Afro-Latin Music Thread 2010: La Resurrección (salsa, merengue, bachata, reggaeton, cumbia, etc.)

I like how every article about Aventura now has this "and you've probably never heard of them" theme going.

yeah i got stuck on the "- who are they?" in the title for a few minutes

When I reviewed them live for the W. Post several years ago at a 6,000 (?) seat arena I was pleasantly surprised how their bachata came across live. Slightly less syrupy but still pop catchy and the females in the crowd especially loved them.

marc anthony showed up and did aguanile at last night's concert. they also announced a $50k contribution to haiti relief efforts.

Just some Friday evening merengue:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix4JCa24wUo

More: http://arrozconbeans.com/?p=2510

Hi all

A few top 10 2009 lists from Latin Beat magazine

2009 TOP TEN CDS

By Vicki Solá

1. Dave Santiago & Latin Affair/Rumbeando En El Solar/Dave Santiago & Latin Affair
2. Jimmy Bosch/A Millon!/JRGR Records
3. Annette A. Aguilar/The Day Waits For Nobody/Eagle Seeks Salmon Productions
4. Bobby Sanabria & TMSMO/Kenya Revisited Live/Jazzheads
5. Conjunto Imagen/Afinando/Muziq Records
6. La Excelencia/Mi Tumbao Social/Handle with Care Productions
7. Chembo Corniel/Things I Wanted to Do/Chemboro Records
8. Pablo Mayor & Folklore Urbano/Corazón/Chonta Records
9. Choco Orta/Ahora Mismo/Camínalo Records
10. Maña/Estamos Gozando, Vol. 2/Cookita Productions

By Luis Tamargo

1. The Cuban Masters Ensemble/Del Pasado al Presente/Obaniké
2. Mark Levine & the Latin Tinge/Off & On/Left Coast Clave
3. Paquito D'Rivera & WDR Big Band/Improvise-One/Connector
4. Orestes Vilató/It's About Time/Rafca
5. Paquito Hechavarría/Frankly/Calle 54
6. Bebo & Chucho Valdés/Juntos Para Siempre/Calle 54
7. Anacaona/The Buenavista Sisters' Social Club/Pa'ti Pa'mi
8. Various Artists/Samba Meets Boogie Woogie/Adventure Music
9. Andy Narell & Relator/University of Calypso/Heads-Up
10. Perico Hernández/Cuento en Clave/Guarapo

By Rudy Mangual
1. Mario Ortiz All Stars Band/Tributo 45 Aniversario/Zamora Music
2. José Lugo Orchestra/Guasabara/Norte
3. La Excelencia/Mi Tumbao Social/Handle With Care Productions
4. Rubén Blades/Cantares del Subdesarrollo/Rubén Blades Productions
5. Miguel Zenón/Esta Plena/Marsalis Music
6. Latin Giants of Jazz/Ven Baila Conmigo/Gigante
7. Chembo Corniel/Things I Wanted to Do/Chemboro Records
8. Pitingo/Souleria/Universal
9. Choco Orta/Ahora Mismo/Camínalo Records
10. Maña/Estamos Gozando Vol.2/Cookita Productions

By Nelson Rodríguéz
1. Latin Giants of Jazz/Ven Baila Conmigo/Gigante
2. Mario Ortiz All Star Band/Tributo 45 Aniversario/Zamora Music
3. Orquesta America/Siempre a Punto/Lujuria
4. José Lugo Orchestra/Guasabara/Norte
5. Bobby Sanabria & TMSMO/Kenya Revisited/Jazzheads
6. Rigo y su Obra Maestra/Latin Feeling/Obra Maestra
7. Poncho Sánchez/Psychedelic Blues/Concord Picante
8. Jimmy Bosch/A Millon/JRGR
9. Manny Silvera & Origen/Bassed In America/Origen
10. Orestes Vilató/It's About Time/RAF CA

