5.21.2007

Still Trusting Jesus




Sam Saltar Still Trusting Jesus LP (Glory, 197? )

If you are a regular visitor to this and other blogs that feature odd private pressings, I am sure you have figured out that the world of Christian music is rich with vinyl wonders. Like most genres, the further away you get from the mainstream, business-oriented songsters and closer to DIY artists, the more creative the music tends to be. There is also the greater chance that you get to stumble upon something unique, something special.

Say hello to Sam Saltar. A professional trombonist from the age 16, Saltar played with big bands lead by Stan Kenton, Ralph Marterie, Ted Weems and others. He also had gigs backing Judy Garland, Liberace, Tony Bennett, Lucille Ball, and many other stars. Then one day he got sick of the "fast track" and dedicated his life to spreading the Good Lord's word via the trombone.

At first listen, Saltar's music isn't strange. It is slow and dreamy, but you've might have heard similar sounds in movie soundtracks of the 1950s or tagged on a light jazz album. Lurking just below the surface there is literally something that makes this record one of a kind. Because Saltar is a horn player and the name artist on this record, his trombone dominates the mix. However this is a religious record and I am sure the producer or Saltar felt an obligation to have vocals on it. Rather than give the vocalists a spot high up in the recording, the vox are buried. They aren't buried enough for one not to hear them on first listen, but they are far enough down in the mix that it creates an atmosphere that combined with the slow tempo and the long, sad notes of the horn is ghost like. The more times I listen to these songs the more fascinated I am by them (though, I should note, that I am sucker for recordings that sound like all the people playing on them are dead, or, rather, have died).

Saltar was living in Garland, Texas at the time of this recording and, from what I have gathered, he is still alive and well preaching the Gospel in the Dallas area. There is no date on this record, but by the style of Sam's dress, I'd guess early Seventies.


# posted by Scott Soriano : 19:54
Comments:
thank you for the review my boy. coincidentally i died two weeks ago but feel like i've gone to heaven now that you've recognized the ethereal qualities of my bone and late wife's haunting vocals. she was a real haint. you were right about the vocals...they were buried...and now so am i along with mr. bone waiting to blow for st. gabriel in that celestial swingin' outfit called heaven...and i hope to see you up there looking through the golden record bins, there are quite a few yet undiscovered areas of interest up here...it's not true that you can't take it with you...we are allowed only as many possessions as we can carry and judy, besides the huge bottle of bennies which she brought that miracally becomes replenished every time it is emptied, brought old SS's disc...That's right,SS, I am your father...you see, everyone who dies and comes here is assigned a special friend not yet ready to leave the earthly confines to guide and to keep tabs on via the rSS feeds that we're issued. and when you became haunted by my record and brought it back to life via your blog (blogs are very important up here) i received a google alert and saw that you would need extra help because of your un-supernatural attachment to our legacies, and although you will be well-suited up here to more than handle yourself in the parlor with your pretersupernatural knowledge of
some of our residents and their vanity projects, we think that you need not be so concerned, and would like you to let us remain at peace and IF YOU DISCOVER AND ENJOY OUR MEMENTOS, FOR THAT IS ONLY WHAT THEY ARE, PLEASE ONLY ENJOY THEM FOR YOURSELF. the lord is offended by such blatant disregard for his most difficult sin: BLOGBOASTING. HE prefers that you write about already popular groups or that you go over to the other side as you have begun, completely, with your flirtation with the uberunhip BOTB Klan of Lethe: they have received (and not RSVPd) our LORD's personal invitation to DJ at his upcoming rededication ceremony...be careful SS: it is a wicked world and all the more for the wickedness yet unfound and undiscovered: remember what your father has said and throw away the record, always remember to throw away the record...

SS Still trusting JeSuS: Glory 197???????????????????????????
your word verification in its ghastly shade of green spells out the time of your transition date to my into my care: i cannot tell you what it says only that it is a legend of eight alphanumerical charachters and that there are included two of the letters of which we have in common...
# posted by Blogger Unknown : 03:17
 
First glance I thought it said "Sweet Twisting Jesus"
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 21:25
 
Wow - what a rush to see your father's Album on the web! Dad is in his late 70's, still serving the Lord and still playing his trombone...it's sweeter than ever...and he's releasing another CD!

It's amazing - both he and Tony Bennett (who he used to play for) are still going strong. One still in Show Business, the other in God's Business.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 18:01
 
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