For discussion of Afro-Latin music forms, especially salsa, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Boricua forms, as well as merengue, bachata, and cumbia. And also reggaeton because of it's dominance by Puerto Ricans and Dominicans, even though it's not really what I mean by Afro-Latin music. (And throw in Latin rap if you want.)
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:01 (10 months ago) Permalink
Gonna repost this link I posted on Jazz thread, since it falls under Afro-Cuban http://www.jazzgallery.org/live/. I'm definitely going to try to make that Rodriguez Brothers show- Ernesto Simpson is my new Best Drummer Ever
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 2 January 2009 20:05 (10 months ago) Permalink
Yeah, I almost said feel free to use this for Latin jazz too, although there are other places that could go.
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:09 (10 months ago) Permalink
There's this, but it doesn't see much action: Latin Jazz: Generic Thread Forever. Latin Jazz seems to end up either on the Jazz thread or this one. Dimension 5ive reads them both, which is all that really matters.
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 2 January 2009 20:12 (10 months ago) Permalink
Ha
― curmudgeon, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:13 (10 months ago) Permalink
worst music ever
(this opinion comes solely from seeing buena vista social club)
― abanana, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:15 (10 months ago) Permalink
And what do you like oh wise one who can't explain why he/she did not like Buena Vista.
x-post-here's what Ned Sublette saw live last year and enjoyed--
I had some fine musical experiences at home in New York (the quartet of Eddie Palmieri, Brian Lynch, Boris Kozlov and Dafnis Prieto at Iridium, damn), in Barranquilla (at Carnaval de las Artes and Barranquijazz) and in Sto. Domingo (more about that in a minute). But my absolute high-point musical experience of 2008 was the Bebo and Chucho Valdés duo concert at the Voll-Damm Barcelona International Jazz Festival. To see those two lions communicate with each other across facing Steinways was something to remember forever. I’ve written an article about it for a forthcoming issue of Downbeat. The Juntos para Siempre concert, and the duo’s other tour dates in Spain, were supporting the album Juntos para Siempre recorded by the two last year, produced by Nat Chediak for his and Fernando Trueba’s label Calle 54, where it joins other valuable entries in the label's Bebo Valdés catalog. It’s not released domestically so far, only available by import from Spain.
While I was in Barcelona, I met Omar Sosa for the first time. He handed me a copy of his new one, Afreecanos. It has African musicians (including singers) from Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Morocco, plus Cubans, Brazilians, and, hey, French and U.S. players. Very different traditions melt into each other, and it works because the musicality is so high -- Julio Barreto is the drummer -- and because they’re all reaching for the divine. It radiates aché. Constance loves it.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 2 January 2009 20:20 (10 months ago) Permalink
(this opinion comes solely from seeing buena vista social club)Bah, I'm going to come and box your ears with the Tumbao Benny More and Chano Pozo box sets.
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 2 January 2009 20:23 (10 months ago) Permalink
Man, I kick myself for missing those Eddie Palmieri/Brian Lynch shows. And Boris is a great bass player, maybe will go check him out this weekend with Arturo O'Farrill. Boris was in the audience at the best Latin Jazz show I saw last year, Samuel Torres at Cachaça.
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 2 January 2009 20:26 (10 months ago) Permalink
Hm. Samuel Torres is playing Cachaça next Friday with a quartet, almost the same group as the Rodriguez brothers show.
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 2 January 2009 20:30 (10 months ago) Permalink
FWIW, the descarga.com pick for best of 2008:
http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/best_of_2008
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Friday, 2 January 2009 21:13 (10 months ago) Permalink
You can preview the new Los Van Van album here:
http://www.latinmusicstore.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&category_id=1&flypage=shop.flypage_p&product_id=151&option=com_virtuemart&I=0&vmcchk=1&Itemid=65
(I doubt I will ever like Los Van Van nearly as much as I do, say, vintage Eddie Palmieri or most El Gran Combo, but I don't hate this so far.)
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Friday, 2 January 2009 21:38 (10 months ago) Permalink
GILBERTO "PULPO" COLÓNPulpo's Hot BreadThe Mambo ProjectOriginally released: 2008Category: SALSA/SON; SALSA
EditorsPick: A recording like this will probably be overlooked today, though not tomorrow. The greatness of the groove, the explosion of the Puerto Rican/New York style so late in the day will be appreciated in historical terms — you know, a work of genius after the genre had flowered, e ...
