, Alberto Socarras played a vital role in the development and nurturing of Latin jazz in its original stages.

Some may find this 1956 LP "Latin Impressions by Socarras his magic flute" to sound "corny", but if you listen closely to his flute playing & arrangements, you hear just what real "technique" he played with and what a "wizard" he was.
Alberto Socarras was a master of "solffeggio" (solfège) and taught solffeggio privately in his apartment in New York City well into the 1970's.

These are two songs with El Maestro Socarras playing flute & clarinet, recorded in 1935, not on the above LP.

Masabi
1935


Pacto Con El Diablo
1935