{"title":"The Salsoul Orchestra","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe music world's prime disco big band during the late '70s, the Salsoul Orchestra recorded several of the tightest, chunkiest disco themes of the 1970s, both on its own productions and as the backing group for several prime vocalists. Organized by Vincent Montana, Jr. in 1974, the band was an experiment in fusing funk, Philly soul, and Latin music together in a highly danceable discofied style with plenty of room for solos by individual members. With arrangers, conductors, and whole sections of instruments (including up to 18 violinists) contributing to the sound, the Salsoul Orchestra routinely included up to 50 members. Though the Salsoul sound became passé in the wake of disco music's explosion and rapid commercialization during the late '70s, Salsoul was a heavy influence on house music in the 1980s and even the return of disco-inspired electronica during the following decade.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe beginnings of the Salsoul Orchestra (and Salsoul Records) lie with nominal head Vincent Montana, Jr. A longtime jazz vibraphonist, bandleader, and session man with Philly soul groups like Harold Melvin \u0026amp; the Bluenotes, the O'Jays, and the Spinners, Montana dreamed of constructing a large studio orchestra which could fuse polished soul and brassy funk with Latin percussion and live strings. In 1974, he was introduced to local entrepreneurs Joe, Ken, and Stan Cayre (who ran a local Latin music label) by Afro-Cuban pianist Joe Bataan. With their blessing (and financing), Montana spent months recruiting dozens of musicians from the streets and studios of New York -- including more than a half-dozen percussionists alone. The collective recorded three tracks, which impressed Bataan and the Cayres so much that they decided to form a new label -- named Salsoul for its connotations of salsa and soul -- to release a full-length LP.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the original Salsoul Orchestra recordings, \"The Salsoul Hustle,\" was released in mid-1975 and it placed well on the charts. Salsoul's second single, \"Tangerine\" (an unlikely cover of a Jimmy Dorsey tune), hit the Top 20 in early 1976 and pushed the eponymous Salsoul Orchestra LP to number 14 on the album charts. Follow-up singles like \"You're Just the Right Size\" and \"Nice and Nasty\" did moderately well on the charts but soon a glut of similar-sounding material began to flood the market, cheap imitations of the amazing instrumentation of Salsoul Orchestra members -- guitarist and producer Norman Harris, bassist Ronald Baker, drummer Earl Young, arranger Don Renaldo, percussionist Larry Washington, and vocalists Jocelyn Brown, Phyllis Rhodes, Ronni Tyson, Philip Hurt, and Carl Helm. Many Salsoul contributors played on the biggest and best disco tracks of the era, including Trammps, Grace Jones, the Whispers, Loleatta Holloway, and First Choice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSalsoul's third LP, the slightly amusing Christmas Jollies, displayed a predilection towards the growing disco novelty trend. The slip was hardly improved upon with 1977's Cuchi-Cuchi (which teamed the Orchestra with Charo) or 1978's Up the Yellow Brick Road (a takeoff on The Wiz). After disintegrating the Salsoul Orchestra in the early '80s, Vince Montana led the studio group Montana and recorded with several pop stars of the '80s as well as dance inheritors of the '90s like Mondo Grosso and Nuyorican Soul. Though Salsoul records had long been out of print, several were brought back in the mid-'90s, as well as a prescient two-disc retrospective titled Anthology. ~ John Bush, Rovi\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-salsoul-orchestra-christmas-jollies","title":"The Salsoul Orchestra | Christmas Jollies (LP)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003eVinyl LP pressing. Christmas Jollies is the third album released by Vincent Montana Jr. And his first Christmas album. It was recorded and released on Salsoul Records in November 1976. The album includes a few new Christmas tunes, co-written by Vincent Montana Jr. #himself, entitled, \"There's Someone Who's Knocking\". This highly successful album also includes disco renditions of \"The Little Drummer Boy\", \"Sleigh Ride\" and so on, plus the orchestrated instrumental version of \"Silent Night\". Side two is semi-instrumental with two different medleys, such as \"Christmas Medley\" with the family chorus singing and \"New Year's Medley\" with The Salsoul Singers singing in the background.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003eTracklist\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003eA1        The Little Drummer Boy\u003cbr\u003e\r\nA2        Sleigh Ride\u003cbr\u003e\r\nA3        Silent Night\u003cbr\u003e\r\nA4        Merry Christmas All\u003cbr\u003e\r\nA5        Christmas Time    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nA6        There's Someone Who's Knocking\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003eChristmas Medley\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003eB1a        Joy To The World    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB1b        Deck The Halls    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB1c        O Come All Ye Faithful    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB1d        Jingle Bells    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB1e        Hark! The Herald Angels Sing    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB1f        Santa Claus Is Coming To Town    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB1g        The Christmas Song    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB1h        White Christmas    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB1i        Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB1j        I'll Be Home For Christmas    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB1k        Winter Wonderland    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB1l        The First Noël    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB1m        We Wish You A Merry Christmas    \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003eNew Year's Medley\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003eB2a        Auld Lang Salsoul    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB2b        I'm Looking For A Four Leaf Clover    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB2c        Alabama Jubilee    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB2d        Oh, Dem Golden Slippers    \u003cbr\u003e\r\nB2e        God Bless America\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003e*Audio and\/or tracklist may vary slightly from the vinyl version.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size:12px;\"\u003eLabel: Salsoul Records\u003cbr\u003e\r\nRel. Date: 11\/04\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\r\nUPC: 4050538853377\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"152\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/2nEDg0fIQFVbPCcuSNDBpK?utm_source=generator\" style=\"border-radius:12px\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFormat Detail: LP\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGenre: Holiday\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFormat: Vinyl\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReleased: 11\/04\/2022\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"The Salsoul Orchestra","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44376751440105,"sku":"01E2XY-GB1I-00","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0654\/3523\/8633\/files\/the-salsoul-orchestra-christmas-jollies-lp_N5Gds.png?v=1759085501"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0654\/3523\/8633\/collections\/IMG-0199.jpg?v=1730779126","url":"https:\/\/www.vibinvinyl.com\/collections\/the-salsoul-orchestra.oembed","provider":"Vibin' Vinyl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}