By Elmer González
1. Miguel Zenón/Esta Plena/Marsalis Music
2. Rubén Blades/Cantares del Subdesarrollo/Rubén Blades Productions
3. Mario Ortiz All Stars Band/Tributo 45 Aniversario/Zamora Music
4. Truco y Zaperoko/En Plena Rumba/Lujuria
5. Charlie Sepúlveda/Sepúlveda Blvd./Turnaround
6. Chembo Corniel/Things I Wanted to Do/Chemboro
7. Choco Orta/Ahora Mismo/Caminalo Records
8. Cachete Maldonado/Rumba Boricua Campesina/Bata Records
9. Yan Carlos & Mario Hernández/Recuerdos Que Lleva el Viento/Y.C.Artime
10. Edwin Clemente/Aqui Traigo La Rumba/Lujuria

By Chico Alvarez
1. Mark Weinstein & Omar Sosa/Tales From The Earth/Ota
2. Bobby Sanabria & TMSMO/Kenya Revisited/Jazzheads
3. Henry Brun & The Latin Playerz/Rhythms and Reeds/Pulsar
4. Mimi Jones/A New Day/Hot Tone Music
5. Palo/This is Afro-Cuban Funk/Rolling Pin Music
6. Chembo Corniel/Things I Wanted to Do/Chemboro
7. Mark Levine & The Latin Tinge/Off and On/Left Coast Clave
8. Rolando y Sus Cha-Chamucos/Cha Cha Cheando/RMP
9. Venissa Santi/Bienvenida/Sunnyside
10. Cuban Masters Ensemble/Homenaje a Tata Güines/Obanike

By Jesse "Chuy" Varela
1. Poncho Sánchez/Psychedelic Blues/Concord Picante
2. Brian Lynch Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra/Bolero Nights for Billie Holiday/Venus Records
3. Miguel Zenón/Esta Plena/Marsalis Music
4. Orestes Vilató/It's About Time/Rafca
5. Mark Levine & The Latin Tinge/Off & On/Left Coast Clave
6. Avance/Intocable/Mona Records
7. Various Artists/Jelly's Club Havana Compilation/Jelly's
8. Wayne Wallace/Bien Bien/Patois Records
9. Bobi Cespedes/Patakin/BC
10. Anna Estrada/Obsesion/Feral Flight Productions

By Guido Herrera
1. José Lugo Orchestra/Guasabara/Caminalo Records
2. Latin Giants of Jazz/Ven Baila Conmigo/Gigante Records
3. Bobby Sanabria & TMSM/Kenya Revisited/Jazzheads
4. Mario Ortiz Jr. All Star Band/Tributo 45 Aniversario/ZMG
5. Bebo and Chucho Valdés/Juntos Para SIempre/Calle 54
6. Orestes Vilató/It's About Time/Rafca
7. Tiempo Libre/Bach in Havana/Sony
8. The Cuban Masters Ensemble/Del Pasado al Presente/Obanike Music
9. Chembo Corniel/Things I Wanted to Do/Chemboro Records
10. Perico Hernández/Cuento en Clave/Guarapo Records

We had a great show from La Excelencia and The Big 3 Palladium Orchestra at the Barbican Centre in London on Sunday night. It's a great venue for classical music, not so good for salsa but these two bands rocked the house, the energy from both bands was incredible.

The concert was recorded by the BBC and will be shown alongside the Latin Music USA series the next two Friday nights.... BBC have something called iPlayer on their website so I would guess these concerts might be available to watch there once they've aired. With that in mind I won't spoil things for you, a few highlights to watch for though;

Charlie La Excelencia - the greatest cowbell solo but nearly dropped his stick when he was showboating

American Sueno La Excelencia - highlight of the show

Big 3 doing a great La Cartera & Arsenio con Larry Harlow and Jimmy Bosch

Good review of the "Animals of Cuban Music" dvd here

http://www.timba.com/user_pages/665

I got sent a copy before Christmas, I need to make time to watch it now

Goood for the BBC for broadcasting some live current salsa footage alongside Latin Music USA.

