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
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 15 March 2023 19:50 (one year ago) link
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.”
― curmudgeon, Monday, 20 March 2023 16:38 (one year ago) link
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.”
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 21 March 2023 05:26 (one year ago) link
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
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 23 March 2023 18:11 (one year ago) link
Kazzabe from Honduras are touring the US . They like to have twerking dancers in most of their videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI2GQtw0hrk
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 04:18 (one year ago) link
Combo Chimbita have gotten the hipster seal of approval. A gig tonight in a small DC rock club with an electro-hiphop opener and then off to the Big Ears fest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNoD-bGLths
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 04:29 (one year ago) link
X-post - Kazzabe are a Garifuna band playing Punta . They have not been invited to Big Ears alas, not even sure if they’re on the radar of reggaeton fans . Been around for a bit too, so not sure if they have tik tok attention
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 29 March 2023 16:11 (one year ago) link
Charlie Aponte who sang with El Gran Combo for years is now touring and doing a gig in DC area with Orquesta Galvan at the Palace. Salsa gigs are fun at that place
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 30 March 2023 15:01 (one year ago) link
Starting to get into the torchy Chilean pop singer Mon Laferte as a result of my recent explorations of Soda Stereo and Latino karaoke.
― It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 15:13 (one year ago) link
I guess she’s a Mexican citizen now.
― It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 15:43 (one year ago) link
Focusing first on her 2015 album Mon Laferte Vol. 1.
― It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 15:59 (one year ago) link
Now checking out some more recent ones. There are also some slightly bizarre videos of her out there doing battle on a Mexican Idol-type show called Yo Soy against a Peruvian Amy Winehouse imitator named Ana or Ani Rodríguez.
― It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 18:07 (one year ago) link
Norma was supposedly recorded in one day in Capitol Studio A with no overdubs. Sounding pretty good upon first listen.
― It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 18:14 (one year ago) link
Seems like she got her first big break on a Chilean Idol show called Rojo when she came in third and became part of the Clan Rojo. She was calling herself Monserrat Bustamante at the time. Her full name is Norma Monserrat Bustamante Laferte. She's got a big voice and it seems she can sing almost anything.
― It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 18:37 (one year ago) link
She is holding a big onion on the cover of Norma like she is about to cut it. Wonder if it symbolizes música cebolla, a genre I never heard until I just looked her up a little while ago.
― It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 18:50 (one year ago) link
She's won four Latin Grammys so far.
― It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 19:59 (one year ago) link
Loving this collabo with iLe from last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHe7DSZWFEY
― It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 20:33 (one year ago) link
Her Metallica cover is good too. Okay I’ll stop for now.
― It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 20:40 (one year ago) link
Maybe I should start a separate thread, but who will read it? Probably as many as read this or the Cerati/Soda Stereo thread.
― It’s Only Her Factory, Girl! (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 30 March 2023 21:10 (one year ago) link
Unperson mentioned her doing a political protest against Chile on the Latin Grammys some years ago. I noted in 2021 that Jon Pareles of New York Times had her album as one of his faves for the year. I also saw a Washington Post article about her interest in various Mexican traditional regional styles.
Laferte is very dramatic sometimes and theatrical. A powerful voice.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 31 March 2023 15:07 (one year ago) link
Yes I saw all that in the archives, but useful to have it summarized here. I am starting to relate to some of her material directly instead of just being wowed by the big voice and image which is nice.
― Little Big Man Yells at Red Cloud (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 31 March 2023 15:11 (one year ago) link
Because I think maybe the chops and stylistic diversity can distract from the actual talent that also seems to be there.
― Little Big Man Yells at Red Cloud (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 31 March 2023 18:38 (one year ago) link
Really digging her SoCal LA album, 1940 Carmen. Which has three extremely personal songs in Google Translate English.
― Little Big Man Yells at Red Cloud (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 31 March 2023 18:41 (one year ago) link
“Química Mayor” quotes her favorite Soda Stereo song, or at least I assume it must be, since that’s the one she was doing on the Gracias Totales tour. The overall effect of the album for me as if various David Lynch chanteuses such as The Radiator Girl, Rebekah Del Rio and the Connie Francis ringer(s) all escaped through the Mulholland Drive wormhole and struck out on their own.
― Little Big Man Yells at Red Cloud (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 31 March 2023 19:27 (one year ago) link
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/current-trends-in-cuban-music-tickets-596027563487
Current trends in Cuban music panel 6 to 8 pm eastern time tonight Tuesday April 18, live in NYC and online streaming
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 18 April 2023 20:50 (one year ago) link
I missed it unfortunately. Would have been nice to hear the takes of: CHRISTOPHER WASHBURNE is a Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department at Columbia University and the Founder of Columbia’s Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Program.
BENJAMIN LAPIDUS is a Professor of Music at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The Graduate Center of the City of New York (CUNY).
