Born in Dallas, Texas, Frank LoCrasto grew up far away from an ocean, yet throughout his life, he’s been fascinated by the Caribbean and soulful rhythms that wouldn’t be out of place in any local tiki bar.
While LoCrasto has built a career as both a solo jazz artist and a go-to session player (having recently been featured on albums by the likes of Cass McCombs, Parquet Courts, and Okkervil River), his love of the nostalgic “library music” sound of the 1950s and 1960s has always held great allure, and under the guise Kolumbo, he’s been able to create a contemporary take on those exotic, escapist sounds that transfixed him as a youth.
Sandy Legs is only Kolumbo’s second album following their acclaimed 2022 debut Gung Ho, and here they up the tempo to try and get a conga line going with anyone in earshot. A clear fan of Western exotica champion Les Baxter, LoCastro’s influences take on a variety of styles.
“Les Baxter is a pretty big one for me,” notes LoCastro when discussing his idols with PopMatters. “So is Albert Harris, who was an arranging/orchestrating partner of Baxter’s. In 2020, just as the shutdown started, I acquired copies of a bunch of their scores from Caribbean Moonlight and Jewels of the Sea. Those albums have a huge amount of vibe, especially between the strings, the Hammond Novachord, and the percussion arrangements. Even though those records are characterized as ‘easy listening’, I find the arrangements are challenging and deeply thought out, like Harris’ arrangement of ‘Poinciana‘ from Caribbean Moonlight. The reharmonization is dark and mysterious compared to the more positive vibe the tune typically has. This was inspiring to me and something I strived for when writing/arranging Gung Ho.”
Yet for someone with such a deep understanding of the complexity that goes into arranging pop music, it’s no surprise that LoCastro’s loves go far beyond some obvious lineages. Take his 2022 Aquarium Drunkard session, where he dolled out covers from the likes of the Beach Boys and Stevie Wonder as well as Ryuichi Sakamoto and a wild, fascinating new take on the old jazz standard “Caravan”.
“Yes, ‘Caravan’, an old standby indeed,” jokes LoCastro. “One that I find a lot of my peers who studied jazz stick their noses up at. Understandably, because it’s a tune you learn early on and play a lot in your formative years, which can make one cringe when you learn more tunes and advance as a player. I rolled my eyes a time or two when it was called at a jam session. But I fell back in love with this song when I heard Arthur Lyman’s version from Taboo, mainly the A sections with vibes and the reedy organ playing the melody over the jingle bells and bongos. Also, for a more electric take, Ryo Kawasaki has an amazing arrangement from the early 1980s that’s pretty insane. It’s worth checking out if you’re having “Caravan” PTSD. It was also one of the first songs I arranged for the band when we first assembled in 2015.
“But that aside, direct musical influences that might surprise people… Kolumbo is obviously my exotica outlet. But I have several solo records I’ve released under my own name that cross more into a synthy, drum machine, ambient world. Influences are always evolving, but I absolutely love Jobim. Herbie Hancock is a huge one, Miles Davis, and Oscar Peterson. I also like the Ventures, Nelson Riddle, Santo & Johnny, Walter Wanderly, and, of course, Morricone. I also love [Donald] Fagen’s solo album, The Nightfly, and Inspiration Information by Shuggie Otis; these records never get old. I’ve been really digging Pearl & the Oysters’ latest release.”
While the strength of Gung How was enough to get LoCastro and the crew to tour the outfit for select dates (he notes that headlining shows are rare, but they’ve opened for the likes of Sugar Candy Mountain, Fruit Bats, Babe Rainbow, Cass McCombs, the Allah-Las, and many more), it was seeing that vibe-heavy record in front of an audience that somewhat inspired him and co-producer Robin MacMillan to up the tempo a bit when creating Sandy Legs.
“I think it started from the live shows we were opening,” starts LoCastro as to when the sophomore album writing process began. “We had to really ramp up the energy as we were going from extended compositions and huge ensembles on Gung Ho to a three- or four-piece for the live shows most of the time. It’s not easy to play low-key latin jazz for an audience that’s never heard you that came out to see a rock band. So naturally, I started writing material that would be more adaptable to any size group. I don’t want to say the tunes took a priority of convenience for touring and playing shows; it just sort of fell into place that way.”
