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

Second is that between the two of those guys on the panel they have a ton of knowledge, much of it first hand, and know how to communicate it, so/but I don’t know how much I care about them attempting to sort out the latest trends.

It reminds me that I'm gonna need to find the box I stuffed Flash of the Spirit into before moving cross-country if I'm gonna write the next chapter of my Cecil Taylor biography properly.

Going to watch some of this stuff right now. Roman Diaz.

This is pretty good. Only vocals and percussion.

Would like to stay for Boleros later on but need to sleep.

Saw Farris Thompson do a talk/presentation in person once and was wowed. Yes to Flash of the Spirit. I still haven't watched rest of the panel video but want too. Washburne and Lapidus know their stuff and are good musicians. Lapidus is on a new single too I think that sounded good on my first quick listen.

Other stuff not as rooted in the past that I heard yesterday and liked on Sirius XM Caliente- Karol G collaboration with Maldy - I thing the song was "Gatubela" it's Latin pop/reggaeton ; Bad Bunny w/ Eladio Carion song; Rauw Alejandro "Todo de Ti" from his 2021 Vice Versa is great Latin pop dance ; Rauw's latest w/ collaboration w/ Rosalia "Beso" is growing on me

I used to think salsa singer Victor Manuelle was too syrupy but he's been growing on me ever since wife and I saw him on vacation at a gig in Mexico City . Heard a good cut from him on radio last night too

I need to check out new Tego Calderon reggaeton single and guitarist& tres player/professor Benjamin Lapidus Blues for Ochun latin jazz album

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/04/28/tego-calderon-reggaeton-new-song/

Keep seeing things for that Ben Lapidus record now that I started following him. Will listen soon.

I need to listen to Lapidus as well.

I see Eddie Palmieri's health is ok again and he's busy touring and will be down my way in the fall.

In reggaeton/pop news am seeing complaints on twitter that the Karol G US tour is in demand and that Ticketmaster is jacking up prices (she needs to do a Robert Smith of the Cure to that entity). No DC area show announced for her but they're adding more NY & New Jersey ones

Whilst picking up my lunch I ran into a guy who plays with Lapidus as well as being an academic in a very similar area. He told me something to the effect that Lapidus always has plenty of things going on at once, lots of irons in the fire.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/03/arts/music/carlos-henriquez-jazz-at-lincoln-center.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Interesting Ed Morales written article about NY bassist Carlos Henriquez who led an Allstar tribute over the weekend to Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez at Jazz at Lincoln Center. He’s pals with Wynton Marsalis and willing to correct Marsalis! But he hasn’t lost touch with his Bronx roots and seeks out lesser known musicians who deserve credit.

Article references 100th anniversary of Tito Puente’s birth and upcoming May 20 Lehman Center gig; Hostos Community College exhibit; and more. Henriquez had a 2021 album South Bronx Story and is working on a new one.

Didn’t go up to NY for the above Lincoln Center gig, but I heard an awesome song from first Fania Allstars album on the radio.

Listening to Benjamin Lapidus album. I like the guest vocals on opening cuts. Will add more here later.

Wished I liked his own vocals more.

https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/event/the-bad-bunny-symposium-thinking-with-bad-bunny-beibi-2/

Bad Bunny symposium live from NY today Friday and Saturday. On zoom as well

Thursday, May 18, 2023, 8 pm eastern: Post mambo Sessions presents another round of Afro-Cuban Rare Groove Listening Sessions with Pablo Herrera and Alexis El d'Boys, this one focused on recordings of Afro-Cuban sacred music.

This is a N*d S*blette thing

Saw that 60 year-old something Dominican salsa singer Jose Alberto El Canario is going to be in Virginia Beach in June when I am there. Over a decade ago saw him do a couple of great live shows. Have not kept up with him since.

Listening to Kiko El Crazy again tonight. Some of his relentless dembow from current second album, plus some of the first album that has some pop-reggaeton, edm, and a bit of more traditional Caribbean flavorings on certain tracks.

Gonna be away and miss dc area gig of Kiko el Crazy Friday night . I wrote a preview for local alt-weekly website

Kiko el Crazy has been sampled by Bad Bunny, quoted by Rosalia, and got an 8 from I. H in Pitchfork. Not too much other crossover attention. My preview of tonight’s gig is here with previews of other stuff

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/605653/beetlejuice-rare-books-and-more-best-bets-for-may-18-24/

I missed another Ned S# online zoom thing on Cuban music

Sorry

Don't think I can make this but https://www.lincolncenter.org/series/lincoln-center-presents/latin-jazz-in-new-york-city-1920-1960

DC used to have plenty of panels like that too, but not in awhile

I remember when Jerry Gonzales showed up late for a Smithsonian panel, calmly strutting down the aisle with his horn in a beat up case, with punk rock like attitude

