1970 Virgilio Armas Trio “De Repente” on A & B Discos.

Smoking/slick Venezuelan Balanco-style piano trio with a serious latin groove. If you wanted to buy this wax back in the day, you had to go to the Juan Sebastian Bar in Caracas, order a few stiff ones, and buy it from the bartender. Which is why you don’t see it around much in the bins of Cleveland. Armas has a nice light and fluid touch, switching from electric to acoustic piano with either hand, and the result is a little bit of Ra interlude-ing with the left hand noodling and right all heavy Steinway chords. Rodolfo Buenaño is a rock on the stand-up, and Guillermo Tariba can borrow my congas any time.

It’s mainly covers, no doubt to appease a half-lit bar crowd, but they feel like interpretations instead of handing slices of cake to the audience. Tunes by Ellington, Wes, Jobim, Oliver Nelson, and two from the mighty Errol Garner, which is a ballsy choice for a piano player. What was it like bar-side in Caracas in ’70? You definitely get a Baller Bossa glimpse, and a distinctively Venezuelan rhythmic style, and that’s what I love about this wax. I guess there’s now a Canadian RE, so as always kudos to the good people of Canada for spreading the groove.