Ned S*blette was raving in his email about a Friday the 20th gig he saw (and participated in?) in NYC with a who's of NYC Latin-jazz folks led by Arturo O'Farrill. Latin-jazz can be enjoyable but it is pretty formulaic it seems these days.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 13:59 (twelve years ago) link
Should I spend my time listening to El Chaval de Bachata, who is coming to the late night suburban DC Latino club Galaxy in February? I see from Wiki he has been around for awhile
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 18:38 (twelve years ago) link
Not sure, sorry.
― John Gaw Meme (_Rudipherous_), Tuesday, 24 January 2012 19:26 (twelve years ago) link
javier estrada's all-tropic mixtape. mostly guarachero at the first half but gets moombahton in at the end - not a moom fan myself but what he puts in isn't too bad
http://soundcloud.com/panamerika/tropic-all-mixtape-por-javier
― fauxmarc, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 19:36 (twelve years ago) link
Just saw a reference to a 2010 animated movie called "Chico and Rita" directed by Fernando Trueba (directed Calle 54) and Javier Mariscal, and do not recall anyone discussing it. I wonder how it is.
A gifted songwriter and beautiful singer chase their dreams – and each other – from Havana to New York and Las Vegas. Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 20:16 (twelve years ago) link
Chico & Rita - this is a short review I wrote in Sept 2010;
We had a Cuban night yesterday, heading down to the Barbican to watch two new movies made in co-op with the Spanish film industry and TVE. Chico & Rita was my favourite.
Set in 1948 Habana, a talented young jazz pianist meets a beautiful singer with a captivating voice. United by music and desire, they embark on a passionate and tormented love affair that takes them from Cuba to the neon lights of New York and Las Vegas.
The film is an animation and it’s spectacular, recreating the exuberance of 1940s Havana and 1950′s NY and Vegas. The story also cleverly incorporates famous incidents from latin music history such as the death of Chano Pozo, the drugs raid and subsequent closure of the Palladium Ballroom and the Buena Vista phenomenon.
The film is underscored by a great soundtrack from Bebo Valdés, featuring Thelonious Monk, Cole Porter, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Chucho Valdés, Puente and more.
Ladies will love the sentimentality of the film’s ending and would do well to have their tissues at the ready.
Make sure you see this when it gets a general release.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kMdL4Y5KB6A
― Marcomarcos, Tuesday, 24 January 2012 22:55 (twelve years ago) link
Thanks.
x-post to my own post re Chucho:New Yorker Ed Morales is also writing for Univision. Here he is on their tumbler raving about the Chucho Valdes show at Carnegie Hall that I was at
http://univisionnews.tumblr.com/post/16371220793/chucho-valdes-buika-carnegie-hall
Here's another take on the weekend of Latin-Jazz in NYC. Writer Larry Blumenfield, for the Village Voice, says "Valdés sometimes seems like James Brown in his prime"
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2012/01/afro_latin_jazz_orchestra_january_20_chucho_valdes_january_21_review.php
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 25 January 2012 13:00 (twelve years ago) link
Seems to me that Valdes often just wants to be an improvising jazz cat and not play those more straight-forward Latin rhythms. His choice.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 30 January 2012 14:40 (twelve years ago) link
Got an email about a new Chicha Libre album, Canibalismo. Have not listened yet. Oh, public release not till May. A big long tour in support: a worldwide tour that includes stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Bogota, Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, and Moscow.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 7 February 2012 14:55 (twelve years ago) link
ArtsBeat - New York Times BlogFebruary 6, 2012, 3:44 pmWith No Place at Grammys, Latin Jazz Artists Plan Their Own ConcertBy JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR.
A group of Latin jazz musicians are planning to hold a concert in Los Angeles on the same night as the Grammy Awards to protest the decision that eliminated 31 categories from this year’s awards, protest organizers announced Monday. The concert will follow an afternoon rally on Sunday to be held on a street corner outside the Staples Center, where pop music’s royalty will be assembled for the flashy annual Grammys bash.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 7 February 2012 15:12 (twelve years ago) link
I wish singer Choco Orta would tour. She's gonna be in NYC uptown as part of Salsa Wednesdays at Taíno Towers on February 29th at 240 E. 123rd Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 7 February 2012 15:15 (twelve years ago) link
Not the Grammys participants: Ray Carrion and his Latin Jazz All Stars will head the bill, along with John Santos, Bobby Matos and Oscar Hernandez.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 7 February 2012 15:28 (twelve years ago) link
Izzy Sanabria anounced on his facebook page today that Jimmy Sabater passed away today. La Excelencia posted "Jimmy Sabater was a great singer, timbalero and and one of the inspirations to La Excelencia. May God have him in his Glory. Our condolences to the Sabater family your in our prayers".