This appeared on most of the descarga.com ballots. Their hyperbole often sucks me in at first, but then I end up less wowed the more I listen to the release myself.
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 3 January 2009 04:09 (10 months ago) Permalink
Here's Christgau from his Consumer Guide on one of those dj cumbia mix efforts some bloggers seem to love. I think he has missed out on some intervening years of cumbia in his description-- Various artists"Arriba la Cumbia!"(Crammed Discs)
Want a recipe for Steam Table Surprise? How about an English DJ in search of "the latest global dance music phenomenon" promoting a charming, Colombian-gone-Latin style whose heyday was half a century ago? Fold in some Euro modernizers just to stink the joint up a little more. But then culinary magic happens, and the mélange ends up some kind of cross between one of those fabled musical gumbos and the world's tastiest processed chicken fingers. Salted with autèntico old-timers whenever the corn syrup gets too thick, a Bristol trio and a Mexican DJ and some arty reggaetonians and the beat firm of Droesemeyer & Wetzler and Basement Jaxx getting in on the action rev up squeezeboxes real and imagined. Piece de resistance: Fulanito's "Merencumbiaso," in which a bunch of NYC Dominicans blend Latin America's pokiest pop dance style with its speediest.
Grade: A MINUS
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 3 January 2009 04:13 (10 months ago) Permalink
One thing to look forward to in '09 is a new album Gilberto Santa Rosa is producing for the Puerto Rican singer Choco Orta, who has a good voice, at least based on what I've heard (recordings that are at least ten years old--during which time aging might have taken its toll). It feels somehow unusual that GSR would be producing one of her records. (He tends to work with younger performers, I'd say, like the NG2 guys.)
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Saturday, 3 January 2009 19:43 (10 months ago) Permalink
I think my thread title is going to get really annoying (to me) in just a few days.
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Saturday, 3 January 2009 19:45 (10 months ago) Permalink
As far as the Pulpo thing goes, I could only go by the audio clips I heard, which didn't sound too special. Also, it's yet another project consisting mostly, or maybe entirely, of covers, including songs that have already been done pretty definitively (e.g., Willie Colon/Hector Lavoe's "La Murga). I forget, but Pulpo may have even played on some of those recordings, but that doesn't mean his covers of them in 2008 are going to be worth shelling out money for.
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Saturday, 3 January 2009 19:52 (10 months ago) Permalink
That's what you get for making fun of my Jazz D-Bag thread title, RS.
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 3 January 2009 22:01 (10 months ago) Permalink
Today's pick hit: Poncho Sanchez, "Bien Sabroso."
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 4 January 2009 21:10 (10 months ago) Permalink
Anyway, my point is that some recent reggaeton is leaning strongly in the direction of the music that gets played at cheesy dance clubs (as opposed to non-cheesy dance clubs).
― afrofuturist philosopher (The Reverend), Friday, November 21, 2008 6:14 AM (16 hours ago)
I'd like to go try at least once of the several DC dance clubs that say their djs spin reggaeton and disco to check out the transformation of the sound in that environment. ...
― curmudgeon, Friday, November 21, 2008 6:13 PM
any places worth checking out spinning less vocoder ballady mtv tracks and more bass-heavy dj nelson / shadow kid regueton in the city proper? i don't have a car so don't really want to venture out into the moco/pg spots aside from silver spring and wheaton.
― fauxmarc, Monday, 5 January 2009 04:25 (10 months ago) Permalink
anybody have any thoughts on k-paz de la sierra? i don't know much about them other than their singer getting shot, but i like some of the tunes. especially "volvere":
― tipsy mothra, Monday, 5 January 2009 06:04 (10 months ago) Permalink
x-post
Still have not gone yet. I was curious about the Saturday Night SIDE ROOM at Ibiza, 1222 First st. NE, that features ::" DJ NV and VJ Mario spinning Latin :: Salsa :: Merengue :: Bachata :: Reggaeton :: House"
It may not be what you're looking for. I wonder if Club Las Vegas (I think that's what it is called) on Route 1 South in Alexandria still features reggaeton djs as their sign outside once proclaimed. That's not metro convenient though.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 5 January 2009 06:34 (10 months ago) Permalink
x-post:
also, apologies if duranguense is outside the parameters of the thread, being latin but not afro. has anyone started a whirled music '09 thread?