Speaking of Cuban music, I like the first rumba-tinged song here, "Manana," from this Cuban-led timba band in Sweden:

http://www.myspace.com/richardortegaylajugada

The other two I don't care for (okay, I kind of hate the beginning of "No Entiendo"), though they have some good things going for them. The trombone sound is curiously similar to what I associate with Willie Colon, but from what I understand, that's not an intentional resemblance. (Anyway, it's atypical from a timba band, from what I've heard.)

http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/music/latin-world/story/1439969.html

Los Van Van to play Miami. Atmosphere is expected to be less heated and political than for their '90s visit.

bachata, el musical (spanish page) february 20 + 21 in jackson heights, nyc

Bachata is everywhere. I think that Prince Royce guy who does the bachata version of "Stand by Me" is coming to the DC area on Feb. 5 (Majestic in Falls Church, VA)

they have a punk attitude I like

I'm really ambivalent about the talk of La 33's attitude. I agree that salsa needs an approach less cloying than Gilberto Santa Rosa or Victor Manuelle's, but I don't think I am up for salsa with a punk attitude. I like the fact that the bar for technical competence in this genre is set fairly high. (Admittedly, all that technical competence has been leading to disappointing results for a while now. Maybe opening the genre up to more hands would at least lead to something fresher.)

To me all the emphasis on attitude in rock has become detrimental to that genre.

If you were at the Cargo London concert you'd understand, it was probably one of those "you had to be there" moments never to be repeated. I think Maslow calls it the point of self-actualisation.

More Juliana, this one hyper-speedy:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1787799

This song sounds so middle eastern or at least eastern:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujHtmJJndbM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7f5sdw8DAM

Pretty bonkers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/arts/music/28sobs.html?ref=music

I wonder if Unperson saw this Natalie Lafourcade gig?

Unfortunately, no. I didn't find out about it until the morning of, and the idea of an acoustic gig didn't appeal to me much. Had she brought her full band I'd probably have made the effort.

I don't think I am up for salsa with a punk attitude. I like the fact that the bar for technical competence in this genre is set fairly high.

I would be if it meant something that sounded like the very early Willie Colón/Héctor Lavoe albums from '69/'70, or the early stuff by Fruko y sus Tesos. Those were instrumentally pretty raw, and sonically primitive, but they've got awesome levels of energy.

Agreed. I do like the early Willie Colón stuff, even though he was still pretty raw as you say, and Fruko. Maybe if we speak in terms of energy rather than attitude, I am more sympathetic to what marcosmarcos was saying (as if "energy" and "attitude" aren't both pretty vague). On the other hand, I'm not necessarily going to be excted by an imitation of those earlier sounds.

To go back to the Juliana videos that nobody has commented on whatsoever, on repeated listens "Estupido" sounds a lot less average to me than it did at first. There's a lot packed into the vocal lines, some twists and turns in the melody. (I swear it sounds Greek at one point.) I also like the way the vocal line grows unexpectedly longer and longer (half-spoken) at certain points. And I think her voice and singing are excellent. I do realize that this sort of merengue can be an acquired taste. (The highly mannered backing vocals can be annoying at times, but I'm mostly used to them at this point; though I still don't get why they sound that way.)

I'm listening to La 33 now and...it's okay. I don't hate it, but I don't hear anything revolutionary or "punk" about what they do. The production's not overly slick, which is nice, but it's gonna take a couple of listens for me to decide whether there's anything special about them.

Hopefully this will work outside the UK

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qbzxv/The_Big_3_Palladium_Orchestra_at_the_Barbican/

But I can't believe the cut out Arsenio.....

La Excelencia will be up this time next week

Nope, that's UK only.

But maybe someone will put it on youtube sooner or later.

Also if these Colombian bands want to do a boogaloo re-hash ("Heeeeey"), they better be really exceptional, because I'm just not that into boogaloo, though it can have its moments. (And yes, I like some Fruko y Sus Tesos boogaloo covers from the last ten or fifteen years, but they really are exceptional, still. Or at least they have been within the last fifteen years.)

Which reminds me I had been planning on starting the new year with a best salsa albums of the last decade post, but Marco's mix reminded me of how much stuff I haven't heard lately; but I might do it anyway just to potentially start a conversation or inspire people to check some things out.

I'm trying to pretend there are actual debates on this thread.

