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

Another year- we will define broadly what can fit here, but the emphasis should be on reggaeton, salsa, bomba, Latin jazz, bachata, merengue, urbano

last year's thread

Rolling Afro-Latin Music 2021: Reggaeton, Salsa, Bomba, Latin Jazz, Bachata, Merengue, Urbano and more Latinx

Thanks!

I am still in 2021 mode-- listening to Xiomara Fortuna's Viendoaver, deep-voiced Dominican roots and more dance music

Still behind on my listening. Did read 2 articles slamming J Balvin for his clueless white guy statements and actions re reggaeton

https://thegoaspotlight.com/2022/01/18/cultural-manager-hector-tito-matos-dies/

RIP Puerto Rican bomba percussionist and culture supporter Tito Matas at 53

Tito Matos . Autocorrect error

Not exactly on point for this thread but the little I have heard of Mexican indie-folkie singer Silvana Estrada seems good. She’s on tour now but I just missed her DC City Winery gig last night

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/24/arts/music/silvana-estrada-marchita.html

Natalie Lafourcade and Chavela Vargas fans might like Silvana Estrada new album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S52_XxBwbJg

Silvana Estrada on NPR Tiny Desk in 2021 backed by strings and more & sounding mournful & operatic at times

The percussion video clip tribute to Tito Matos linked in this New York Times obit is powerful stuff. I had mentioned this bomba y plena percussionist's death upthread. Glad Isabelia Herrera did this NY Times obit. Matos died of a heart attack at 53.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/29/arts/music/hector-tito-matos-dead.html

Wife and I bought Bad Bunny upper deck at Nats Park tickets for August. Should be fun. Had missed his earlier DC area shows that were at a smaller 10,000 max arena

Publicist email I got says in part:

New York, NY – DROM is proud to launch its first weekly artist residency with famed percussionist and vocalist Pedrito Martinez and his group. The Grammy-nominated Cuban musician will bring his signature, high-energy Afro-Cuban sound to the East Village venue every Thursday, starting February 3rd, 2022, effectively kicking off the venue’s 15th Anniversary season

He was fun to watch the 2 times I saw him down my way in DC area.

He had a residence for ages at Guantanamera up near Columbus Circle that lots of celebrities went to see but I never got there when he was playing.

Rauw Alejandro was on cover of Rolling Stone in January

https://remezcla.com/music/what-we-learned-rauw-alejandro-rolling-stone-cover-story-rosalia-jhay-cortez/

Rauw got 4 votes in ILM tracks poll for 2021 I see. I didn’t vote this time.

Rauw’s dating Rosalia who has a new album due, and maybe out already. There’s discussion on her thread

Thursday, February 17, 8 p.m. Eastern: Postmambo Movie Night presents Fandango at the Wall (2020). Ned Sublette and Ariana Hall will talk with Arturo O'Farrill, Kabir Sehgal, and (pending confirmation) director Varda Bar-Kar. You need to get on Ned's list to get the zoom link

James Redd posted this over on ile obits

https://www.wbgo.org/music/2022-01-31/mark-levine-a-versatile-artist-and-influential-teacher-in-jazz-and-latin-music-is-dead-at-83

Thanks. Actually I had heard he was not doing well from a student of his several months ago but just kind of sat on that info since I didn't know what to do with it.

More deaths:

Elpidio Chapotín Delgado, co-founder of NG La Banda and first trumpet of its horn section, the famed Los Metales del Terror, on January 26. Cuban timba band

Suelyn Milanés Bennet, vocalist, director of PM Records, daughter of Pablo Milanés and Yolanda Bennet, on January 30.

thread I missed last year-- a handful of C Tangana fans here on ilm

C. Tangana - El Madrileño (2021). A spaniard Masterpiece perhaps?

Liking Fuego & Ryan Castro “Pendiente Al Paso”

Not sure if I heard remix or original version

Bad Bunny and Eddie Palmieri are both gonna be gigging live near me towards the end of March. Not together, alas.

Wanna hear Residente torch J Balvin for eight minutes? Sure you do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO73gUhiYe0

https://remezcla.com/music/residente-holds-nothing-back-diss-track-bizarrap-session-j-balvin/

I admit I enjoyed J Balvin live and some of his records. But his offstage comments and actions are not defensible

Saw some on twitter noting that Residente used to say he and his group weren’t Reggaeton, so who is he to be the one defending it.