Very sad news.
I wanted to tip you guys off to a really fantastic release, myself and DJ Dave Hucker over here in London UK both agree it's already in the modern classic hall of fame. Don't be put off if Timba doesn't usually do it for you, just make sure you hear it and listen with an open mind, it's cinemascope music. And for once the hype of the descarga review is justified;
http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/24670.10
― Marcomarcos, Wednesday, 8 February 2012 21:24 (twelve years ago) link
Judging by the audio clips, this sounds like it would be way too timba for me, regardless of your attempt to put that issue aside.
― _Rudipherous_, Thursday, 9 February 2012 04:35 (twelve years ago) link
If I had any money to spend on CDs, I'd be buying a lot of these dubiously legal Rareza reissues.
― _Rudipherous_, Thursday, 9 February 2012 04:41 (twelve years ago) link
http://soul-sides.com/2012/02/remembering-jimmy-sabater/
singer and sometimes writer with the Joe Cuba Sextet
― curmudgeon, Friday, 10 February 2012 14:52 (twelve years ago) link
I have a major aversion to Timba too and had no interest whatsoever in listening to this when I was sent a copy. But believe me Mis 22 Anos is a stunning record, I can't really explain, you just have to hear it with your own ears. You get no feeling whatsoever as to the twists and turns each track takes on those clips, there's some very hard and funky salsa in those grooves.
The Subway Salsa Montuno Records release is a killer too.
― Marcomarcos, Saturday, 11 February 2012 01:02 (twelve years ago) link
I will give it a shot
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 11 February 2012 14:12 (twelve years ago) link
Marco, have you heard the new Bloque 53 yet? I know you like them (not a fan myself). I hear a lot of modern Cuban influence in the vocals on the first clip here: http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/24690.10?KMtM2HnK;;393
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 16:12 (twelve years ago) link
Listening to clips from the new Azucar Negra. Ugh, real timba first thing in the morning.
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 16:17 (twelve years ago) link
Really difficult.
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 16:18 (twelve years ago) link
Funny though, I have to admit that in the handful of dance classes I've taken over the past year or so, when instructors throw on Los Van Van or Manolito I end up enjoyng it, even if I initially wrinkle my face up.
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 16:20 (twelve years ago) link
God these [expletive deleted] really stick to the formula most of the time. I bet the timberos are going to love this.
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 14 February 2012 16:22 (twelve years ago) link
Just starting to check this out now. I can't remember why I ever liked Mayito Rivera's vocals. And why do the trumpets always sound the same in practically every contemporary Cuban song? It's a disctinctive Cuban trumpet sound and it bugs me inexplicably. The groove is good (except for that annoying heavy-footed thump they have started throwing in on so many songs). As usual, they do get credit for energy.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 19 February 2012 01:33 (twelve years ago) link
Oh, "this" is the NG la Banda album, not the Azucar Negra that was the last thing I'd mentioned on the thread.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 19 February 2012 01:36 (twelve years ago) link
Looks like this is the Ned S*blette show you are talking about upthreadhttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/23/arts/music/afro-latin-jazz-orchestra-at-symphony-space-review.html
― Dalai Mixture (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 19 February 2012 02:34 (twelve years ago) link
That trumpet sound is extremely pinched. Is it a combination of using mutes and some sort of electronic effect? I just don't know, but it's all over contemporary Cuban music (and has been since some point in the 90s). There have been times I've semi-liked it because it's so identifiable, but it just bugs me again at this point. Does anyone else have any idea what I'm talking about?
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 19 February 2012 04:37 (twelve years ago) link
I don't know, man, this album sounds like timba to me. I don't see how it's so different.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 19 February 2012 04:40 (twelve years ago) link
Really hate the way they use the traditional drum-kit.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 19 February 2012 04:57 (twelve years ago) link
But again, they have something going on and it has a lot of energy--but: ugh.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 19 February 2012 05:00 (twelve years ago) link
Plus too much Latin jazz.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 19 February 2012 05:50 (twelve years ago) link
I don't WANT the three underscored with a heavy drum thud. Why? Why do they do that?
