Goldenwings, the US debut album from the Uruguayan jazz fusion trio Opa, will finally be available on vinyl again for the first time in nearly 50 years. Craft Recordings and Jazz Dispensary are reissuing the landmark LP on October 18 as part of Jazz Dispensary’s Top Shelf Series.
As with all releases in the Top Shelf Series, which spotlights hand-picked high-quality rarities, the Goldenwings reissue features all-analog mastering by Kevin Gray at Cohearant Audio. It will be pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI and packaged in a tip-on jacket including the original cover art.
Order Opa’s Goldenwings on vinyl now.
Opa began with the musical partnership between brothers Hugo and Jorge Osvaldo Fattoruso. As members of the Beatles-inspired rock band Los Shakers in the 1960s, the Montevideo-based musicians experienced massive success in South America, spearheading the development of the continent’s psychedelic rock scene. Upon the band’s breakup in 1969, the Fattoruso brothers teamed with bassist Hugo “Ringo” Thielmann to form Opa.
As part of the burgeoning jazz fusion genre, Opa blended percolating Latin rhythms, an array of far-out synth sounds, and gorgeous vocal harmonies into a virtuosic new sound. In 1970, the trio moved to New York and launched a residency at the Golden Chariot restaurant, where they came to the attention of Brazilian drummer and percussionist Airto Moreira, who had also recently relocated from South America and become a fixture of American jazz.
Moreira soon recruited Opa as his backing band, featuring them on his records for the CTI label and taking them on tour to massive venues like Madison Square Garden. He also helped them sign to the Fantasy Records subsidiary Milestone and served as producer for the early 1976 sessions that yielded Goldenwings. In addition to the core Opa members and Moreira, the album featured work by guitarist David Amaro and flute and percussion by Brazilian legend Hermeto Pascoal.
Opa would only go on to record one more full-length (1977’s Magic Time) before disbanding in the early ‘80s, but they made their limited discography count. The inspiration captured on Goldenwings has endured across the decades as a vital document of jazz fusion’s peak era.
Order Opa’s Goldenwings on vinyl now.
