LATIN PLAYLIST WINTER 1999
Compiled by El Largo (1st Dec. '99)
1.
WILLIE ROSARIO
"El
Apartamento" J&N Records/Sony
Produced: Willie Rosario/Bobby Valentin.
Arranged: Ramon Sanchez.
A fantastic CD celebrating Rosario's 40th
year in the music biz. Gilberto Santa Rosa and Tony Vega, former singers with
the Puerto Rican timbalero, guest on the CD along
with renowned pianist Papo Lucca and
bassist Bobby Valentin. This track features Santa Rosa at his best.
2. LOS
VAN VAN
"Permiso
Que Llego Van Van" Havana Caliente
Produced:
Charlie Dos Santos/Juan Formell. Arranged: Juan
Formell.
Another long running Latin institution is
Cuba's Van Van. Resurgent in the 90s with a string of must-buy albums, the old
guard of Juan Formell, Cesar Pedrozo and Pedro
Calvo still kicks although relative
newcomers Mayito Rivera and Roberto Hernandez take their fair share of the
limelight on vocals.
3.
OSCAR D'LEON
"Mi
Mujer Es Como Una Bomba" RMM
Produced:
Oscar D'Leon/Isidro Infante. Arranged: Isidro
Infante/Nelson Hernandez
Respect to D'Leon for admitting that the
effects of salsa stardom had almost reduced his recording involvement to a 'turn up, sing and wait for
the cheque' situation.
Hardly satisfactory for a person who even
cried musically as a baby. How many other stars are big enough to admit that
they have been resting on their musical laurels? So it's a hands-on production
with D'Leon writing, arranging and playing on many of the tracks- you'll know which ones. The lyrics to 'Mi
Mujer es Como una Bomba' were penned by Tokyo resident Pedro Valle and nearly
caused a row in the talented Valle family. Yumuri added the music and their
other brother Maraca recorded it on the LP Sonando.
4.
BAMBOLEO
"Ya
No Se Hace Falta" Ahi-Nama
Produced:
Lazaro Valdes/Adolfo Costales. Arranged: Lazaro Valdes
One of Cuba's hottest timba bands returns
with its best release yet under the leadership of Lazaro Valdes. Included with
the CD are some nice liner notes about the
emergence of the timba sound written by the
album's co-producer, Costales. The title of the CD could well summarize the
band's judgment on the departure of Haila Monpie from the group.
5.
FULANITO
"El
Padrino (De Tal)" Cutting Records
Produced and Arranged: Win and Dose
Fulanito is back at its Guallando baddest.
Still featuring Arsenio de la Rosa on accordion, this is crazy Latin hip-hop
cumbia and if you liked the debut, this is a required purchase.
6. CORRINE
"Lagrimas Negras" RMM
Produced and Arranged: Isidro Infante
Who would have thought anyone would risk a
cover of this Matamoros classic, let alone mixing it with house, hip-hop and
other urban influences? Corrine, daughter of Angel
Lebron, that's who. The RMM team have done
a slick job and with Corrine's youthful vocals and some measured rap from
Bimbo, it works.
7. TONNY TUN TUN
"Caminando" Caiman Music
Produced: Tonny Tun Tun/Luis Corporan.
Arranged: Tonny Tun Tun.
Now recording material for himself, Tonny
Tun Tun is a one-man merengue act like Elvis Crespo (who also co-wrote this
tune). There is some hardcore merengue here.
8.
ORQUESTA KACHE
"Baile
Encantado" Korta Records/Sony
Produced and Arranged: Tomas Bernal
Venezuela's Kache has a new release out
with a classic South American feel, although also included is some rap and some
NG La Banda covers. This track has an old skool sound and a perfectly weighted,
hypnotic coro.
9.
