Welcome to the world of Brave Combo. Inside this package you’ll find music for listening and/or dancing including polka, cha-cha, cumbia, tango, hora, oberek and rhumba-rock. We hope you enjoy our sound, ’cause we enjoy making it. And don’t forget to look at the moon occasionally.
1. A Night On Earth (Finch/No Class Music, BMI)
This is a song about observing some ordinary aspects of life. And it’s a two-step (popular C&W dance).
2. Don’t Ever Dance With Maria (Hernandez-Carter/Don Cenobio Music, BMI)
We used to play this as a samba, but it was too cluttered that way. Now I guess it’s Latin rock with a guaguanco feel.
3. Hora Bailik (public domain)
A folk dance group from Austin turned us on to this Israeli song. The dance that it accompanies looks great. Everyone grabs hands and forms a single long line that spirals into a tight circle, moving with a stalking kind of bounce.
4. Do Something Different (Finch/No Class Music, BMI)
Basic Brave Combo attitude (we do read our mail, however). It’s a polka and we play it Chicago-style.
5. Two Marys (public domain)
This is an oberek, which is a heavy Eastern European dance in 3/4 time. So you can waltz to it, too. We don’t know what or who the title refers to, but we assume their names are Mary.
6. Dulcecita (Hernandez/Don Cenobio Music, BMI)
Mexican rhumba bubblegum rock. It means “little candy”.
7. Jealousy (Gade-Bloom/Harms, Inc., ASCAP)
This may be the most famous tango of all time and a song of pure passion. We hope our performance is a worthy one, ’cause we turned the lights down in the studio and everything.
8. Laura (Hernandez/Don Cenobio Music, BMI)
Bubba writes songs about girls and women a lot. This is a good example and it’s also a hard driving cha-cha.
9. What Is This Darkness? (Finch/No Class Music, BMI)
This is about fear of fear. Maybe things are not all bad all of the time. When we perform this live we usually follow it with something light and peppy.
10. Italian Medley #1 (public domain)
Viva Italia! Lots of Italian polka tunes strung together and played fast. This song is too hard to play live. Sorry.
11. Italian Medley #2 (Leeds/ASCAP)
Viva Italia again! More great Italian melodies. This time arranged by Tony Murena and Dominic Cortese. Party, party, party! This one is easy to play live. Don’t hesitate to ask.
12. Hey There (Adler-Ross/ASCAP)
We learned this cha-cha from an old Peggy Lee album, Latin A La Lee. It’s originally from the Broadway hit, The Pajama Game.
13. Linda Guerita (Hernandez-Finch/Don Cenobio Music, BMI)
Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s cumbia time!
14. Saxophone, Why Do You Weep? (Ratinho – Irmaos Vitale)
This is a choro, a Brazilian musical style which means “cry.” We play it Bossa-Nova-like and it seems an appropriate tune to end on. Goodnight, earth people. Extra Musicians
Mike Dillon miscellaneous percussion an backing vocals on “Italian Medley #2;” bongos and miscellaneous percussion on “Hey There;” timbales, congas and miscellaneous percussion on “Linda Guerita;” bongos and miscellaneous percussion on “Saxophone, Why Do You Weep?”
Joe Cripps congas and miscellaneous percussion on “Laura”
Mark Prather trumpet on “Do Something Different”