Mandrill's first album, recorded on Polydor records in 1971 at New York City's Electric Lady Studios, features the electrifying instrumental "Mandrill". This song captures the feel called "Bush" a term coined by the Wilson brothers
Mandrill: Louis Wilson, Richard Wilson, Carlos Wilson, Omar Mesa, Claude "Coffee" Cave, Fudgie Kaem, Neftali Santiago.
Mandrill's first record is one of the truly unique opuses of the late '60s hippie scene. They have a sound of their own but if you like early Santana, War, Sly, and the more high-energy late '60s-to-early-'70s hippie music in general, there's very little chance of not enjoying this. And how many rock bands have a horn section and a vibraphone player anyway outside the Zappa Universe? Excellent guitar player named Omar and a great singing voice on whoever the singer is in the band too (one of the Wilson Brothers?) two notches above Greg Rollie for sure. "Mandrill" would rate 4 stars but I automatically take one star off any record that mentions the words "Peace" and "Love" more than ten times in 2 minutes.(H.Tuco)
Mandrill - Mandrill (1970)
The 1970 debut from New York City-based Psych/Latin/funk/jazz-rock group Mandrill is perhaps the best of the Latin rock "bandwagon" albums to emerge in the wake of Santana's massively successful 1969 Woodstock appearance. The eponymous first cut is a furiously grooving mix of driving Santana-esque rhythms and blaring Tower of Power/early Chicago-style horns. From there, however, the group for the most part leaves behind the "Soul Sacrifice" fixation and flirts with a wide variety of styles. Although the band generally lacks the virtuosity of its West Coast counterparts, Mandrill manages to forge a distinctive sound with loads of energy and creativity. The album's first side explores hard-edged San Francisco/Texas psychedelic blues (guitarist Omar Mesa at times sounding like a combination of Jorma Kaukonen and Fever Tree's Michael Knust), Motown (on "Symphonic Revolution"), and Cream-style jazz-rock improvisation. Side two contains "Peace and Love," the requisite multi-movement "piece," which thankfully emphasizes real composition over noodly jamming. Although the work basically consists of several different tunes glued together, it comes off fairly seamlessly, in the end tackling everything from faux salsa to gospel with equal aplomb. Overall, Mandrill is one of the great, underrated hippie records, complete with one of the coolest album covers of the period. Recorded at the then brand new Electric Lady studios, it is highly recommended for fans of Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Steppenwolf, and the like. — Pemberton Roach
The 1970 debut from New York City-based Psych/Latin/funk/jazz-rock group Mandrill is perhaps the best of the Latin rock "bandwagon" albums to emerge in the wake of Santana's massively successful 1969 Woodstock appearance. The eponymous first cut is a furiously grooving mix of driving Santana-esque rhythms and blaring Tower of Power/early Chicago-style horns. From there, however, the group for the most part leaves behind the "Soul Sacrifice" fixation and flirts with a wide variety of styles. Although the band generally lacks the virtuosity of its West Coast counterparts, Mandrill manages to forge a distinctive sound with loads of energy and creativity. The album's first side explores hard-edged San Francisco/Texas psychedelic blues (guitarist Omar Mesa at times sounding like a combination of Jorma Kaukonen and Fever Tree's Michael Knust), Motown (on "Symphonic Revolution"), and Cream-style jazz-rock improvisation. Side two contains "Peace and Love," the requisite multi-movement "piece," which thankfully emphasizes real composition over noodly jamming. Although the work basically consists of several different tunes glued together, it comes off fairly seamlessly, in the end tackling everything from faux salsa to gospel with equal aplomb. Overall, Mandrill is one of the great, underrated hippie records, complete with one of the coolest album covers of the period. Recorded at the then brand new Electric Lady studios, it is highly recommended for fans of Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Steppenwolf, and the like. — Pemberton Roach
mandrill today
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