Honestly you don't expect to find a near mint beauty like this in thrift store bin, especially this particular thrift store "which will remain nameless", as most of their records are unplayable or water damaged, but not this one.
I also found a copy of Rollins' The Bridge at the same shop. What's new starts off with a fantastic Bossa Nova "If Ever I Would Leave You" with Jim Hall on guitar.
10 minutes plus of Sonny playing over top the light island rhythm is always a good thing, with enough heat to not get monotonous. Sonny's in his "St. Thomas" groove. Candido stops by for track 2, "Jungoso" boils and bubbles with plenty of real Latin heat. Candido's primitive sounding Conga playing and the call and response with Sonny set this apart from your standard bop fare.
The duo really play off of each other to fantastic effect. This is an underrated record for sure, I am really digging it! then back to the main theme and damn is it a
sultry groove.
Side 2 starts with "Bluesongo" again with Candido, this track is a little lighter and about half the length of "Jungoso".
"The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" back with Jim Hall on guitar and Bob Cranshaw on Bass, then finally "Brown Skin Girl" a real Calypso style send up that honestly might be the only track that keeps this Gem from being and absolute masterpiece.
"Brown Skin Girl" seems a little too showy, like the producer needed one last dose of the island, and they darned near jumped the shark with Fonzie.
The final track aside, Sonny is muscular, and so is Candido on the 2 tracks he appears on. You must have What's New if you are smitten with Sonny, I think Sonny's RCA label records are vastly undervalued.
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