LP/ Digital
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"Soundmusication" (Sono-115)
Spiritual Jazz LP 1980
July 08, 2022

LP/ Digital
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"Maskerade" (Sono-116)
Fusion/ Spiritual Jazz LP 1974
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"Meets The World" (Sono-117)
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Who knows when?

CD & Vinyl-LP: Sonorama C-20/ L-20

CARLOS FRANZETTI – GRAFITTI

* = previously unreleased bonus tracks, recorded 1977 at

All music composed and arranged by Carlos Franzetti, published by Pototo Music/ Edition Sonorama (AMV Talpa)

Carlos Franzetti: acoustic piano, fender rhodes, moog syntheziser, prophet 5, vocals
Dick “Taco” Meza: soprano sax and flute, Victor Venegas: electric bass, Chris Hill: drums
Ray Mantilla: congas and percussion
Recorded at Vanguard Studios NYC July 1977
Recording engineer: Jeff Zaraya
Produced by Carlos Franzetti and Daniel Weiss except *:
Carlos Franzetti: arranger, acoustic piano, fender rhodes, moog syntheziser
Karl Ratzer: electric guitar, Anthony Jackson: electric bass, Steve Gadd: drums (on „Rhumba Dreams“)
Casey Conrad: drums (on „Guajira Without Words“), Ray Mantilla: congas
Guilherme Franco: percussion, Many Gutierrez: timbales, Tony Cofresi: trumpet
Bobby Frank: trumpet, Keith O’Quinn: trombone, Ion Muniz: flute and tenor sax
Wilfred Velez: baritone sax, Gene Orloff:  string contractor
Recorded at Blank Tapes Studios NYC November 1977
Recording engineer:  Bob Blank
Produced by Carlos Franzetti

When DJ Sellout found a copy of this original 1977 US LP-release recently in a local thrift store here in Germany for 50 cents, his collector friends and Sonorama label mates Ekkehart and Carsten immediately were interested. Although they hadn`t known the album previously, after doing a bit of research and contacting artist and composer Carlos Franzetti in the US they started to realize that an outstanding reissue was on its way. In addition to a first ever re-release of the complete material from the out of print album “Grafitti”, Sonorama Records is proud to present two previously unreleased bonus tracks from the archives of Carlos Franzetti. Collectors and DJs will hopefully agree that this is a truly great “jazz-funk-latin-disco-fusion” record, with a mesmerizing musical mixture and quality that is far ahead of its time. Thanks Carlos!

(Sonorama, March 2007)


1977 was my second year of life in America after coming from Argentina and settling in New York in 1975.  At first, music opportunities were not what I had hoped they would be, and I had to quickly learn new styles of music in order to survive, work and pay the rent. That’s how a classically trained pianist starts playing salsa, club dates, Greek music and hundreds of other different genres. Of course, my main interest was to play jazz - and what a scene New York was for jazz in the seventies! I was very fortunate that eventually I started gigging with some great musicians such as Ray Barretto, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Joe Farrell and others. After a while I had the chance to make two records. “Grafitti”, originally recorded in 1977, came as an offer from producer Daniel Weiss to do a recording combining Jazz, Latin, funk and Disco! The band I used were the musicians with whom I had been playing all those different styles of music which I mentioned before. They were able to cut into that conglomeration of music styles with ease and artistry. The budget only allowed us to record the entire album in six hours, including some overdubs, but I remember that recording this music was a lot of fun with plenty of drive and energy. 

Later, my musical life went in other directions which led me into arranging for well-known artists, movie scoring, classical composition and, yes, some more jazz playing. Grafitti went into hibernation until a few years ago when a track from the album, “Cocoa Funk,” was included in a compilation disc by a UK label. All of a sudden, the original and very scarce Grafitti LPs started selling for top dollars via internet auctions and became some sort of cult classic amongst  collectors. The fact that “Grafitti” is being re-released by Sonorama Records after thirty years makes me think that what we recorded on that summer afternoon back in 1977 not only had the essence to survive but also to interest new generations of listeners. The added bonus tracks, “Rhumba Dreams” and “Guajira Without Words,” were recorded a few months after “Grafitti”. They were part of a Latin jazz project that was never released, so this is their world premiere on disc. I’m very happy that Sonorama Records is releasing this old friend named Grafitti! Carlos Franzetti

(New Jersey February 12, 2007)