― tipsy mothra, Monday, 5 January 2009 06:42 (10 months ago) Permalink
Rolling Global Sublime Whirled Music 2009 (With an emphasis on African likely)
― curmudgeon, Monday, 5 January 2009 06:45 (10 months ago) Permalink
x-post. Someone should probably start a duranguese, banda, Tex-Mex, norteno, mariachi thread although it probably would not have many folks posting on it. A (one-time? or still) Village Voice contributor known here on ILX as Dr. Phil used to post some about duranguese (but he should not be confused with unperson Phil who likes metal, African, avante-jazz, and some salsa and also writes for the Voice)
RS, where do you think such postings should go?
― curmudgeon, Monday, 5 January 2009 14:43 (10 months ago) Permalink
Straight to hell. No, but I am trying to keep this thread Afro-Latin. All that Mexican stuff is a very different thing, and should either have its own thread or go on the whirled music thread.
But I'm not going to be all gestapo about it if it comes up here occasionally.
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Monday, 5 January 2009 19:38 (10 months ago) Permalink
it'd be entertaining to see how many posts a rolling duranguense/norteno thread would get -- maybe 5! but i think i'll just post it to the whirled thread.
― tipsy mothra, Monday, 5 January 2009 20:23 (10 months ago) Permalink
Oh, RS, stop playing down your Gestapo connections. You've been doing that ever since Nuremberg. XD
― Jedi Mind Trick Daddy (The Reverend), Monday, 5 January 2009 20:41 (10 months ago) Permalink
The violins in Los Van Van are one of the things that makes their songs kind of sucky. There's lots of promise there, but those fucking violins! It's not just that they are violins, but how they are used, though I'm going to be inarticulate and not be able to say what that is exactly, at least for the moment.
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Tuesday, 6 January 2009 22:25 (10 months ago) Permalink
I don't know if you know, but "Volvere" is sort of a Latin music standard. At any rate, it's widely covered. I'm pretty sure I've danced to it in one of its merengue versions.
Here's a version by Dominican merenguero Krisspy:
(It may for all I know be Mexican in origin. I don't know.) It seems like a song made to go with drinking, too.
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Tuesday, 6 January 2009 22:36 (10 months ago) Permalink
There's lots of promise there
Like the coro, and perhaps the soneos, though I'm not 100% sold on them. Is this Mayito Rivera singing? I ask, as though someone here will know.
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Tuesday, 6 January 2009 23:06 (10 months ago) Permalink
And the percussion is always fine except for the drum kit.
don't know if you know, but "Volvere" is sort of a Latin music standard.
i wondered about that. a little googling suggests it was written by some italian dudes in the '70s. hard to find much about it (at least, not written in english). anyway, it's a nice tune.
― tipsy mothra, Tuesday, 6 January 2009 23:20 (10 months ago) Permalink
Annoying timba-style "rapping" (or what some prefer to call "chanting") in "Un tumbao pá los dos." It is absolutely the small genre mannerisms that bug me in timba, and it feels very much like a food preference, since I can't break down my reason for not liking it any further.
(Still talking about the new Van Van album. Why bother talking about something nobody is too interested in? Not that it's ever stopped me before. But I'm going to give an additional answer which is that this is a major band and a major release, so it seems worthy of attention on that level, though once I'm through the first preview I doubt I will go back and listen again. Too many obstacles to enjoyment.)
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Tuesday, 6 January 2009 23:45 (10 months ago) Permalink
i only have a van van greatest hits, i'm not sure i need more than that. do i?
― tipsy mothra, Tuesday, 6 January 2009 23:56 (10 months ago) Permalink
I'm not sure you need more than that either, but there are three tracks on Llego Van Van that are highly worthwhile.
I'll name them another time as the timer is timing me out and my PC is about to evaporate.
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Tuesday, 6 January 2009 23:59 (10 months ago) Permalink
I have some Los Van Van on vinyl that I have not listened to in ages. But I also remember enjoying them alot live at a big outdoor show near DC (Wolf Trap Farm Park) way back when. I don't remember who was in the band then.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 7 January 2009 01:05 (10 months ago) Permalink
someone was listening to some stuff i had around the other day and was all "I LOVE THESE GUYS" thinking it was los van van, when it was really los soneros del barrio off the rough guide to salsa dura nyc comp.
