Rolling Afro-Latin Music 2022: Reggaeton, Salsa, Bomba, Latin Jazz, Bachata, Merengue, Urbano and more Latinx

Cuban timba pianist Cesar Pupy Pedroso y los que son son were great when I saw them in Arlington, VA near DC years ago; they were on a US tour now, and legendary pianist and bandleader Pupy Pedroso has passed RIP

https://www.granma.cu/cultura/2022-07-17/el-legado-musical-de-pupy-pedroso

Seeing folks on Facebook and twitter talking Pupy and timba and expressing condolences. Spanish language sites mentioning his legacy

RIP

Went over to Terraza 7 to see Mick Eckroth do his Arsenio Rodriguez project again which was really good as always. Ben Lapidus played tres and had a cool hat on.

This time I did manage to talk to Ben Lapidus for a bit.

Also talked to this guy, Steve Gluzband.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcENE1YClBA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Gluzband

Latest Lapidus book looks good. Maybe get it and The Tide Was Always High just to keep a balance.

Forgot I also have a copy of his academic colleague Peter Manuel’s book Caribbean Currents, which is pretty good.

Leafing through Lapidus’s book now. It’s incredible, my jaw is dropping at the amount of detail.

Bobby Sanabria's Multiverse Band at Bryant Park courtesy of Jazz Mobile:
https://www.facebook.com/bryantparknyc/videos/1743576976002693

Similar band to Birdland although Ian Stewart on bass instead of Leo Traversa. For a second I thought Leo had gone through some rejuvenation process.

I should get the Lapidus book

It’s good

So I heard that Claudia Acuña may be returning to performing soon.

new meridian bros. album sounds great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Lsjm3aA1rM

sorry, i meant to post this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTqS5fV99gI

x-post- Chilean jazz and more vocalist Acuna is going to be at little Blues Alley in DC in September.

Oh I used to listen to Meridian Brothers a bit. Will check that out also.

Unrelated-- was reading Lefsetz note how many Bad Bunny tracks are in top of charts and he was pitting her against Beyonce. Oy.

The Petronio Alvarez Festival starts in Colombia August 11. Lots of Afro-Colombian music. Would love to go to that some year

https://petronio.cali.gov.co/?page_id=4082317

An older NPR article about it
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/09/05/410264645/colombias-big-summer-music-festival-is-all-about-blackness

In western Colombia, the Petronio Alvarez festival is the big event of the summer — five days of music and food and fashion. More than 100,000 people travel from all over the world to the city of Cali, where they celebrate the culture of the country's Afro-Colombian Pacific region. It's a huge party.

Over the past 23 years, the festival has become one of Colombia's largest cultural events. For Afro-Colombians, it has opened a local economy and a space where they can celebrate their culture.

Bobby Sanabria & Ascensión at Worldwide Plaza tomorrow at 5:30PM, I think.
And then at the end of the month at Grant's Tomb with the Multiverse: https://www.newyorklatinculture.com/bobby-sanabria-multiverse-big-band/

Some other things have tomorrow's event at 12 noon though.

Eddie Palmieri is coming back down my way to DC in October.

Cool. Have you seen him before?

This free show is good

My late Dad was a big. Eddie Palmieri fan. We saw him multiple times- with various bands, and solo

https://www.newyorklatinculture.com/culture/music/

Wow Bad Bunny is playing Yankee Stadium 2 nights in a row. He's gonna be in DC at Nats Park one night shortly before the NY shows

I saw Bad Bunny at Nats Park Tuesday night. Fun 2 hr plus show. Old-school salsa, bomba, plena, merengue fans would have loved the encore and probably a few other cuts

Long story short, the Cuban Khaleeji Project arrived in New York City this August with three sunset shows at Little Island, poking out into the Hudson River on the city’s West Side. The concert brought together O'Farill’s 17-piece orchestra with Ghazi Faisal Al-Mulaifi and Boom.Diwan (Kuwait/UAE), Yazz Ahmed (U.K./Bahrain), Malika Zarra (France/Morocco) and Ali Obaid (UAE). The result was a fascinating fusion of rhythms and melodies, mostly khaleeji music arranged and interpreted through the fertile imaginations of O'Farill, his collaborators and his powerhouse band.

https://afropop.org/articles/arturo-ofarrill-on-the-cuban-khaleeji-project

Cuban and Middle Eastern Persian Gulf hybrid sound

Claudia Acuña is back! Streaming from Mezzrow now.