I wonder if either have been to Cuba lately
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 19 April 2023 15:10 (one year ago) link
My wife played this song for me the other day and now I want to hear the whole album. It's from 1975, and apparently the only album this group ever made, ironically called Reincarnation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgqURgit0m8
― but also fuck you (unperson), Wednesday, 19 April 2023 15:34 (one year ago) link
https://www.discogs.com/artist/1477688-Orquesta-Narvaez
Wasn't familiar with Orquesta Narvaez, but yeah in that song they have that great mid-1970s NYC rooted salsa horns and percussion danceable sound
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 19 April 2023 16:45 (one year ago) link
the recent crossover moment for regional mexican music's young stars is kicking into overdrive with "ella baila sola" by eslabon armado and peso pluma just reaching top 10 on the hot 100 and #1 on spotify both in the us and globally. bad bunny just released a song w/ grupo frontera that replaced "ella baila sola" at #1 on the global spotify chart and is also #1 on us apple music. peso pluma has 5 other songs on the hot 100 (tho the second highest-charting one, the remix to yng lvcas's "la bebe", is reggaeton). i imagine the managers of a few anglo artists are salivating
― dyl, Thursday, 20 April 2023 04:26 (one year ago) link
Thanks. Fascinating to see this happen, as despite same language the genres have always seemed so separate.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 20 April 2023 16:18 (one year ago) link
feels like that started here: natanael cano and corridos tumbados
― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Thursday, 20 April 2023 17:27 (one year ago) link
Pop Conference talks Sun Apr 30
Gathering Together Under a Dembow Beat: The Cultural Politics of Reggaeton in the Global Arena Room 202, 370 Jay StreetMaría Elena Cepeda, “What Does J Balvin Suffer From?: The Interlocking Discourses of Race, Region and Mental Disability in The Boy From Medellín”Luis Rivera Figueroa, “Negotiating the Pan-Latin/x American Identity: Karol G’s Star Image in Puerto Rico”Christopher Joseph Westgate, “Ana Macho’s Archipelago: Toward a Reggaeton Fluido for Puerto Rico
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 20 April 2023 18:03 (one year ago) link
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/kiko-el-crazy-pilae-teteo/
Is Dominican Kiko el Crazy as influential to Rosalia and Bad Bunny as stated in this article?
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 20 April 2023 18:08 (one year ago) link
Kiko is doing a gig near me.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 25 April 2023 20:32 (one year ago) link
been meaning to listen to his album. sometimes you just need some relentless dembow bass to blast the bad feelings away
― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 25 April 2023 22:37 (one year ago) link
first 2 cuts are definitely relentless. "Pichirry" has some El Alfa like sped up vocals
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 26 April 2023 00:38 (one year ago) link
el alfa guests on that one, no?
― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 26 April 2023 18:57 (one year ago) link
produced by his favorite producer Chael Produciendo too
― at bottom, wrapping my arms around some tripe called "Quest" (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 26 April 2023 19:01 (one year ago) link
x-post-- I guess so, I [ducks head] was listening on Spotify on my phone and it didn't list guest vocalists there
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 26 April 2023 21:14 (one year ago) link
After first listen I wish album had more variety in tempos, and not just mostly "relentless" . There are a few cuts that kinda vary
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 26 April 2023 21:17 (one year ago) link
i almost always listen to dembow when i'm in the mood to listen to dembow. i don't mind the constant "relentlessness" because it scratches a very specific itch for me.
― ludicrously capacious bag (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 26 April 2023 21:26 (one year ago) link
I missed it unfortunately. Would have been nice to hear the takes of: CHRISTOPHER WASHBURNE is a Professor of Music and Chair of the Music Department at Columbia University and the Founder of Columbia’s Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Program.BENJAMIN LAPIDUS is a Professor of Music at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The Graduate Center of the City of New York (CUNY).I wonder if either have been to Cuba lately
― The Lubitsch Touchscreen (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 27 April 2023 02:09 (one year ago) link
In his recent book Ben calls out Chris about something in his book, which I asked Chris about last year. Let’s see if I can tell this.
― The Lubitsch Touchscreen (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 27 April 2023 02:11 (one year ago) link
The story is that when bassist Bobby Rodriguez was asked if he knew Charlie Parker he said “Know him? I helped kill him!” (By dealing him drugs)
― The Lubitsch Touchscreen (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 27 April 2023 02:14 (one year ago) link
Another musician also told me about Bobby Rodriguez saying this to him on a plane flight. Last summer I saw the other guy and Chris playing with Bobby Sanabria at a free show in midtown. I asked Chris “did he tell you that story?” And Chris said “no, Bobby (Rodriguez) told it to me himself.” They had been on a plane together, Chris asked Bobby if he could interview him and said something like “you’ve played with a lot of famous people what can you tell me blah blah blah” and Bobby R volunteered the “Charlie Parker? Know him, I helped kill him!” story. I guess anybody who sat next to him on an airplane would hear this story. Ben Lapidus has several pages of analysis about what made Bobby Rodriguez such a great bass player to counterbalance this tag line.
― The Lubitsch Touchscreen (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 27 April 2023 02:23 (one year ago) link
I don’t own a copy of Chris’s book, I read a library copy, so I can’t refer to it. I enjoyed it but felt it was more of a sociological book whereas Ben Lapidus’s book seems to have a lot more musical and historical detail.
― The Lubitsch Touchscreen (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 27 April 2023 02:40 (one year ago) link
I am referring to Sounding Salsa here. I do have Latin Jazz: The Other Jazz. I have dipped into it but haven’t read it properly. There seem to be a lot of good detailed case studies.
― The Lubitsch Touchscreen (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 27 April 2023 02:45 (one year ago) link
Lapidus thinks the Cuban music panel with Washburne was filmed and they may make it available online. Will let you know. I haven't read either's book yet, but as always they're on my list.
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 27 April 2023 13:01 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1nGgM7F81g
I found it . But first 7 minutes or so are of a intro and some tech issues. Will check out this "Trends in Cuban Music " panel later
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 27 April 2023 13:06 (one year ago) link
Where do you follow Lapidus?
― The Lubitsch Touchscreen (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 27 April 2023 19:18 (one year ago) link