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 19 February 2012 15:59 (twelve years ago) link
Deforms the rhythm, imo.
How is this album not quintessentially timba?
Twenty posts of me complaining about a genre nobody on ILM cares about.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 19 February 2012 16:01 (twelve years ago) link
And "Mambo Number Cero" is just inexcusable.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 19 February 2012 16:04 (twelve years ago) link
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, February 19, 2012 10:01 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark
fwiw, i loled
― Laura Lucy Lynn (La Lechera), Sunday, 19 February 2012 16:11 (twelve years ago) link
ha.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 20 February 2012 08:09 (twelve years ago) link
Could have been worse, whiney or deej could have taken an interest.
― Can You Please POLL Out Your Window? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 20 February 2012 13:22 (twelve years ago) link
Might be DJing next week in London - planning to go heavy on the reggaeton. Any great new electro-cumbia songs i should be thinking about playing as well?
― Mohombi Khush Hua (ShariVari), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 14:13 (twelve years ago) link
What reggaeton are you listening to these days?
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 22 February 2012 15:00 (twelve years ago) link
Poppier stuff, for the most part - RKM & Ken Y, Daddy Yankee, Xavi The Destroyer, De la Ghetto, Calle 13, Kendo Kaponi, Farruko, etc.
― Mohombi Khush Hua (ShariVari), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 15:27 (twelve years ago) link
Sorry, I haven't heard anything along the lines of what you're looking for. I haven't figured out how to keep up with cumbia, or much of anything outside a narrow range of Latin music.
― _Rudipherous_, Wednesday, 22 February 2012 15:39 (twelve years ago) link
i'd check out some of dj dus or disquedj for cumbia
― fauxmarc, Wednesday, 22 February 2012 17:39 (twelve years ago) link
Thanks!
― Mohombi Khush Hua (ShariVari), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 17:43 (twelve years ago) link
Ng La Banda
Not to start trouble (and there's no right or wrong), but I listened to a few songs from them from a different recent album on Spotify this morning, and uh, I do not have the antipathy to their timba sound that Rudiph does. Is "Mis 22 anos" on Spotify? I did not see it but perhaps missed it. Or is it elsewhere?
― curmudgeon, Friday, 24 February 2012 22:05 (twelve years ago) link
It is elsewhere.
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 24 February 2012 23:27 (twelve years ago) link
W. DC area loves Fruko's live tribute to Joe Arroyo:
http://eventosvippass.com/2012/02/feb-24-fruko-y-sus-tesos-martin-elias-diaz-el-boqueron-ii/?nggpage=2
― curmudgeon, Monday, 27 February 2012 05:11 (twelve years ago) link
Just meant to show one photo showing jam-packed crowd
― curmudgeon, Monday, 27 February 2012 13:07 (twelve years ago) link
Did anyone post this blog's cumbia post last year? If so, sorry
http://generationbass.com/2011/10/15/sexxy-saturday-cumbia-zzk-fauna-and-much-more/
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 05:50 (twelve years ago) link
Richmond, VA Bio Ritmo play DC regularly but I have gone only once (they were fun). I also like their offshoot group Miramar that revives '50s and '60s Puerto Rican boleros. Not very modern, I know.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 17 December 2012 21:06 (eleven years ago) link
Not salsa-- Argentine electro-something djEL G is the DJ name of Grant C. Dull, label manager of ZZK Records, co-founder of Zizek Club and a 8-year adopted citizen & cultural ambassador of Buenos Aires.
12/28/12 @ Beauty Bar – Chicago, IL [LINK]
12/29/12 @ Eighteenth Street Lounge – Washington DC [LINK]
01/04/12 @ BPM Studios (BomBeat) – Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY [LINK]
01/05/13 @ Fox Haven (Bombon) – Houston, TX [LINK]
01/12/13 @ Elbo Room (Tormenta Tropical) – San Francisco, CA [LINK]
01/16/13 @ Eastside Luv (Subsuelo) – Los Angeles, CA
01/17/13 @ Zanzibar (Afro Funke’) – Santa Monica, CA [LINK]
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 23:07 (eleven years ago) link
Death to indie cumbia.