But yeah, Balvin has more to apologize for

https://www.instantseats.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.event&eventID=B295D227-9CAB-F1CE-4C8FEED7DF84EE70

Eddie Palmieri Latin jazz at Keystone Korner in Baltimore March 25 and 26 and 27 has tickets in person and via streaming.

New York Times podcast episode on reggaeton

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/arts/music/reggaeton-genre-pop-edm.html

host Jon Caramanica with guests Isabelia Herrera, The New York Times’s arts critic fellow

Katelina Eccleston, reggaeton historian at reggaetonconlagata.com

I still need to listen to that history of reggaeton podcast Loud , narrated by Ivy Queen too

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/celebrating-viral-encanto-soundtracks-colombian-roots-180979435/

disney soundtrack for Encanto is number 1 on chart for weeks using music rooted in Colombia

NY Times article about Encanto soundtrack also. Too bad song "Bruno" to me on first listen sounds like Lin-Manuel Miranda just did his now formulaic mix of Broadway bombast and inserted rap verses with a bit of hidden Colombia rhythms. Carlos Vives is involved with this too

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/07/arts/music/encanto-soundtrack.html

My daughter loves "surface pressure"... that "Pressure like a drip, drip, drip that'll never stop, whoa
Pressure that'll tip, tip, tip 'till you just go pop, whoa" bit has been stuck in my head far more than I'd like it to, it's super addictive.

doesn't help that I've been under a lot of stress this past month.

My kid is old now so am out of the loop for this Disney Miranda stuff. Both Formulaic and ear wormy.

A Celebration of Hector "Tito" Matos
Friday, March 25, 2022
8:00PM EDT hostos center
Main Theater
Bronx, NY
Para Un Panderetero Mayor
Hector “Tito” Matos

He’s the plena percussionist and activist who died young recently

Luminaries of Viento de Agua and Los Pleneros de la 21 will be featured, along with a special presentation by La Maquina Insular. Performances by Alex "Apolo" Ayala, Nelson Matthew González, Desmar Guevara, Juan Gutiérrez, Norka Nadal, Ricardo Pons, Erick Noel Rosado, Alberto Toro, Víctor Vélez

Click here to View a Detailed Venue Seating Chart
Powered By
Sent from my iPhone

Another show at Hostos in Bronx

Grammy Award-winning Arturo O’Farrill and the 18-piece Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra perform an exhilarating program to commemorate the life and music of master percussionist Eddie Bobè. Performing alongside O’Farrill and his big band are the renowned pianist/composer Michele Rosewoman and guest percussion legends Román Díaz, Félix Sanabria, Gene Golden, vocalists Abraham Rodríguez and Héctor “Papote” Jiménez as well as Jay Rodríguez on saxophone. Eddie Bobè spoke of moments when the groove got so powerful it was said to be “burning.” Maestro Eddie brought that “burning” to every groove he played. Join us to celebrate an evening of rumba, batá, guaguancó and every manner of groove that Eddie Bobè was a poet of.

Fri | Mar 18 | 8:00 PM | Main Theater
Sat | Mar 19 | 8:00 PM | Main Theater
Eddie Bobe tribute Pre-Concert Talk on Fri March 18 at 7 pm

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/ruben-blades-rap-response-j-balvin-residente-fight-1319800/

Ruben Blades sorta says-- can't we all just get along

“Lo Siento BB” by Tainy, Julieta Venegas, & BD Bunny is ok but doesn’t wow me right now.

https://soundsandcolours.com/articles/cuba/premiere-harold-lopez-nussa-mixes-reggaeton-and-latin-jazz-on-first-taster-off-new-album-51973/

2020 article about Cuban Latin jazz pianist Harold Lopez Nussa incorporating Reggaeton into a track.

I wonder if there are others trying to do so?

I need to catch up on top reggaeton, Urbano, pop, bachata etc tracks too

Listening to Nio Garcia, Puerto Rican reggaeton singer and dancer who’s on tour in US in April. He’s ok. Most songs are a bit formulaic

Daddy Yankee is retiring.

put his number in the rafters!

Yes ! ( after a cup of coffee got your nod to baseball Yankees getting numbers retired.)