For the benefit of those who have not checked out Bannakumbi, or have only checked out what's on their myspace, here's a song they didn't include in there (which I never linked to on last year's rolling thread):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TEbpw1SG7g

Still far and away my favorite recent young salsa band (even if maybe it's unfair to compare since they have veteran percussionist Luisito Quintero performing with them on Un Nuevo Dia), with my favorite salsa album of the last decade.

Warning: whoever posted it added an annoying introduction identifying his channel or whatever.

More on Los Van Van in Miami

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/v-print/story/1456425.html

Posted on Sun, Jan. 31, 2010
More fans than foes come for Van Van
BY CHRISTINA VEIGA AND JORDAN LEVIN
cve✧✧✧@MiamiHer✧✧✧.c✧✧

Popular Cuban dance band Los Van Van returned to Miami on
Sunday, greeted by enthusiastic fans and angry protesters.

The last time Los Van Van performed in Miami in 1999, protesters
outnumbered concertgoers, and rocks and bottles flew.

This time, 350 to 400 showed up to demonstrate, and almost 4,000
showed up for the show at the James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami. The
only things hurled were a few insults. There were no arrests, Miami police
said.
Protesters, who associate the band with the Castro regime,
crammed together on the sidewalks, waving flags, holding signs and screaming
into megaphones as cars full of concertgoers streamed past.

``We're hurt, so we cry out,'' said Juan Antunez, 66, of
Kendall, who said he came to Florida in 1961 and served in the U.S. Army
during the Cuban Missile Crisis the next year.

``If these were Jewish people, they would be outraged if someone
from the Nazi regime came here to do art,'' he said. ``There is no art in a
communist regime.''

Concertgoers opened their car windows, smiling mockingly and
shouting at the demonstrators. Some blasted Los Van Van music from their car
stereos.

Outside, Ivan Sanchez, 68, held up a white poster board with a
message condemning local officials for allowing Los Van Van to perform at
the Knight Center, which is a public venue. He made a case against the
argument that the performance would facilitate cultural exchange.
``They say it's a cultural exchange, but who's going to Cuba?''
asked Sanchez, who lives in Miami. ``It's a one-sided exchange.''

Magda Miranda, who came to Miami from Cuba five years ago,
strode past the signs declaring her a ``traitor'' and ``communist.'' As she
headed toward the concert hall, she pumped her fists in the air.

``I'm for Van Van,'' she said. ``I don't care about Fidel. I
don't care about anyone. ``Viva Van Van.''

Inside the Knight Center, the close to 4,000 concertgoers were
as excited as music-lovers at any other show.

Mike Barry, 33, a Cuban émigré who also attended the 1999 show,
shrugged at the difference between then and now. ``It's not like last
time.'' he said. ``I think the community has changed a lot.''

His friend Joe Rose, 44, a U.S.-born Cuban American, said he was
purely a fan of Van Van's music.

``It's great music,'' he said. ``I respect the way [the
protesters] think, but they've got to respect the way I think, too. I bet
the people out there have Van Van CDs, too. Their music is that good.''
Debbie Ohanian, who produced the 1999 Van Van concert, said she
was not disturbed by the sight of the 350 to 400 protesters this time, as
opposed to 3,000 at the first show. ``In 10 years there'll be 30
protesters,'' she said.

Just the same, police maintained a vigilant presence outside the
Knight Center. It took concertgoers about 15 minutes to make their way
through security.

The band took the stage at 7:30 p.m. They made no speeches, and
launched directly into their first song, their latest hit, Arrazando.

Los Van Van was to return to Cuba from Miami after its two-show
Florida tour; they played in Key West on Thursday. A more-extensive U.S.
tour is planned for this spring.

Salsa band Sonora Carruseles are coming to DC (Maryland actually-El Boqueron II in Rockville), opening for a vallenato singer Felipe Pelaez. Any of you folks know more about these folks than I do (I read Wiki entries and stuff)? If Wiki is to be believed, Sonora is a Columbian band now based in Miami.