― fauxmarc, Wednesday, 7 January 2009 16:12 (10 months ago) Permalink
FWIW, these are the three tracks I like (and really like) from Llego Van Van:
La Bomba Soy YoSomos CubanosConsuelate Como Yo
(The last is actually a Cuban oldie, I'm pretty sure, or at least incorporates part of a Cuban classic.)
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Wednesday, 7 January 2009 21:37 (10 months ago) Permalink
Nice 2008 recording of Luisito Carrion singing oldie "Pa Bravo Yo" with Michael Stuart and I think that's Ismael Miranda as well (both mostly on additional percussion, actually).
I'm really happy Luisito Carrion is back on his feet and sounding good.
(We all love youtube.)
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Friday, 9 January 2009 18:56 (10 months ago) Permalink
Michael Stuart doing "Fuego en el 23" (same concert apparently):
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Friday, 9 January 2009 19:01 (10 months ago) Permalink
Those of you in NYC should run don't walk to see Samuel Torres tonight.
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 January 2009 19:27 (10 months ago) Permalink
So I read something about Tito Puente complaining about somebody playing "Para los Rumberos" out of clave. I think it was here: http://pertout.customer.netspace.net.au/lclavetp.htm. This week it saw in a book that it was Carlos Santana!
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 January 2009 21:45 (10 months ago) Permalink
i've been shedding timbales in preparation for (hopefully) some gigs with a latin jazz band. i used to listen to latin records with no idea of who was playing what so it's been nice to break it down (not that i'm an expert or anything now, but i think i can handle the gig)
― Tracy Michael Jordan Catalano (Jordan), Friday, 9 January 2009 21:51 (10 months ago) Permalink
Awesome. Maybe soon we'll be posting you to Drum geek sick chops youtube thread
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 January 2009 21:53 (10 months ago) Permalink
Do you have one of these?
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 January 2009 21:55 (10 months ago) Permalink
Listened to that Pulpo album once, sounded pretty solid.
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 January 2009 22:01 (10 months ago) Permalink
Jordan, let me be a pest and ask you, do you play the cascara on those timbales?
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 9 January 2009 22:22 (10 months ago) Permalink
In the next few years, Samuel Torres is going to mess you people up.
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 10 January 2009 03:58 (10 months ago) Permalink
And then I will post a link to this thread to prove that I predicted it.
― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 10 January 2009 03:59 (10 months ago) Permalink
haven't been able to catch it yet, i'm not good with tv schedules these days but as always pbs is pretty good about streaming their features, making each episode available after each airs here
― fauxmarc, Monday, 19 October 2009 14:18 (1 month ago) Permalink
Nina has some issues with the final episode:
http://arrozconbeans.com/?p=1976
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 20 October 2009 05:57 (1 month ago) Permalink
This new Miguel Zenón album sounds like it includes more material that is clearly connected to plena than the other things I've heard by him (which I see as a plus). Still very jazzy, but this sounds like the one for me to get if I were to get anything by him.
http://www.amazon.com/Esta-Plena-Miguel-Zenon/dp/B002JCMZEQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1256082638&sr=1-1
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 20 October 2009 23:55 (1 month ago) Permalink
Re the PBS shows, I read on writer Joe Nick Potaski's blog (he helped on the Tex-Mex episode) that he was generally happy with that episode though he noted they left alot out. On a Latin Jazz blog they complained that Eddie Palmieri was left out.
I am not comparing their complaints with Nina's or making any commentary on hers, just noting that I saw these other 2.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 21 October 2009 14:48 (1 month ago) Permalink
Worth checking out: Voltio and Nejo y Dalmata remix of (very slow paced) merengue song by El Cato:
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 23 October 2009 23:39 (4 weeks ago) Permalink
Sorry, El Cata
More worth checking out: new Nejo & Dalmata:
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 23 October 2009 23:58 (4 weeks ago) Permalink
Maybe it's not that new at all.
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 24 October 2009 00:01 (4 weeks ago) Permalink
Finally got the Bannakumbi CD. Seriously, do not overlook this album. I will hopefully have more to say about it later, but I am pretty sure this gets my vote for salsa album of the decade.
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 30 October 2009 23:49 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
Also my pick for album of the year.
