Rolling Afro-Latin Music 2023: Reggaeton, Salsa,Bachata, Bomba, Latin Jazz, Merengue, Urbano and more Latinx

Defining the music broadly here but trying to emphasize Reggaeton, Salsa,Bachata, Bomba, Latin Jazz, Merengue, Urbano (more than pop-rock but occasional mentions of that are ok too)

Last year's thread

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

¡Felisa, me muero!

Vive

Sorry, that’s the punchline of an old joke I learned from an Argentine friend.

So saw the Colombian band Meridian Brothers show up on some best of 2022 album lists . They are touring the US this month. Old school Latin dance music with touches of rock and psych that has made them the band of choice for some rock fans who aren’t listening to more traditional acts. In DC, Meridian Brothers are playing a small club known for young indie rock , rap, and tik tok acclaimed pop. DC punk bands are opening

from press pr bio :

Meridian’s new album is a tribute to New York’s 70’s era Salsa Dura. For the project, they have created an avatar, a fictitious group named El Grupo Renacimiento, and written a new repertoire trying to emulate the writing style of those late 60’s and early 70’s groups while retaining the Meridian Brothers idiosyncratic style of arranging and recording. The sound of instruments has been modified to fit the Meridian electronic templates,

not to be an old, but they rly don't make dembow like this anymore 😭 2013 was a moment pic.twitter.com/nD8DcrzOsX

— Isabelia Herrera (@jabladoraaa) January 5, 2023

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/angel-dior-gale-yendry-latin-acts-2023-1234655204/

Rolling Stone article on acts to watch for in 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTSKHQzqyk4

Les Cotites are a female Afro-Peruvian singing and percussion duo

The Afro Latin Jazz Alliance & The Town Hall Present

Dizzy, Chano and Chico — The Original Influencers: 75 Years Later at Town Hall
Saturday, January 14, 2023 at 8pm

With Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra

Featuring Pedrito Martinez, Big Chief Donald Harrison, Jon Faddis and Daymé Arocena

With Adam O’Farrill, Zack O’Farrill, Jacquelene Acevedo and Melvis Santa

All-Star Event Celebrates Joint Centennials for Town Hall and Jazz Legend Chico O'Farrill

Pr email I received about this January 14 NYC gig

Tom Hull Jazz critics poll has a separate breakout LAtin category. Here’s some of what they liked in 2022

2022 Totals: Latin

Miguel Zenón, Música De Las Américas (Miel Music) 41
David Virelles, Nuna (Pi) 8
Danilo Pérez, Crisálida (Mack Avenue) 4
Dafnis Prieto Featuring Luciana Souza, Cantar (Dafnison) 4
Roxana Amed, Unánime (Sony Music Latin) 3
Martin Bejerano, #Cubanamerican (Figgland) 3
Conrad Herwig, The Latin Side of Mingus (Savant) 3
Flora Purim, If You Will (Strut) 3
Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Imágenes Latinas (Ovation) 3
Natalie Cressman & Ian Faquini, Auburn Whisper (GroundUP) 2

Cool. I like Conrad but I went to show of that album and I didn’t really care.

There was some beef within the band that eventually got resolved, I think, but there was still a little evident tension.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oie--p6YqJo

fuerza regida & grupo frontera "bebe dame"

nice melody on that cumbia meets corrido or something and now I see after listening to it that its moving up the Billboard "hot Latin" chart

Fuerza Regida and Grupo Fronter kick off the year with the greatest gainer on the Hot Latin Songs chart, jumping 19-5 this week. The viral track, released Dec. 16, also debuted No. 91 in the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Regida’s first-ever entry on the all-genre chart and Frontera’s third title on the tally.

Produced by Fuerza Regida’s frontman Jesus Ortiz Paz and co-written by Paz alongside Latin Grammy-winning produced Edgar Barrera, “Bebe Dame” is a romantic cumbia-grupera song about an unforgettably special person.

x-post- I still haven't dug into most of the Latin" albums that the jazz critics like, but I am guessing most are following very closely what is the formula for Latin Jazz as it has been played for last several decades. I once saw a tweet from Migue Zenon that made clear he has listened to reggaeton, but I don't hear that in his music. But some are obviously happy with his approach and the last thing they want from him is to be influenced by programmed rhythms (although Bad Bunny among others incorporated various genres like salsa, bomba, and more in certain songs in 2022)

I think there's room for jazz artists to embrace reggaeton. It would probably require something like the R&B cyberfunk approach Miles Davis took in the late 80s. I mean, the reggaeton bat isn't that far off a go-go beat.