GRUPO GALE
"Amor Secreto" Codiscos
Produced and Arranged: Diego Gale
Diego Gale first recorded Amor Secreto back
in 1989 on his first release after leaving Niche. This reworking starts off
almost like a 90s Cuban track and ends up with a
boogaloo clap (the next track is a full
blown boogaloo). Grupo Gale is one of Colombia's tightest acts and it's good to
see some freshness among the Colombian orthodoxy.
10.
PROYECTO UNO
"Empujando
El Cielo" H.O.L.A. Recordings
Produced and Arranged: Magic Juan
Obviously, Los Tiburones del Merenhouse are
trying to attract interest from a variety of communities with several songs in
English- they haven't done a complete Marc Anthony though. 'Empujando el Cielo'
stands out from the rest of the tracks as a high energy Latin hip-hop dance
track. See them live and you'll have no doubt that Magic Juan has the talent to
rap with hip-hop's best.
11. RAY SEPULVEDA
"Volvere" RMM
Produced: Louis Garcia. Arranged: Humberto
Ramirez
Ray Sepulveda's duet with Johnny Rivera,
"No Vale la Pena", has been one of the most popular salsa tracks in
Japan over the last five years. It's almost unthinkable that
Sepulveda retired from singing in the 80s
to work for the US Post Office. His fifth release with RMM combines his
romantic singing style with very danceable tunes. This track arranged by
trumpeter Ramirez, who also solos on it, is a rock solid choice for the DJ.
12.
VICTOR MANUELLE
"Cuando
Tu Amor Se Acabe" Sony
Produced and Arranged: Ramon Sanchez;
Co-Production: Victor Manuelle
On this release we have the following
musical formula: Victor Manuelle + Ramon Sanchez + His Recording Highness Sir
George = Unmistakable. No surprises here.
13.
FRASE KLAVE
"Te
Voy a Olvidar" Prestigio
Recordings/Sony
Produced: Eddie 'Kuki' Perez. Arranged:
Eddie 'Kuki' Perez and Franklin Martinez.
There's never a shortage of 4-man merengue
acts appearing on the scene. This is one of the better ones of '99.
14.
FRANKIE NEGRON
"Desde
Que Te Fuiste" WEA Caribe
Produced:
Angel Fernandez. Arranged: Ricky Gonzalez
Some may have tried to dismiss Negron as a
teenage phenomenon, but there's every sign that his distinctive voice is around
to stay. This third release is perhaps his most consistent yet and that despite
having 4 different producers, Fernandez, Ramon Sanchez, Sergio George and Rudy
Perez. A sign of astute management?
15.
CANO ESTREMERA
"Aguita
Pura" Combo Records
Produced: Eric Figueroa. Arranged: Lucho
Cueto
Like Salif Keita, Cano's most interesting
facet is his voice not his appearance. When it comes to the technicalities of
singing Latin music, he's something of a purist, but
whether you believe he has a superior vocal
delivery or not, there's no doubt that on this album he packs a heavy punch-
Aguita Pura is a thumping good track.
16.
INDIA
"Esa
Mujer" RMM
Produced:
Isidro Infante/India. Arranged: Isidro Infante/Nelson Hernandez
You either love her or hate her- a sure
sign of a strong personality. On this excellent number her singing is a little
mellower than usual and accordingly the result has a much warmer feel. More
like this please.
17.
ORQUESTA DEL SOL
"Sonaremo
El Tambo" Nippon Crown
Produced: Orquesta del Sol and Jun Takagi.
Arranged: Ken Morimura
Are they from Puerto Rico or Cuba? When
they play in-your-face tracks like 'Sonaremos El Tambor', you really need to
double-take the sleeve photos to make sure that they aren't from the Caribbean.
Orquesta del Sol is Japan's oldest salsa band having formed in 1978 in the wake
of the Fania All-Stars first visit to the Far East. Del Sol has gone on to inspire, and in many cases outlast, a
host of other Latin acts in Japan such as Orquesta de la Luz. Del Sol's album
Pa'Lante is a live studio recording which its musical director and pianist Ken
Morimura says has the "puro
sabor" of a live gig.