That kind of planning through on the title track, which also served as the album’s lead single. Riding a spritely Palm Springs piano bounce with bass and guitar soon joining in behind, it sounds almost exactly like how a mai tai should taste. To the untrained ear, it could absolutely belong on a Les Baxter vinyl, but the instruments and mixing interplay in a way that evokes the past while also ensuring these sounds won’t be lost to contemporary ears.
“I try to be mindful of arrangements with entrances and exits of instruments and parts to give the song shape,” he explains. “One of the things I think makes ‘Sandy Legs’ full-throated with the drums is how the record was tracked. We recorded the whole thing on an eight-track tape machine at my place in Brooklyn. Besides a few dubs added to ‘Night Blooming Jasmine’ in the box, it was all done in a limited format. I think we had three or four mics on the drums that were summed down to one track. So there’s less nuance than if we had put up eight or ten mics. With fewer mics on the kit, hitting one track of tape-recorded mono, you get a different impact than you would with a stereo field.
“I’d say it was more what instruments we took out compared to Gung Ho. Which was really just the orchestra. As far as what instrument is my personal favorite to play? Well … I’m a pianist, and I love playing the piano. That always comes first for me. I love synths and other keyboards, but you can’t really pour your life into a Prophet 5.”
While Sandy Legs isn’t entirely made of new compositions — the track “Spin the Bottle” originally appeared on the soundtrack LoCastro composed for the film Sandbarbut appears in a radically brighter configuration here — it still feels even fresher in approach than Gung Ho. “Riviera”, with its boogie bassline and Brazilian sports whistle rhythms, emanates sunshine.
“This relates to the energy we started bringing to the live shows while touring Gung Ho,” he notes. “The vibe of the band just ramped up over time. I also wanted the next Kolumbo record to be a little less serious and more fun. Exotica music should be fun. It’s like the cartoons of music genres.
And that elaborate guitar solo that launches right before the midway point? “Not a whole lot to say there. It’s the world-famous Al Street on guitar. He crushed that in one take. He’s incredibly versatile and one of the greatest guitar players I’ve ever played with. He’s worked with so many incredible jazz and soul artists. Charles Bradley, Syl Johnson, Irma Thomas, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Bernie Worrell, Lee Fields; I’m honored and grateful he’s down to play.”
Yet for songs so breezy, so calm, so casual, people may be surprised by the sheer amount of time that goes into arranging and mixing these deceptively complex songs. Performing and songwriting are two different skills, but production is its own beast to master, and much blood, sweat, and tears went into making an album that hits the ears so smoothly.
“Of course ,as people who make records, Rob and I always have discussions of what we want the record to sound like sonically,” notes LoCastro on producing. “We constantly return to the Jobim record, Stone Flower. Sonically, that record really does it for us. The separation and space, the use of reverb, simple mic’ing techniques, panning, it also sounds natural. But once we’re actually recording, we’re really just doing our own thing and trying to get the best sounds possible with the equipment we have. And since we tracked it to tape, it was pretty much finished once we recorded everything. I think it took Rob less than a week to mix it.”
Yet now that Sandy Legs is out there in the world, it’s ready for a whole new audience to take it in and a whole new set of concert-goers to ingest Kolumbo’s vacation-core stylings. However, this begs the question: has LoCastro, as the Texas kid who got lost in Exotica records despite being landlocked, ever been able to re-create the beach chair and umbrella drink vibe himself?
“Actually, in 2019, before we made Gung Ho, we played at a resort in Kauai, Hawaii, with Julian Velard for four or five nights,” recalls LoCastro. “It was pretty insane. It was so beautiful there. I’d also love to play in Palm Springs. There’s a place upstate called Tiki Resort in Lake George that would be great, or Kowloon outside of Boston; any of the Trader Vics that are still around would be so fun to play. I have a dream of doing a tiki bar tour, but I’m learning it’s tricky because almost all tiki bars don’t usually have music. Not giving up on it, though!”
Should it ever come to fruition, no worries, Frank: that first drink will be on us.