https://www.tickeri.com/events/6306825cad5d670004977790/1st-salsa-underground-concert-in-va-2022-bobby-valentin---leyenda-fania---paquito-acosta---mel-martinez

Wonder if should splurge for 81 year-old salsa bassist Valentin and orchestra plus Paquito Acosta and Mel Martinez

It’s also birthed a very specific term: “reggaeton darks.” What began as a reference to a meme riffing on goth Latinxs has become a thriving and hard-to-pin subgenre used to describe dembow with elements of rave, deconstructed reggaeton, and post-punk covers of reggaeton classics. All of these are the kind of songs present at gatherings where the Latinx kids looking for perreo are also sporting heavy eye makeup and wearing mesh topped with a leather jacket.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/tomasa-del-real-friolento-post-punk-perreo-reggaeton-darks-1234598566/

more from that article ( as Rolling Stome articles are often paywalled at times)

Friolento went on to make covers of reggaeton hits from Bad Bunny to Plan B. These shockingly faithful versions sound as though Joy Division or Bauhaus tried their hand at making music to grind to. The covers have been received for what they are: weird, wonderful niche-culture objects that goths who grew up on the Latinternet never knew we needed. Friolento’s virality sent ripples across this specific corner of the web, effectively leading a wave of “perreo post-punk” covers.

The inherent global nature of goth subcultures complicates the question of Spanish artists participating in El Movimiento as a whole, especially with the prevalence of European acts in neoperreo like Bad Gyal, Bea Pelea, Virgen María, and Spanish American neoperreo phenom La Favi. Even artists who don’t necessarily identify themselves as making perreo specifically, like Rosalía — decidedly a mainstream pop act at this point — are making what could be considered darks. The sound isn’t free of sin by any means, or completely without questions of appropriation of the Black Caribbean riddims that are the root of the genre, but the digital goth aesthetics that dominate neoperreo provide a space for cultural cross-fusion and exploration of the dark side of the heart. It’s a messy and beautiful in-between space that could only have happened because of the Internet…..

Artists like Tomasa del Real, Ms Nina and Cuban Miami mainstay La Goony Chonga — who collaborated with del Real and neoperreo producer Chico Sonido on “Muerde La Manzana” and released floaty trap track “I Don’t Really Think So” around the same time Del Real released early neoperreo track “Tu Señora” with Talisto — have paved the way for newer generations of queer and femme reggaetonerxs. From Argentina’s Six Sex and Mexican trio Meth Math to rising local acts like Venezuela’s Yajaira La Bellaca or Colombian perreopop producer and musician Manchado, who helped shape the sound for other up-and-comers like Cartagena’s Pelorucho, this subgenre of reggaeton continues to bloom from the fringes.

Over on the alt-rock end of the spectrum, indie bands have begun dipping their toes into dembow riddims. You can hear it specifically on indie mainstay Divino Niño’s new LP The Last Spa on Earth,

The breakthrough came to lead singer Camilo Medina during quarantine, when he stumbled upon Honduran perreo-pop princess Isabella Lovestory[/i]

Artists like Tomasa del Real, Ms Nina and Cuban Miami mainstay La Goony Chonga — who collaborated with del Real and neoperreo producer Chico Sonido on “Muerde La Manzana” and released floaty trap track “I Don’t Really Think So” around the same time Del Real released early neoperreo track “Tu Señora” with Talisto — have paved the way for newer generations of queer and femme reggaetonerxs. From Argentina’s Six Sex and Mexican trio Meth Math to rising local acts like Venezuela’s Yajaira La Bellaca or Colombian perreopop producer and musician Manchado, who helped shape the sound for other up-and-comers like Cartagena’s Pelorucho, this subgenre of reggaeton continues to bloom from the fringes.

Over on the alt-rock end of the spectrum, indie bands have begun dipping their toes into dembow riddims. You can hear it specifically on indie mainstay Divino Niño’s new LP The Last Spa on Earth,

The breakthrough came to lead singer Camilo Medina during quarantine, when he stumbled upon Honduran perreo-pop princess Isabella Lovestory[/i]

Artists like Tomasa del Real, Ms Nina and Cuban Miami mainstay La Goony Chonga — who collaborated with del Real and neoperreo producer Chico Sonido on “Muerde La Manzana” and released floaty trap track “I Don’t Really Think So” around the same time Del Real released early neoperreo track “Tu Señora” with Talisto — have paved the way for newer generations of queer and femme reggaetonerxs. From Argentina’s Six Sex and Mexican trio Meth Math to rising local acts like Venezuela’s Yajaira La Bellaca or Colombian perreopop producer and musician Manchado, who helped shape the sound for other up-and-comers like Cartagena’s Pelorucho, this subgenre of reggaeton continues to bloom from the fringes.

