Dancing With Ros

by Tony Wilds Dancing was released smack in the middle of Edmundo Ros' least exciting period but, nevertheless, the album has lots of charm. To start, the liner notes are a tongue-in-cheek gas. "Toku" is a rumba by Lecuona and belongs to the great unsung hybrid idiom of "Japanese Latin" (here done by a Venezuelan in England, but no matter). "Pao Pao Cha Cha Cha" is musically Latin but vocally more Brazilian, punctuated as it is with "pows" in a lively, Esquivel-esque way. (There is much precedent for "paos" in samba, as samba fan Ros of course knew.) While the sound and recording is standard dance orchestra fare, Ros sneaks in further moments of inspiration. "Rio Brazil" is very lively, and above most of Ros' other sambas, deserves to have been covered by other artists or remade in the later London Phase 4 period. Dancing is, predictably, high-quality -- if dated -- dance music, but with a few moments to intrigue passive listeners. And those liner notes!