2+2 (album)

2+2
Studio album by Clare Fischer
Released	February 1981
Recorded	September 1980
Studio	Capitol (Hollywood)
Genre	Latin jazz
Label	Pausa Records PR 7086
Clare Fischer chronology
Alone Together (1980) 2+2 (1981) Machaca (1981)

2+2 is an eponymous album of a vocal quartet called 2+2 with music by the Latin jazz ensemble known as Salsa Picante that was led by the American keyboardist/composer-arranger Clare Fischer. It was recorded in September 1980 and released in February 1981 by Pausa Records, and in Germany on the MPS label, as Foreign Exchange – The First Album. Tracks 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 would be reissued on CD in 1999, and as a digital download in 2012, as Latin Patterns, a compilation of remastered highlights from four of Fischer's MPS LPs from this period.

The album represents a number of firsts for Fischer, including his first Grammy (specifically, the album's final track, "Guajira Pa' La Jeva", named 1981's Best Latin Recording), as well as a pair of recording debuts, first, that of 2+2, the vocal quartet with which Fischer supplemented his Latin jazz ensemble (thus tying together two key components of his wide-ranging musical universe), and, of equal if not greater import, that of his son Brent Fischer, marking the beginning of a fruitful – and more than three-decade-long – professional association.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times jazz critic Leonard Feather awarded the album four stars, making particular note of the album's seamless blend of vocal and instrumental units:

Their blend is splendid, they are at times expertly integrated with the band through Fischer's compositions, lyrics and arrangements; and they are quadrilingual, starting in German and proceeding to English, Spanish and doo-be-doo, the Esperanto of jazz. The rhythm, generally timbales-oriented, could have used more bottom. Darlene Koldenhoven, the lead soprano, is a striking discovery.

Track listing

All songs composed by Clare Fischer except where noted.

Side A

1. "Du, Du...." (trad./arr. Clare Fischer) – 5:57
2. "Legacy" – 2:35
3. "Morning" – 3:36
4. "Guajira Pa' La Jeva" (words – Jose "Perico" Hernandez, music – Poncho Sanchez and Clare Fischer) – 4:30

Side B

1. "Leavin'" – 3:25
2. "Funquiado" – 6:46
3. "Thru the Ages" – 4:21
4. "Melancolico" (words – Barbara Ransom, music – Clare Fischer) – 7:07

External audio
You may listen to "Du, Du...." here

Personnel

• Clare Fischer – leader, Fender-Rhodes electric piano, Yamaha EX-42 organ, Yamaha YC-30 combo organ
• Gary Foster – flute and soprano sax; on side A (tracks 2 & 3) and side B (tracks 1 & 3) – sopranino and alto sax, plus sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, bass and grand bass recorders
• John Chiodini – electric guitar; on side A (tracks 2 & 3) and side B (tracks 1 & 3) – acoustic guitar and hollow-bodied electric guitar
• Poncho Sanchez – conga, bongo, campana
• Ramon Banda (only on side A, tracks 1 & 4, and side B, track 2 & 4) – clave
• Alex Acuña (only on side A, tracks 1 & 4, and side B, track 2 & 4) – timbales, percussion
• Roland Vazquez (only on side A, tracks 1 & 4, and side B, track 2 & 4) – drums
• Brent Fischer – electric bass
• Oscar Meza – string bass
• Luis Conte (only on side A, tracks 2 & 3, and side B, track 1 & 3) – timbales, percussion
• Andre Fischer (only on side A, tracks 2 & 3, and side B, track 1 & 3) – drums
• José "Perico" Hernandez – guest vocalist on A4 and B4
• Darlene Koldenhoven – lead soprano
• Mary Hylan – second soprano (sings lead on first bridge of "Morning," rock section of "Thru the Ages," and first part of "Guajira")
• Amick Byram – tenor (solo on "Leavin'")
• John Laird – baritone