Spellbinder is an album by Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó featuring performances recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.Impulse! Records discography accessed March 31, 2011 The album contains "Gypsy Queen" which was covered as a medley with Fleetwood Mac's "Black Magic Woman" by Santana on their 1970 Abraxas album. This album reached No. 140 on 1967/01/28 on Billboard 200.
Reception The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars stating "Szabo's read on jazz in the '60s was brilliant. He embodied all of its most popular aspirations with a genuine spirit of innovation and adventure. Spellbinder is a masterpiece".Jurek, T. Allmusic Review accessed March 31, 2011
Track listing All compositions by Gábor Szabó except as indicated "Spellbinder" – 5:30 "Witchcraft" (Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh) – 4:39 "It Was a Very Good Year" (Ervin Drake) – 2:47 "Gypsy Queen" – 5:13 "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" (Sonny Bono) – 2:28 "Cheetah" – 4:10 "My Foolish Heart" (Ned Washington, Victor Young) – 5:28 "Yearning" – 2:59 "Autumn Leaves/Speak to Me of Love" (Joseph Kosma, Jacques Prévert, Johnny Mercer/Jean Lenoir) – 3:35
Personnel Gábor Szabó – guitar, vocals Ron Carter – bass Chico Hamilton – drums Willie Bobo, Victor Pantoja – percussion
Charts Album – Billboard YearChartPosition1967/03/18Billboard Best Selling Jazz LP's2
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