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 30 October 2009 23:53 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
Of course that's coming from someone who hasn't heard a whole lot of CDs that came out this year. I am catching up, though, with six 2009 CDs I just bought. (Not that I never check things out that I haven't bought, obviously, but some of the things I most want to hear aren't just lying around on music blogs waiting to be downloaded.)
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 30 October 2009 23:54 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
And basically you are crazy if you are interested in salsa and yet don't pick up this CD.
― _Rudipherous_, Friday, 30 October 2009 23:56 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
Oh, and it was actually penned by Ruben Blades, if I'm remembering correctly.
And since posting this, I see that in the PBS special Latin Music USA, he strums a guitar and sings some of the song and talks about writing it.
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 31 October 2009 03:10 (3 weeks ago) Permalink
Bannakumbi are based in Philly? Rudiph, did you ever see them there?
― curmudgeon, Monday, 2 November 2009 20:26 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
No, and I don't think they existed as a band until after I left (or if they did, they kept a very low profile), though the individual musicians were probably active before.
I'm playing the CD right now and there's not a bad cut on it.
― _Rudipherous_, Monday, 2 November 2009 23:32 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
(And anyway, I wasn't making it out much, if at all, the last few years I lived there anyway.)
― _Rudipherous_, Monday, 2 November 2009 23:33 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
It has a bunch of guest rappers on it, the most famous of which (and the only one of whom I recognize) is Voltio. I think the R&B/Soul influence descarga.com was bringing up turns up the most in the vocals, in some of the harmonies. And meanwhile, it has a lot of cuatro playing in it, which places it in a Puerto Rican roots context. But it all works together in a very fluid way.
― _Rudipherous_, Monday, 2 November 2009 23:41 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
The music does things you don't see coming (or at any rate, I don't see coming). You actually end up caring where things go next. Not enough like that around. It's playful.
Incidentally, this album has Luisito Quintero playing timbales on at least some tracks (I don't have the liners in front of me), so they do have some help from a first-rate session musician (not sure that's even the appropriate term in this place) who has played with everyone from Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Jimmy Bosch to Gilberto Santa Rosa to Tego Calderon, etc. But he's not the one who makes the album great or anything (though he's certainly very good in general). It's interesting that they were able to get him considering this is released on the band's own label.
― _Rudipherous_, Monday, 2 November 2009 23:47 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
This new Truco & Zaperoko album has some good stuff on it, but it also has some unnecessarily draggy-ass stuff ("Que Chula," for instance) on it. I really wanted to really like this, but I find it uneven. Still, I think there's more to like here than there was on Musica Univeral. I kind of wish they'd stick to the plena and bomba tracks, or heavily plena and bomba flavored tracks anyway, because that tends to be when they really cook.
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 3 November 2009 02:17 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Thank god there's Bannakumbi, anyway, to be played on repeat for hours at a time.
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 3 November 2009 02:19 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Also, I really can't stand the female vocalist on "Amor Mio, No Te Vayas," though the song is rescued, I think, by the unexpected (to me anyway) switch-over to samba and then to a different vocalist, and then back to PR rhythms.
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 3 November 2009 02:24 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Descarga.com calls the Bannakumbi "timbafied" and Nina says it sounds very Cuban to her, and Kaysee suspects it is timba influenced in some way, but I don't hear it as being particularly Cuban-sounding. But this could become controversial, which could be good. (Salsa could use some aesthetic controversy.)
― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 3 November 2009 04:31 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
― tal farlow's pather panchali (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 3 November 2009 14:37 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Is it just for sale from descarga.com? $15.98 plus postage. Amazon doesn't have it and I don't think Itunes does either.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 4 November 2009 04:32 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Yeah, I know that's a bit expensive. It's worth it though. I can't remember if I saw it on any other sites or not. I wish they'd negotiate with cdbaby to carry it. Check the Bannakumbi myspace, maybe you can get it direct from them for a little less.
I predict some of the major distributors will pick it up within a year, because it will be getting at least a little more coverage, but I don't want to discourage folks from buying it now.
I would have bought it before now if I hadn't been truly broke until quite recently, so obviously I can't say money shouldn't be a factor at all.
― _Rudipherous_, Wednesday, 4 November 2009 04:41 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
The salsa world is pretty small, so things tend to be a lot less than six degrees of separation, and I have been nagging various people I know who know lots of other people, so I am hoping the interest will trickle up.