Over on the alt-rock end of the spectrum, indie bands have begun dipping their toes into dembow riddims. You can hear it specifically on indie mainstay Divino Niño’s new LP The Last Spa on Earth,

The breakthrough came to lead singer Camilo Medina during quarantine, when he stumbled upon Honduran perreo-pop princess Isabella Lovestory

Artists like Tomasa del Real, Ms Nina and Cuban Miami mainstay La Goony Chonga — who collaborated with del Real and neoperreo producer Chico Sonido on “Muerde La Manzana” and released floaty trap track “I Don’t Really Think So” around the same time Del Real released early neoperreo track “Tu Señora” with Talisto — have paved the way for newer generations of queer and femme reggaetonerxs. From Argentina’s Six Sex and Mexican trio Meth Math to rising local acts like Venezuela’s Yajaira La Bellaca or Colombian perreopop producer and musician Manchado, who helped shape the sound for other up-and-comers like Cartagena’s Pelorucho, this subgenre of reggaeton continues to bloom from the fringes.

Over on the alt-rock end of the spectrum, indie bands have begun dipping their toes into dembow riddims. You can hear it specifically on indie mainstay Divino Niño’s new LP The Last Spa on Earth,

The breakthrough came to lead singer Camilo Medina during quarantine, when he stumbled upon Honduran perreo-pop princess Isabella Lovestory

Artists like Tomasa del Real, Ms Nina and Cuban Miami mainstay La Goony Chonga — who collaborated with del Real and neoperreo producer Chico Sonido on “Muerde La Manzana” and released floaty trap track “I Don’t Really Think So” around the same time Del Real released early neoperreo track “Tu Señora” with Talisto — have paved the way for newer generations of queer and femme reggaetonerxs. From Argentina’s Six Sex and Mexican trio Meth Math to rising local acts like Venezuela’s Yajaira La Bellaca or Colombian perreopop producer and musician Manchado, who helped shape the sound for other up-and-comers like Cartagena’s Pelorucho, this subgenre of reggaeton continues to bloom from the fringes.[I/i]
[i]
Over on the alt-rock end of the spectrum, indie bands have begun dipping their toes into dembow riddims. You can hear it specifically on indie mainstay Divino Niño’s new LP The Last Spa on Earth,

The breakthrough came to lead singer Camilo Medina during quarantine, when he stumbled upon Honduran perreo-pop princess Isabella Lovestory

Oops, my phone

I don’t know which fantasy places that writer frequents but I haven’t seen any latin goth people partying to Friolento. They are sort of a novelty act and you can hear them being played alongside the usual reggaeton/pop fanfare but it’s not like it’s inspiring a new fashion trend or a new subculture.

Good article though, gives spotlight to some very talented underground artists that are trying to push the genre outside its restrictions.

That Friolento cover of Bichota is wonderful!

I like that Friolenta version, but based on number of covers they do and their approach, can see why they’re considered noveltyish

Divino Niño’s latest album is nice pop with subtle reggaeton, hiphop and dance tinges

https://www.grammy.com/news/2022-latin-grammys-complete-winners-nominees-nominations-list-las-vegas

lots of categories . I think they have Rosalia in "alternative"

That's the 2022 nominees list for the Latin Grammys show coming up in November in Vegas. It is different than the other Grammy Awards with everything

I still need to dig through the Latin Grammy nominees plus some more underground/alt acts from that Rolling Stone article

New Lucrecia Dalt ! Ay! album is artsy & worth checking out. New Shakira single Monotonia has Ozuna on it. Video has her heart getting stepped on literally and it ends up in a box

From Latin Grammys nominations:

Best Salsa Album
For Albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental Salsa recordings.

SERÁ QUE SE ACABÓ
Alexander Abreu y Havana D'Primera
[Páfata & Unicornio]

PA'LLA VOY
Marc Anthony
[Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC]

LUIS FIGUEROA
Luis Figueroa
[Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC/Magnus Media]

Y TE LO DICE...
Luisito Ayala y La Puerto Rican Power
[Musical Productions]

LADO A LADO B
Víctor Manuelle
[Sony Music Entertainment US Latin LLC]