Will be on the lookout for jazz artists who incorporate reggaeton.

I also don’t hear jazz acts incorporating the music the construction workers next door to me are blasting— duranguese, ranchera, Banda, and bachata

Catching up on Eladio Carrion

Last year I was worrying that Eddie Palmieri had cancelled some NYC shows due to health issues. I just saw on Facebook recently someone's photos of him performing up in the Boston area , so that is good to see.

x-post - From Wiki on Carrion- On December 2, 2021, he released his third studio album Sauce Boyz II, a sequel to Sauce Boyz, this featured collaborations with international artists such as Arcángel, Bizarrap, Duki, Jay Wheeler, Jon Z, Karol G, Luar La L, Rels B, Sech, Myke Towers, Nicky Jam, Noriel, and Ovi.

And Carrion put out a mixtape in 2022

Good to know.

https://www.billboard.com/lists/latin-spanish-artists-to-watch-2023/

Rolling Stone re Bad Bunny opening performance on the Grammys:

The Puerto Rican superstar started offstage, moving through the audience while singing a few lines of “El Apagón,” or “The Blackout,” the anthemic track that celebrates the strength of his homeland amid constant power outages that have affected the archipelago for years. He seamlessly mingled with the crowd, dapping up LL Cool J on his way to the main stage. Then, he dove into “Despues De La Playa,” the mambo/merenegue-fused standout from Un Verano Sin Ti, that gave him an opportunity to offer a full-on tribute to the Caribbean.

He performed alongside eight plena dancers, who showed off the traditional Puerto Rican folk art, and seven plena musicians. Meanwhile, several cabezudos, characters with giant heads common at festivals and processionals in Puerto Rico, represented some of the island’s most beloved icons: baseball legend Roberto Clemente, reggaeton pioneer Tego Calderón, poet Julia de Burgos, songwriter Andy Montañez, and revered composer Ismael Rivera, among others.

Meanwhile, the Dominican band of Dahian el Apechao, who composed sections of “Despues De La Playa” performed live while about 40 dancers pulled off stunning merengue moves. The performance got Taylor Swift grooving and got Jack Harlow on his feet

While a bit disjointed, it was fun .

Mentioning it here rather than the Bad Bunny thread due to his nods to various genres and Afro-Caribbean culture

Grammys best Latin jazz - Arturo O'Farrill & Afro Latin jazz Orchestra -"Fandago at the wall in New York";
Best Latin pop album- Ruben Blades and Boca Livre- "Pasieros"
Best musica Urbana album- Bad Bunny - "Un Verano Sin Ti"
Best Latin Rock or Alternative album- Rosalia "Motomami"
Best tropical Latin - Marc Anthony - "Pa"lla Voy"
Best Regional Mexican - Natalia Lafourcade- "Un Canto por Mexico"

Jazz writer Gene Seymour 2022 Latin Jazz faves

Ryan Keberle’s Collectiv do Brasil, Sonhos da Esquina
HONORABLE MENTION: Miguel Zenón, Música De Las Americas (Miel

Mexican reggaeton status

https://remezcla.com/features/music/meet-charly-gynn-tempvs-music-the-future-of-mexican-reggaeton/

Celia Cruz will be on the quarter in 2024.

Wow! ¡Azúcar!

Wait how? She passed away 20 years ago.

Lol sorry my bad I thought the US Quarter was a venue.

Ha. Pretty cool she will be so honored in 2024

Lol sorry my bad I thought the US Quarter was a venue.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/14/arts/music/karol-g-manana-sera-bonito.html

Interview with Karol G re her new album

Still haven’t listened to new Karol G yet but intend to do so

Ha, Karol G album isn’t streaming yet. NY Times interview up early

Meandering, awkward long article about Cuba to Florida musician Willy Chirino who is subject of an exhibit in History Miami Museum.

Should I read the whole thing? I skimmed part of it

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/02/01/willy-chirino-miami-museum-florida/

Ned S likes to keep these Thursday zoom events on the down low

Pablo Herrera + Alexis El D'Boys: Afro-Cuban Rare Groove Sessions #1.
We listen to and talk about selected cuts of digitized vinyl referencing Afro-Cuban and African American popular music connections by Los Zafiros, Orq. de Música Moderna de Las Villas, Wilson & His Combo and more, drawing on Alexis's vast collection of Cuban 33s and especially 45s.