Picked up Camarão - The imaginary Soundtrack to a Brazilian Western Movie 1964 - 1974 on Analog Africa at the weekend. Not quite the description I'd give the work. It's Brazilian Forro music though and it's great!

https://analogafrica.bandcamp.com/album/the-imaginary-soundtrack-to-a-brazilian-western-movie-1964-1974-analog-africa-nr-25

I remember when Jerry Gonzales showed up late for a Smithsonian panel, calmly strutting down the aisle with his horn in a beat up case, with punk rock like attitude

Picked up Camarão - The imaginary Soundtrack to a Brazilian Western Movie 1964 - 1974 on Analog Africa at the weekend. Not quite the description I'd give the work. It's Brazilian Forro music though and it's great!

If they were going to call it that they should at least have gone with the canonical Brazilian term for spaghetti western, "bangue bangue à Italiana".

I don't know why they called the compilation that - it doesn't sound like that and it wasn't conceived as that (as far as I know) - quite misleading. The music is great though - fun, emotional and catchy in all the right amounts

Vampisoul just put out Fruko Power Vol. 1, a collection of "rarities and deep album cuts 1970-74," and it's great. A lot of it is sourced from not-pristine vinyl, and it's been mastered for maximum blare.

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3405044731_10.jpg

I only want to hear Fruko from the master tapes! Just kidding .

So the Sirius XM station caliente that plays reggaeton, Latin pop, bachata and salsa is now playing the Peso Pluma (from Mexico) w/ Eslabon Armado (cali) Mexican folky pop song "Ella Baila Sola"

Pluma is mentioned on a couple of other threads re Mexican regional music and corridos. He's crossing over to Latin pop and pop in general.

But he hung up on LA Times writer part way into interview when she asked him about his history with narco-corridos

Mexican singer Peso Pluma, 23, has quickly risen from TikTok sensation to the Coachella main stage with Becky G to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart — where last month, his starry-eyed folk ballad with California trio Eslabón Armado, “Ella Baila Sola,” or “She Dances Alone,” made history as the first regional Mexican song to reach No. 1....We’re about 20 minutes into our interview when I ask about the controversy surrounding his earlier songs — known as narcocorridos, a popular subgenre of Mexican folk music akin to gangsta rap — for which he’s been accused of glorifying local drug kingpins. Before I finish the question, Pluma utters “nah” and tosses his smartphone across the table. (His publicist told The Times that he “does not talk politics” with the press — but added that he ended the call because he needed a bathroom break.) We never did reconnect.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2023-05-22/peso-pluma-regional-mexican-ella-baila-sola

https://www.radiohc.cu/en/noticias/nacionales/323887-cuban-bassist-and-guitarist-juan-carlos-formell-died

Oh no, heart attack at 59

Oh no, heart attack at 59

His Dad founded Los Van Van and he was the bassist in recent years

wow.

Was he the bassist in Los Van Van or on his own? Actually I was more familiar with him as a guitar player. I guy I know from my neighborhood often played bass for him.

Oh that link says he did join Los Van Van.

I can ask I guess.

Oh, all this happened on Friday at Lehman College. Another friend played that gig on Thursday.

Some kind of festival.

He was both a guitarist doing his own projects and a bassist with Los Van Van.

Yes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/arts/music/juan-carlos-formell-dead.html

NY Times obit of Juan Carlos Formell with the tragic details of his collapse onstage

So I like Eladio Carrion ‘s trap rap en Espanol best when he is more melodic and has a guest I like . He has lots of collaboration cuts .

He’s got a nearly sold out show near me Saturday, but I have a family thing

Ben Lapidus doing a CD release show in my neighborhood tomorrow!

Nice !

I was just reading below blurb about a movie doc showing at the AFI Silver near me:

“Bebo”. This documentary tells the story of the great Cuban musician Bebo Valdés, whose career as a pianist and bandleader helped cement Latin jazz as a worldwide phenomenon.
June 11, 7:30 p.m.
June 12, 5:00 p.m.
https://silver.afi.com/Browsing/Movies/Details/f-0100004067

https://tribecafilm.com/films/sonic-union-presents-perreo-101-live-with-reggaeton-con-la-gata-2023

La Gata has class in session next week in NY

Kevyn Cruz was 12 years old when he started writing songs. “My mom gave me my first guitar, and with the first three notes, I learned how to compose,” he recalls. “Little by little, I perfected that art.” Now 26, the Colombian songwriter, known as Keityn, is behind some of the most recent Latin hits by Shakira, Karol G, J Balvin, Maluma and Manuel Turizo, among others.

https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/keityn-songwriter-shakira-karol-g-latin-hits-interview-1235345030/