(Latin Jazz) Don Ralke And His Orchestra - But You've Never Heard Gershwin With Bongos / The Savage And The Sensuous Bongos - 2008, MP3, 320 kbps

This two-fer from Collectables features a pair of out of print LPs by easy listening arranger, composer, and producer Don Ralke, Gershwin with Bongos and The Savage and the Sensuous Bongos, both originally issued in 1960. These 26 tracks are unique in that the arrangements feature bongos as the prominent instrument. Along with several Ralke originals are such Gershwin standards as "How Long Has This Been Going On," "Summertime," and "I Got Rhythm."
Chances are you've never heard Irving Berlin on kazoo or Cole Porter on washboard, either, yet But You've Never Heard Gershwin with Bongos somehow transcends sheer novelty status. For one thing, it's more than just bongos – Don Ralke's lively big-band arrangements remain true to the traditional Gershwin ethos, buoying indelible melodies like "Love Is Here to Stay" and "They All Laughed." But the title promises bongos, and so bongos you shall have – Ralke somehow manages to adapt the instrument to a surprising variety of settings, and the changes in tempo and context illustrate a flexibility that belies the drum's seeming limitations. "Fascinating Rhythm" indeed. The CD was also reissued on a Collectables label two-fer CD alongside its follow-up The Savage and the Sensuous.