Gonna have to miss this one sadly

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/latin-grammys-spain-first-time-not-in-us-rcna71762

Latin Grammys to be held in Spain! First time . Hmmm

For New Yorkers next week

friends & colleagues in NYC! a reminder that I'll be coming to town next Monday to talk dembow / habanera at NYU alongside @ReggaetonXGata (!!). our 6-8pm panel is open to the public with RSVP. hope to see some of you there!https://t.co/Gon9ivVbhW pic.twitter.com/1Mq9Mzh4px

— wayne&wax (@wayneandwax) February 22, 2023

https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/2023-premio-lo-nuestro-winners-1235259132/

lots of award winners

I missed Afro-Cuban Allstars latest dc area gig this past Friday but saw some nice video clips on Facebook. Have enjoyed them in the past

This is an old song but my wife just showed it to me because she heard it in Matar a Jesús, a movie by the Colombian director Laura Mora Ortega that she really liked. It's by a salsa group from Medellín called Sonora 8.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_bf5tfkttc

Nice classic salsa there and a fun street scape video

New York French Canadian Bernard Labadie conducts Orchestra of St Luke’s “Viajes y Raices” (Journeys and Roots) string quartets by composers with Cuban and Andean roots, including Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Tania León, inti figgis-vizueta, and Keyla Orozco; at Hostos Center in Mott Haven, The Bronx on Thursday, March 2, 2023 at 7pm. Free with registration

I am 5 hours or so south of NYC by car but can’t make This Thursday free event in the Bronx

That Karol G album is finally streaming and it has some songs on it that have already been on radio and streaming for a bit, plus some I haven't heard. I like her voice a lot. Some of this sounds great, some is formulaic Latin pop, some tries to do other things. I need to listen to it more.

Another Diaspora Playdate organized by @MotenSpeaks of the Go-Go Museum. “Go-Go Salsa”
I spoke on a panel w/ two dope Afro-Latino musicians. Watching the musicians jam was just 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾. Sponsored by @OLADCGov #BHM pic.twitter.com/hqsDDTyoz1

— Dr. Go-Go (@NatHopkinson) February 25, 2023

DC go-go band Sirius Company with DC salsa band Verny Varela group ( Varela is from Columbia originally)

Video clip in tweet

talking to a bunch of journalists from an earlier generation for an upcoming project has really highlighted to me how we're having the same debates about reggaeton's origins 30+ years after its inception

— Isabelia Herrera (@jabladoraaa) March 10, 2023

RIP NY dj Polito Vega

In an obituary in Billboard magazine, Leila Cobo, the author of “Decoding ‘Despacito’: An Oral History of Latin Music” (2020), wrote: “Vega’s importance to Latin music cannot be overstated. He was the most influential tastemaker in the country’s top market, dating back to when tropical music first became popular in the city in the 1960s and 1970s and stretching all the way to the 21st century.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/arts/music/polito-vega-dead.html

New York Times obit quotes from earlier NY Times article plus Billboard one

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/arts/music/27vega.html

In the mid-1960s Mr. Vega was one of the first radio personalities to identify and ally himself with the commercial potential of the musical style that came to be known as salsa. From the beginning of his career, he said, he was bothered by the difference between the powerful, driving music he heard in clubs and the tepid recordings that came his way.

“It was two different worlds in those early days,” Mr. Vega explained. “At the dance halls and up in the Catskills you would hear the Tito Puente and Machito orchestras tearing things up, but on the radio the kind of thing you heard was romantic trios, unless you were tuning in to Symphony Sid late at night.” ...

“He was part of the whole salsa movement, one of its pillars, really,” said Mr. Pacheco, a founder of Fania. “As we were building the company, he was there with us. I’d bring him the LPs, he’d listen and say, ‘I like this song, I’m going to push it,’ and he’d play the hell out of it.”

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/mar/22/can-you-copyright-a-rhythm-inside-the-reggaeton-lawsuit-that-could-shake-the-pop-world

This deserves its own thread I think- Steely & Clevie are suing superstars including Daddy Yankee, Luis Fonsi, & Bad Bunny and more saying that some of 56 songs took from their 1989 song “Fish Market “. They say the the dembow rhythm comes from their track and that they deserve credit and money

This might have already been discussed on the dancehall thread or elsewhere. Not sure