New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Omnivore Recordings will release Purveyor of Balladry: The Best of Nino Tempo on Atlantic, a compilation of the multi-talented musician's 1990s recordings for Atlantic Records, on April 13, 2018.
Nino Tempo has had a storied and varied career in the entertainment business. He was a musical prodigy, winning a national talent show for his singing at four years of age. A few years later, he took up the clarinet, inspired to learn the instrument after a brief stint singing with Benny Goodman's band. Less than a year later (at the age of 10), Nino added the saxophone to his musical arsenal after hearing recordings of Charlie Parker. He was also an actor in a number of movies, notably alongside Jimmy Stewart in The
Glenn Miller Story (1953).
In the early 1960s, Tempo joined the in-demand group of studio musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. It was at a
Bobby Darin recording session that Nino first met Atlantic co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, and a lifelong friendship began.
Along with a new friendship, a recording career was launched as Ertegun signed Nino and his sister, April Stevens, to a recording contract with Atco, a subsidiary of Atlantic. So successful was Nino and April's 1963 duet, "Deep Purple," that the chart-topping, million-selling gold record scored a Best Rock and Roll Recording Grammy® in 1964.
The 1970s found Nino equally active, this time with his band Nino Tempo and 5th Ave. Sax. The group's 1973 hit, "Sister James," has been cited as one of the first instrumental disco records to make the charts. It has since become a Northern Soul favorite. In 1975, Nino's ongoing session work included playing both saxophone and keyboards on John Lennon's Phil Spector-produced album, Rock 'n' Roll.
In 1989, shortly after Ahmet Ertegun's brother Nesuhi passed away, Nino was on hand at Lincoln Center to pay tribute at his memorial service with a stirring rendition of "Darn That Dream." It was that very performance — appearing for the first time on Purveyor of Balladry — that landed Nino Tempo back on the Atlantic Records roster. Omnivore's compilation is drawn from the best of Nino's two Atlantic studio albums.
The collection's title is derived from a comment by jazz critic and author, Leonard Feather. In his review of a 1993 Nino Tempo concert, Feather referred to the sax player as "a purveyor of balladry."
"To my dear friend Nino Tempo," Ahmet Ertegun wrote in 2006, "You have been a major figure in this Atlantic story in many ways: As artist, producer, composer, session player, critic, soloist and as friend and advisor. Thank you for being there, and much love."
Of this release, Tempo says, "My saxophone becomes the little boy in me. It's the window to my soul. Thanks to Omnivore for providing the view."
Track Listing:
1. Darn That
Dream (Live)*
2. This Masquerade (Instrumental-Only Version)*
3. Anyone Who Had A Heart
4. Amazon River (featuring April Stevens)
5. Brazil
6. You Are So Beautiful (featuring Roberta Flack)
7. Bahia Manhattan
8. Call It Love
9. A Theme For Anna
10. 'Round Midnight
11.
Stella By Starlight
12. Suzanne (You Can)
13. Goodbye
*Previously unissued