― _Rudipherous_, Wednesday, 4 November 2009 04:49 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
really want to pick this up, would actually like to find a good store in lower manhattan proper for up to date + classic material, which i'm sure isn't a problem just haven't gotten around to looking
― fauxmarc, Wednesday, 4 November 2009 16:17 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Nicely done youtube channel with an emphasis on timba:
http://www.youtube.com/user/timberamayor#p/u/2/2TxLJ-M3XeU
(Hi Michelle!)
― _Rudipherous_, Thursday, 5 November 2009 00:52 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
I didn't necessarily mean to set it up so it would automatically go to that Pupy video, although I do like that song. But you might want to check out that first clip of the Cuban TV dance contest as well.
― _Rudipherous_, Thursday, 5 November 2009 00:56 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Latin Grammys on Univision Thursday night
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 5 November 2009 04:08 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
oh, technology. residente on @Calle13Oficial tweeting they've won video of the year, best alternative song, and best urban group before it's even aired.
― fauxmarc, Friday, 6 November 2009 00:29 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Did anybody watch the Latin Grammys? I'm hearing Juan Gabriel sang for like 40 minutes.
― neither good nor bad, just a kid like you (unperson), Friday, 6 November 2009 12:54 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
The new Truco & Zaperoko is, alas, really uneven. I would like to like them, because there are aspects of their sound that I think are quite strong. The percussion is generally great, especially on the plena and bomba tracks, and I like the way they integrate flute into their particular sound. (Maybe there's something pleasing about the light airy flute in combination with what I think of as the deep/heavy rhtyhms of plena and bomba.) On the other hand, I don't care for the main vocalist too much. My favorite tracks: Por Ahi Viene (which is just a short introduction), Se Lo Que Es Rumba, Lo Admito, Que Suene Ahora, and maybe "Sigan la Clave" (though the trap-drums or doing something real close to the annoying trick so common in timba these days).
I would add "¿Que Le Pasa a Esta Gente?" but get extremely annoyed at two points: (1) the ironic African savage noise or whatever it's supposed to be--just guessing from what little I can make out of the lyrical context here (why does this thick CD booklet have no lyrics at all (not even in translation)?) and (2) the demonic laughter at the end. Too much fake laughter in Latin music anyway (yeah I know, not my culture). I'm not yet sure what to do with "Amor Mio, No Te Vayas" which has some really bad forced female vocals in the beginning, but then goes sambaesque and a new vocalist is wheeled in as it goes to plena or something. I could see myself getting to like the total package of this song over repeated listens, thanks to the almost chaotic (which seems like the wrong adjective to be using, given how tight this band is and how smooth their orchestration can be, in a good way) mix that is this song. Funny, I always seem to like
Most boring: Solo Tu, Que Chula.
If I haven't said more about what Bannakumbi sounds like, it's because it's hard for me to begin to describe the things that make it so great. But one thing I like, if vaguely expressed, is that the songs keep moving and changing up in delightful ways.
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 7 November 2009 06:14 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
(And no, I didn't watch the Grammys, but I don't have cable or other TV access these days.)
All in all, I think I would have been happier with the Choco Orta CD than I am with the Truco & Zaperoko.
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 7 November 2009 06:35 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Plus the choral vocal lines on both of these sounds too much alike (and uninteresting in either case).
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 7 November 2009 06:38 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
There have been at least a couple other times when I've said that this or that salsa track is saved or partly saved by a samba breakdown. Maybe I should be listening to more samba? The samba--I hope I am right that this is samba and it isn't some Cuban rhythm I'm confusing with samba, which has happened one before--on "Amor Mio" sounds great with headphones.
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 7 November 2009 06:49 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
Okay, a few stray comments on what makes this Bannakumbi album so great:
I have to emphasize again, it has a lot to do with the way the songs move, pass through particular stations and moods.
For instance at 1:28 on the first track, something unexpected happens, some dip in the music (key change? I don't know).
Throughout, there is interplay between heavy and light. The cuatro and the acoustic guitar and the lighter lead vocals on some songs are offset by the rapping (and perhaps the bass?). (Sometimes the choral parts will land somewhere between the lightness of the lead vocals and the heaviness of the rapping.) This seems like an intentional strategy.