Rosalia shouted out Daddy Yankee and other early reggaeton acts in a New York Times article

s. “I listened to Don Omar, Ivy Queen, Lorna, Yankee, Zion & Lennox since I was at least 13,” she said. “This is part of my experience.”

https://hemisphericinstitute.org/en/events/listening-to-the-forgotten-archival-research-methods-in-music.html

MARCH 31, 2022 | 12:30—2:00 PM EST
a zoom chat w/ Rosa Marquetti, the author behind the web resource Desmemoriados: Historias de la música cubana; Chano Pozo: La vida (1915-1948);the forthcoming book on Celia Cruz, Celia en Cuba (1925-1960), in Spanish but simultaneously translated into English

https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/digital-stage/jazz/2022/arturo-ofarill-afro-latin-jazz-cornell-west/?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=22MJMingusEM1&utm_content=version_A&pid=6235679&promocode=461235

Arturo Ofarill & Cornell West 6pm stream on Kennedy Center youtube

Oh yeah, saw something about that over the weekend, thanks for the reminder.

I am 4 to 5 or so hours from Queens NY but keep getting IG ads for April 2 "Tripleta Salsero"-Rafu Warner, Mayito Rivera (ex-Los Van Van), Osvaldo Roman (ex-Puerto Rican Power) in Queens , Looks like you have to go to eventbrite or tickeri for specific location

jArturo & Co. streaming right now on FB.

This is kind of great watching Cornell West interact with the band.

Cornel.

Helping family, missed Cornel & Arturo.

Arturo and band and Cornell West show is archived it appears

https://www.kennedy-center.org/video/digital-stage/jazz/2022/arturo-ofarill-afro-latin-jazz-cornell-west/?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=22MJMingusEM1&utm_content=version_A&pid=6235679&promocode=461235

https://soundsandcolours.com/articles/cuba/premiere-harold-lopez-nussa-mixes-reggaeton-and-latin-jazz-on-first-taster-off-new-album-51973/

2020 article about Cuban Latin jazz pianist Harold Lopez Nussa incorporating Reggaeton into a track.

I wonder if there are others trying to do so?

― curmudgeon, Tuesday, March 15, 2022 4:34 PM (two weeks ago)

I have struck out on trying to find any other Latin Jazz musicians who incorporate reggaeton. But I guess it's like jazz, in that some jazz musicians do like current hiphop and r'n'b but not too many try to incorporate it in their sound. Trying to meld live instrument music with programmed beat music isn't easy

ALBERTO BARROS EN NEW YORK !
Sat, Apr 2 – Sun, Apr 3
Melrose Ballroom, 3608 33rd St
Queens, NY

Colombian salsa singer whose music I don't know

Just seeing something about the passing of a Baby Bass player named Joe Santiago with whom I was not really familiar.

Google tells me Santiago once played with Eddie Palmieri, but I don't know the name either . RIP

Join the World Music Institute on Monday, April 11th at 6PM ET for an At Home livestream event in exploration of Changüí: The sound of Guantánamo, the acclaimed and historic collection of recordings of the Guantánamo region’s unique and authentic party music. The live streamed-event will feature a discussion with the music journalist and producer behind the collection, Gianluca Tramontana, and Grammy Award-winning composer, pianist, educator and founder of the Afro-Latin Jazz Alliance, Arturo O’Farrill, followed by a Q&A with attendees.

https://www.pe.com/2022/04/07/coachella-2022s-expansive-latino-presence-reflects-years-long-embrace-of-a-more-divers

Is the glass half full or half empty. Saw some grumbling about the main stage not including enough Latinx headliners

RIP El Tosco

http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2022/04/18/fallecio-el-tosco-director-de-la-orquesta-ng-la-banda/

for those who want more info re him, the director of NG La Banda .

I saw the singer from NG La Banda with his own band in 2015 I think.

Gerardo Contino y Los Habaneros was the group I saw in a now gone place in Arlington, VA

Issac Delgado also used to sing for Jose Luis El Tosco Cortes group Ng La Banda

Seen both of those singers, but never saw El Tosco.

Me either

Last-minute notice: Tierra Sagrada will be screened virtually at 1 pm eastern today (Sunday) as part of the 20th Annual Pop Conference, followed at ~3:05 pm by a conversation with me and Pablo Herrera.

Oh missed that

What?

You missed your own conversation?

Ha . Don’t tell Ned S I shared that accidentally on internet.

Ned Sublette wants people to see his movie, but just to email about it , I think. Or something like that

https://latinalternative.com/

Conference on twitch April 27 to 29th

many of those panels are geared towards musicians and making it in the industry, but a few things aren't

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/ruben-blades-to-receive-harvard-arts-medal-on-april-30/

The 5:30 p.m. ceremony, presented by the Office for the Arts and the Harvard Board of Overseers, will include a discussion with Blades moderated by Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor and 2017 Harvard Arts Medal recipient John Lithgow ’67, Ar.D. ’05, and performances by the Harvard Jazz Band led by Yosvany Terry.