They are a very well-know Colombian salsa band. Kind of uneven, probably worth going to see. I have never seen them live myself, but I'd be interested in checking them out. I'd bet they put on a good show. I'm sure you've heard some of their songs. Like you may recognize this Pete Rodriguez cover:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7gb5KiRl8Y

Or "Ave Maria Lola" (click on play button at top of search results):

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=ave+maria+lola+sonora+carruseles&aq=0&aqi=g1&oq=ave+maria+lola+sono&fp=bf9afa9aa437c51f

I didn't know they were in Miami.

Got the new Fania Joe Cuba compilation last night. Two CDs, 34 tracks, really beautifully remastered.

x-post

I like their "En Buenaventura" a lot as well.

That sounds good. I doubt I need a complete collection of Joe Cuba albums, so that might work for me, although I want pretty much anything Cheo Feliciano sang on.

I like their "En Buenaventura" a lot as well

which is not the usual light boogaloo stuff they do and has a sound closer to classic (but late) Fruko y Sus Tesos or Joe Arroyo, I would say.

I can't really emphasize how ubiquitous "Micaela" and "Ave Maria Lola" were in clubs and maybe even more so in dance classes (or free lessons in clubs).

in the late 90s and maybe the first couple years of the last decade

That Joe Cuba comp might work for me. Meanwhile in the pop world Aventura is still on top of the Latin singles chart:

http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100#/charts/latin-songs

I'm torn between "I should really obviously get this" since it looks like it could be the archival salsa release of the year (on the hand) and "I should really obviously not be spending any money on CDs since I'm kind of on the broke side and the economy is about as unstable as its ever been in my lifetime (not to mention that I have eight CDs on the way alredy)."

However, let's at least eyeball this:

http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/23559.10?oAS4EmQN;;463

Another consideration in favor of buying it is how ridiculously the Fania catalog is now going in and out of easy availability. I never expended copies of all those remasters to dry up so quickly at major sites like cduniverse.

I don't remember hearing Ismael Quintana (who is probably best known for his work with Eddie Palmieri, especially on the original La Perfecta recordings*) with the Fania All Stars, but maybe I've just missed it.

*I know this will not be news to some of you. Just throwing it out for those who don't know or who have forgotten.

Yeah, I'll second that recommendation. That disc is pretty hot.

BTW, physical CDs may be hard to come by, but a huge proportion of the Fania catalog is available digitally from Fania.com.

The San Juan concert is a great recording, one of the highlights is the heavy 3 minute percussion work out at the start of Ponte Duro (a track which is strangely missing from the Descarga write up).

There's another new young band making a stir out of Spain hot on the heels of La Sucrusal SA. Bloque 53's CD La Ruta De La Salsa is very tasty, it has a New Swing Sextet feel to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWwPBbJFiG4

BTW, physical CDs may be hard to come by, but a huge proportion of the Fania catalog is available digitally from Fania.com.

I just have a mental block about paying for downloads. It still bugs me, in principle, that I have to provide my own physical storage if I do that.

Bloque 53 sounds okay (I did check their myspace as well). I still wish that more of these bands were doing something a bit newer sounding. I think I'm just fussier these days because I haven't been going out dancing, so simply having some new music that is good enough to dance to isn't enough to satisfy me.

Ned Sublette has written about a March event New Yorkers may be interested in:

you can also play in a charanga in the music department at UNC Chapel Hill. After singing my brains out at Regulator, I got to have a beer with David García, who leads the aforementioned charanga (something all music departments should have) and is the author of Arsenio Rodríguez and the Transnational Flows of Latin Popular Music. Somebody should have done a biography of Arsenio long ago, but it’s not too late to praise the guy who finally did it, so I got to toast David’s achievement on the occasion of our first-ever meeting. He'll be in New York to participate in a panel attached to what should be a splendid concert: "Arsenio Rodríguez in the Bronx," by the re-energized Grupo Folklórico y Experimental Nuevayorquino, March 20 at Hostos Community College.