In general, the vocals go off in lots of fun directions whether its the "sa da bada bup bup badaba" (or something like that) in the last couple songs; or the jazzy scatting at the end of "Ella Te Dijo Que No" (on of the finest cuts on this very fine album) or what I think is meant to be an allusion to Oscar D'Leon on the same song; or what I take to be a reference, embedded in vocal harmonies, to "Living for the City" and the end of "Francisco Mala Mana"; or the quasi-flamenco feel on "Un Nuevo Dia." But more important is the rhythmic richness and variety in the vocal lines. These guys have a lot of vocal moves up their sleeves.
In general, they know how to tease rhythmically and then let you have it with a big percussion strike or something of that sort.
The worst thing I can say about this album is that "Aunque Fallas" seems a bit less inventive than the other tracks (though it's still good) and I'm not sure the sung vocals at the beginning of "Mala Nena" need to veer quiet as extremely as they do into soft salsa romantica territory, although I understand that there's a contrast being set up between that vocal line and Voltio's rapping (and it would probably all make more sense to me if I could understand the words).
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 7 November 2009 08:01 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
And if I haven't mentioned the horn parts, I wouldn't say they are doing anything out of the ordinary, but they are pretty much perfect as they are. The way they are sometimes subdued down here makes sense so that the acoustic guitar and cuatro can't be heard in the mix. (I keep thinking they remind me a bit, actually, of the trumpets on my second-favorite salsa album of this decade, Michael Stuart's Back to da Barrio, but I haven't gone back to listen to that and seem if I am remembering correctly.)
― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 7 November 2009 08:06 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
― neither good nor bad, just a kid like you (unperson), Friday, November 6, 2009 12:54 PM (2 days ago)
Yea, it was weird. They gave him like the final 20 some minutes of the show. Early on in the show there were lots of sappy ballads, some trad Mexican ones, some Latin pop-rock adult contemorary ones, etc. I saw part of Oscar D'leon's performance and I liked that. Supposedly Ruben Blades performed with Calle 13. I need to check youtube and such for that.
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 8 November 2009 03:13 (1 week ago) Permalink
Here it is (although the video had technical problems when I was watching it): Calle 13, Ruben Blades, the Latin version of Japanese Kodo drummers, and some modern dancers
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 8 November 2009 03:24 (1 week ago) Permalink
plus some kids. Oh and the show was held in Las Vegas this year so that explains some of the dancers.
Here's D'leon with Gilberto Santa Rosa
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 8 November 2009 03:34 (1 week ago) Permalink
Wisin y Yandel cruising around Vegas and then onstage at the L G's
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 8 November 2009 03:42 (1 week ago) Permalink
That stuff sounds pretty good (haven't got to the W&Y yet), but I wish they'd stop having this in Las Vegas. The Vegas glitz is just boring and I'm especially tired of the dancers. Also, why must the salsa stuff almost always be a medley? Doing that diffuses the strength of the ounting tension built into most salsa songs. Still, I at least thought everyone sounded pretty good, so it was unembarrassing on that level.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 8 November 2009 03:46 (1 week ago) Permalink
I was kinda wondering what they were gonna do to/about performing "La Perla" (the Calle/Blades song) since it's like seven minutes long on the album. Turns out they chopped most of Blades' part.
― neither good nor bad, just a kid like you (unperson), Sunday, 8 November 2009 03:51 (1 week ago) Permalink
I'm going back to Pupy's album from last year (that I have already talked about so much) and. . . boy there are a lot of annoying little quirks to it (as noted before). And yes, there are aspects of his sound that are just fantastic, but I honestly don't know how long I will continue listening to it. Now that I have a really good new salsa album, suddenly I have less patience for this.
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 8 November 2009 06:03 (1 week ago) Permalink
which is also to say: I profoundly disagree with those who say that Bannakumbi sound like timba (although comparisons to Los Orishas, at least on "No Se," are not off the mark).
― _Rudipherous_, Sunday, 8 November 2009 06:12 (1 week ago) Permalink
x-post. I wonder if I missed some other good Latin Grammy performances on Youtube?
― curmudgeon, Monday, 9 November 2009 04:37 (1 week ago) Permalink
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/arts/music/19nacional.html?ref=music
Cuban band Septeto Nacional allowed to play in NY
― curmudgeon, Friday, 20 November 2009 18:31 (Yesterday) Permalink
got an email from s.o.b.'s about it - line was down the block for them last night so they're having them again tonight
― fauxmarc, Friday, 20 November 2009 19:08 (Yesterday) Permalink