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 23:15 (eleven years ago) link
Nah, I don't really care one way or another.
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 23:17 (eleven years ago) link
I listened to the beginning of the Future Sounds of Buenos Aires and wasn't into it.
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 23:18 (eleven years ago) link
Probably not my thing either. As for other things--I did listen to Mexican indie-rock singer Carla Morrison but her ballad-heavy approach does not interest me in the way that Julieta Venegas does/did. Gonna try and see if another NPR fave, Bomba Estereo, has improved as the NPR folks claim. No salsa, but I've been listening to old mambo on a Sunnday radio show.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 23:23 (eleven years ago) link
Hmmmm, wonder if it is worth $30 to see and dance to salseros Paquito Guzman and Raulin Rosendo at Cuba Libre in DC on Sunday the 23rd?
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 19 December 2012 13:59 (eleven years ago) link
I think I saw Guzman once and wasn't too pleased, but honestly can't remember. Doesn't he have kind of an overblown melodramatic style? That's something that doesn't tend to survive well as a singer ages, in my view. Not to be obnoxious, but he seems like a performer well past his prime.
― _Rudipherous_, Wednesday, 19 December 2012 15:42 (eleven years ago) link
Raulin Rosendo not really ringing any bells beyond name recognition.
Me too. He's come to DC a lot over the years but I just know that he's a 50-something Dominican salsa singer.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 19 December 2012 16:15 (eleven years ago) link
been very much into el g and a lot of the zzk crew (el remolon, frikstailers, villa diamante) for a few years now, nice to see that they're coming to dc but the line at esl on saturdays is ridiculously long, i guess less so if gotten there earlier, and i'm not too into the crowd. i'd try and brave it but the old school vinyl thing at u hall that night's going to be what's up
― fauxmarc, Wednesday, 19 December 2012 16:35 (eleven years ago) link
OT shot in the dark: does anyone know of any good book-length overviews of Argentina's history? (No need to check amazon or WorldCat, etc. for me. I can do that myself. Just wondering if anyone happens to be able to recommend one off-hand.)
― _Rudipherous_, Wednesday, 19 December 2012 16:38 (eleven years ago) link
Might be old newsy wewsies, but did you guys see this thing that's out on Analog Africa:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61YPSXu18CL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
― Albert Crampus (NickB), Wednesday, 19 December 2012 17:26 (eleven years ago) link
Saw it but haven't checked it out.
― _Rudipherous_, Wednesday, 19 December 2012 17:30 (eleven years ago) link
haven't heard, but would listen to!!
― passion it person (La Lechera), Wednesday, 19 December 2012 19:13 (eleven years ago) link
Listen away...http://open.spotify.com/album/6EsqKrqreoVsnArRLYg77B
― Albert Crampus (NickB), Wednesday, 19 December 2012 19:17 (eleven years ago) link
Think I read that disc two is the cumbia one
― Albert Crampus (NickB), Wednesday, 19 December 2012 19:18 (eleven years ago) link
I recognize a lot of the names on here -- I wish someone would just reissue whole albums by some of these people -- Wganda Kenya, por ejemplo -- I get tired of listening to other people's comps all the time! I don't have the time (or inclination really) to travel to places where I could find these original records, so won't someone bring them to me?
Also it has been ages since I heard the word Valledupar! I still predict that there is a vallenato revival on the horizon.
― passion it person (La Lechera), Wednesday, 19 December 2012 19:44 (eleven years ago) link
Actually, that's not true -- I would love to travel, I just wouldn't do it solely to find records that I'm sure I wouldn't find anyway.
― passion it person (La Lechera), Wednesday, 19 December 2012 19:45 (eleven years ago) link
I've been enjoying this over the last few days too
http://f0.bcbits.com/z/59/19/591979443-1.jpg
― passion it person (La Lechera), Wednesday, 19 December 2012 19:49 (eleven years ago) link
Saw them two months ago. Pretty fun.
― TS: shambala vs. sha la la, man (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 20 December 2012 02:48 (eleven years ago) link
Got that Diablos del Ritmo comp in the mail a while back, only listened to bits of Disc 1 so far but it's kinda fun.
― 誤訳侮辱, Thursday, 20 December 2012 03:10 (eleven years ago) link