18.
LUIS DAMON
"Se
Nos Acabo El Amor" Sonolux/Sony
Produced and Arranged: Miguel Bonilla
It's hard to forget the association of Luis
Damon's yearning whispery vocals and Osvaldo Pichaco's technological salsa
sound on tracks like 'Vivir la Vida' (1996). However Damon has probably made
the right decision to keep moving from producer to producer so as to avoid getting
a typecast sound.
19. LA
BOMBA
"Busco
Una Chica" (Remix) J & N Records/Sony
Produced: Tato Pena. Arranged: Nestor
Gonzalez
For the DJ, this merengue with a house beat is the perfect tool for segueing
from merengue to merenrap/house.
20.
MAELO RUIZ
"Se
Me Ha Hecho Dificil" MP
Produced:
Julio Gunda Merced
Ruiz was singer with Pedro Conga's group for seven years.
This third solo release is for lovers of Ruiz's sensual sound. "Se Me Ha
Hecho Dificil" is the catchiest track on
the album Finally, for those of you looking for a madcap theme tuneyou’re your millennium celebration:
21. LA
BANDA LOCA
Try the
CD "La Mujer del Nuevo Milenio" on Combo Records.
OTHER RELEASES OF INTEREST
NORA
Cuban
Colors (RMM)
Nora was Orquesta de la Luz's singer and if
you like her voice this latest CD will be of interest. As the title suggests,
the idea behind this CD was to record with a Cuban sound and with the expertise
of ex-Irakere flutist Maraca Valle as musical director and main arranger, this
has been achieved. We are not talking a 90s timba sound here. Think of a more
traditional sound- the leader of the Afro-Cuban All Stars Juan Marcos de
Gonzalez also arranged one of the songs. In fact, the participants are a
veritable
roll call of Cuban names: prolific key man
Chucho Valdes, tresero Pancho Amat, in-demand conguero,Anga Diaz and top singer
Issac Delgado who says the release has "real Cuban color."
Praise indeed.
FRANCISCO
AGUABELLA
Agua de
Cuba (CuBop/Ubiquity)
Cuban elder of the congas and long time
influence on the US Latin jazz scene. There's a real assortment of compositions
on this CD ranging from Aguabella originals to covers of the well-worn Manteca
and Watermelon Man; there's even a Lennon and McCartney. However, don't be put
off- all the pats, slaps and martillos are up in the mix so if you are a percussion
fan, there is only one logical decision-buy it.
BOBBY MATOS
Live at MOCA (CuBop/Ubiquity)
Also out on the reliable Cubop label is this live offering from Matos with a
line up including Steve Baxter on
trombone, Michael Turre on saxes and Victor Cegarra on
ivories. Latin Jazz fans won't be disappointed.
PUERTO
RICO JAZZ JAM
(AJ Records)
Renowned trumpeter Humberto Ramirez took
four years to get this Latin jazz project together and recorded. It features
over 65 musicians playing in different combos and
the names include longstanding ones such as
Papo Lucca, Bobby Valentin, Roberto Roena, and newer ones such as Paoli Mejias (percussion), Charlie
Sepulveda (trumpet) and Luis Marin (keyboards). With such a selection of
musical outfits something is sure to please, but there is certainly more of an influence
of contemporary jazz on this CD than in the previous two CDs mentioned
(Aguabella and Matos).
JIMMY BOSCH
Salsa Dura (Ryko Latino)
This bonist writes songs about car breakdowns, so it's clear that he's got a sense of
humour. (That's before any mention of Steve Turre playing conch shells.)
However, Bosch is a player to be taken seriously and he's certainly game to
have a go at all kinds of challenging rhythms from yambu to plena, mozambique
to songo. So sit back and let Bosch's heavy-duty tow truck pull you in
unexpected directions. La grua llego, que alegria!