And in DC Saturday Feb. 27th:

WPFW dj Jim Byers leads a panel discussion with music from 2 to 4 at the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum on the history of DC Latin music clubs and the interaction between African-American and Hispanic musicians –they will retrace the history of diversity in Latin dance nightlife in Washington, from WUST Radio Music Hall and The Casbah — D.C.'s home of the mambo on U Street — to the Zanzibar on the Waterfront. The band Verny Varela Project performs.

(I need to review the formatting guide.)

kafit - si tú fueras

i don't think i'd normally be into it but i can look at miami all day and the track isn't bad when he's not going diva on the vocals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzpDuIBFl3M

BUT you all may be interested to note that Daddy Yankee's "Vida En la Noche", my favorite single of the year, is the #54 single on PopMatters's year-end list. Which may just mean I was the only person who voted for it but I voted it #1. Who can tell? That album was really good.

I just skimmed that list and missed that fact. I love that song and the whole album (even though there are a couple tracks I'm meh about on their own).

I just wanted to say I started reading Oye Como Va! Hyrbidity and Identity in Latino Popular Music by Deborah Pacini Hernandez, and it looks excellent. Partly I'm just excited to read something that talks so much about things I've listened to in very recent years.

http://www.amazon.com/Oye-Como-Va-Hybridity-Identity/dp/1439900906/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291928792&sr=1-1

I should read that too.

Sometimes it seems that books are the place to turn to for good reporting on hard news type current events; maybe that applies to music as well. Sort of the informal media of blogs, boards, etc. on the one hand and books on the other.

I knew "Hyrbidity" looked wrong but I didn't see what was out of place, and even "Hybridity" looks funny (and the spell check doesn't like either one).

Higherbidity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv8W-qt7qS8

I need to get that; I've got a book proposal in the hopper at a different university press about US Latinos' contributions to metal and punk, and that book probably doesn't deal with that overmuch but would still be worth a read.

No, I don't think it's going to touch on punk and metal much, but it does deal with rock and the identity issues related to taking up rock in general (but then if you looked at the table of contents you already know that). This author also wrote a very well-regarded book on bachata, which for some reason I've never read, but which I've always had in the back of my mind as something that would be worth reading.

Actually her book on bachata is probably very nearly THE book on bachata, in English.

I wish a reggaeton album cover really would look this classy for a change:

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=8368986

Ben Ratliff in the NY Times on his boredom with the current 2010 Los Van Van live show:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/arts/music/09van.html?ref=music

lex posted this on the magazine EOY list thread, but I think it's worth re-posting. Not sure how much I'd like the song minus the video but I do like the combination:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej8s1wgGMIQ

Some of her other work sounds closer to Ivy Queen's songs from several years back (though I wouldn't say her vocals really sound that similar):

http://www.myspace.com/princesavale

I like the beat and the video, and find it interesting that she's much more connected to the dancehall side of reggaeton than the Latin pop side (there's a photo on her MySpace page of her with Mad Professor and Macka B) but the timbre of her voice doesn't work for me; it grates on my ear.

i'm ok with it. her myspace says she's from argentina?

Yeah, some quick googling turns up connections to the nu-cumbia scene (or whatever it's called) there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SV9nbvwflE

a good live clip of antony santos doing voy pa'lla

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oFG_EQo5Kw

Latest Ivy Queen news:

http://www.examiner.com/latin-music-entertainment-in-los-angeles/ivy-queen-s-sex-being-questioned-again

I think this is a new Wisin & Yandel track (from their forthcoming Los Vaqueros: El Regreso). Didn't they just break up a year ago, or something like that hahaha?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eti8Zb7fHt0

Still in their new generic club dance vein, I'd say.

Another high-budget, thoughtfully crafted video there.

I don't know, that track kinda sucks compared with some of the stuff on their last couple of albums.

I like Frankie Vazquez, but I wish he would direct his talents toward something other than recreating the mambo golden age. Anyway new album from Mambo Legends Orchestra (which is some sort of version of the same Tito Puente legends or whatever that he's been singing with for while):

http://www.myspace.com/mambolegendsorchestra

Afro-Latin Music Thread 2011: danzon, son, bolero, plena, vallenato, candombe, mambo de calle, tribal guarachero, etc.