I Like to Riff

I Like to Riff was the first recording by the Minneapolis jazz vocal trio Rio Nido, released in 1978. The original LP was long out-of-print until re-released on CD in 2007 by the Japanese label, Bittersweet America.

Track listing

 * 1) "Minnie the Moocher's Wedding Day" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) (From a Cab Calloway Cotton Club revue. Arrangement by Connie Boswell and The Boswell Sisters - 1932)
 * 2) "The Trouble With Me is You" (Pinky Tomlin and Harold Tobias) (From a recording of the Nat King Cole Trio - 1941)
 * 3) "In Walked Bud" (Thelonious Monk, lyrics by Jon Hendricks)
 * 4) "Hannah in Savannah" (Grace Leroy Kahn) (From a recording of Al Jolson's last USO tour)
 * 5) "Wacky Dust" (Oscar Levant and Stanley Adams) (Adapted from a recording of the Chick Webb Orchestra with Ella Fitzgerald - 1938. Additional lyrics by Sparks, Lieberman, and Tim Gadban.)
 * 6) "Gone" (Austin Powell) (Recorded by The Cats and the Fiddle - 1941) Horn arrangement by Tim Sparks
 * 7) "I Like to Riff" (Nat King Cole)
 * 8) "Shanghai Lil" (Harry Warren and Al Dubin)) (Introduced by James Cagney in the Busby Berkeley film '"Footlight Parade" - 1933)
 * 9) "Most Gentlemen Don't Like Love" (Cole Porter) (From the 1938 Broadway musical "Leave it to Me")
 * 10) "The Man With the Jive" (Stuff Smith) (From a recording by Stuff Smith and His Onyx Club Orchestra - 1938.) Horn arrangement by Tim Sparks
 * 11) "Crazy People" ("Ragtime" Jimmy Monaco and Edgar Leslie) (Arrangement by Connee Boswell and The Boswell Sisters, featured in "The Big Broadcast of 1932")

Personnel

 * Prudence Johnson - vocals
 * Tim Sparks - vocals, guitar
 * Tom Lieberman - vocals, guitar
 * Eddie Berger - alto sax, baritone sax, soprano sax, clarinet
 * Butch Thompson - clarinet
 * Jim Price - fiddle
 * Hearn Gadbois - conga
 * Willie Murphy - bass
 * Gary Raynor - bass
 * Steve Benson - bass sax
 * Peter Ostroushko - mandolin

Production notes

 * Produced by Rio Nido
 * Executive producer - Charlie Campbell
 * Technical assistant - Tim Ackerman
 * Engineered and mixed by Dave Ray, Chris Hinding and Michael McKern
 * Artwork by John Hanson
 * Photography by Matt Spector and Dennis Widstrand