Herbie Mann spent much of his career at Atlantic, which he signed with in the early 1960s and recorded for until 1985. The flutist provided a very wide variety of music during his long stay at Atlantic; this rewarding 1962 LP found him combining bop with various forms of world music. Mann has long been famous for his love of Brazilian music, and that interest serves him well on the charming "Borquinho" and Luiz Bonfa's "Manha de Carnaval," as well as two Antonio Carlos Jobim pieces: "Desafinado" (a major hit for Stan Getz in the early 1960s) and "Meditation." But Mann goes for more of an Afro-Cuban flavor on his exuberant "Free for All" and Lester Young's "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid," and he successfully incorporates elements of Jewish and Middle Eastern music on the moody "Challil." Now for the bad news: like so many of Mann's Atlantic dates, Right Now has long been out of print and has yet to be reissued on CD. ~ Alex Henderson
