Luis Gasca (born March 3, 1940) – Little Mama (1972)
Gasca's second solo LP For Those Who Chant included this amazing jazz-funk jam featuring Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, Carlos Santana, and Joe Henderson.
Luis Gasca was the longtime trumpeter for Mongo Santamaria. He released several of his own solo albums from the late sixties to mid-70s, all of them featuring top-notch lineups and expertly blending jazz, soul and funk.
Gasca’s trumpet work with Mongo Santamaria shone on funky tracks like his cover of “Cloud Nine” (1969) by the Temptations, a breakbeat classic, from Santamaria’s seminal, proto-funk Stone Soul LP. His trumpet licks exploded on Carlos Santana’s superb cover of Tito Puente’s “Para Los Rumberos” off the album Santana (1971).
Gasca joined Janis Joplin's band in the late sixties, and later appeared on notable albums by Jefferson Airplane, Van Morrison, Joe Henderson, George Benson, and Tito Puente. His first solo LP The Little Giant was released in 1969 with a stellar lineup of Hubert Laws on flute, Joe Henderson playing tenor sax, and Herbie Hancock on piano.
In 1972, Gasca released his second solo LP, For Those Who Chant. It included the truly amazing jazz-funk jam “Little Mama,” which he wrote. He produced the entire record and wrote or co-wrote all of its tracks.
The album’s personnel featured bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Lenny White, Carlos Santana and Neal Schon on guitar, Gregg Rolie on keyboards, Joe Henderson playing tenor sax, Coke Escovedo on timbales, and a rare appearance by Hadley Caliman playing flute.
Forty years after its release, Gasca posted a short essay on his blog in 2012 about For Those Who Chant:
The 70's were an amazing time for everyone! Women were becoming liberated, the sexual energy that had started with the hippies in the 60's was cranking up even higher, drugs were everywhere, and the music reflected those changes.
My album was a hip funky blend of jazz rock and latin beats played by some of the greatest musicians of the time! Joe Henderson Carlos Santana Noel Schon Coke Esocvedo George Cables Rico Reyes Greg Rolle Mark Levine and of course me...Luis Gasca!
Even now when I listen to this album I think it is an amazing awesome blend of music that has worn well over the years and doesn't sound dated. But then again we weren't worried about labels or "genre's" then it was the 70's and it was about the music.
#jazz #funk #LuisGasca