...This summer, Blades will join the Chick Corea Spanish Heart Band tour as a vocalist. Other upcoming projects include an album of boleros with the Editus group, a production with his songs adapted to Brazilian music with Boca Livre, and the album “Salsa Big Band Vol. I and II” with Roberto Delgado.

new Bad Bunny

https://remezcla.com/music/listen-bad-bunny-un-verano-sin-ti-new-album-music-video-watch-moscow-mule/

Panel Discussion: "Cuban and Puerto Rican Roots in Latin Jazz"
SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2022 at 5:30 PM
IN-PERSON EVENT (FREE)
Roberto Fonseca will join a panel of experts, including educator, percussionist and bandleader Fran Vielma, Puerto Rican trombonist and bandleader William Cepeda, trombonist, author, and ethnomusicologist Chris Washburne, and Claudia Morales from the Library’s Music Division in a discussion of the influences and roots of Latin jazz.
Saturday May 14, 2022. Doors at 5:00pm. Panel Discussion at 5:30pm. Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, Whittall Pavilion.

If you go tell Chris I sent you, although I haven’t seen him in so long maybe he forgot about me.

I do follow up on social media so I knew he was doing these talks.

Cool. If I make it, will do. Been busy with family stuff a lot lately, and missing music stuff. I want to ask em if they have heard the touches of merengue and mambo on a couple songs on the new Bad Bunny album.

Seeing on twitter some folks expressing disappointment with the new Bad Bunny. I still haven’t heard the whole thing . New York Times has a new interview with him

it is too long and some tracks are def duds (i.e. the common problem for many high-profile releases these days), i've only listened once so far tho

It is long but it's a strategy copied from Drake to maximize his streaming numbers, everything points out that he succeeded at it. He'll dethrone Ed Sheeran as the #2 most streamed artist on spotify in a couple of weeks.

Imo Bad Bunny isn't the real highlight in most of the tracks in here, the production choices and collaborations are what really shine through. Not as immediate or as club friendly as his past albums but there's several songs in here which are his most interesting sounding yet.

Only song which sounds as an immediate hit is 'Callaita' but it's actually a re-recording of his breakthrough single and one of his most popular songs. I wonder if him dropping big labels and wanting streaming money to himself has something to do with it, like what Taylor Swift did.

"Andrea" is becoming of my favorite song of him. It actually reminds me of Passionfruit a bit, so maybe he's not only copying Drake's marketing strategy but some of his musical direction as well.

Love that it's a political song about the murder of Andrea Ruiz Costas - which is something I didn't expect thematically in a Bad Bunny album - and I love the final minute where Buscabulla seem to take control of the song and make it sound like it's their own thing.

Actually the other collaborations like Bomba Stereo and The Marias make a really good job of mixing their styles with Bad Bunny as well.

“callaita” is one of the best songs ever. the original beat and vocal are so much warmer. it also might be a hair slower? wonder why he decided to re-record it

I finally listened to Bad Bunny album last night. Liked some of it , but yeah its long and will need to listen more and give it further attention. I like that musically he's trying different directions on some songs even if they don't always work.

from NY Times article--

On the mutant mambo of “Después de la Playa,” Bad Bunny sings on a live mic over the Dominican band Dahian el Apechao, echoing the style of the merengue experimentalist Omega El Fuerte. “Titi Me Preguntó,” a shape-shifting dembow track with a horror-movie synth outro, samples Kiko El Crazy, the pink-haired dembow eccentric.

“Un Verano Sin Ti” also contains collaborations with indie artists like the Marías and Bomba Estéreo, and plunges deeper into gauzy dream-pop textures and wistful synth interludes...The aural landscape is reminiscent of indietronica artists like M83, but Bad Bunny and his producers Tainy, MAG and La Paciencia immerse it in Caribbean gloss.

Both MAG and Bad Bunny were partially inspired by Buscabulla’s lush synth pop, and Bad Bunny said he listened to the duo’s 2020 album, “Regresa,” on repeat during quarantine.

“It was Easter Sunday and we got a call from a bunny,” the duo’s multi-instrumentalist, Luis Alfredo Del Valle, joked in a phone interview. On “Andrea,” Bad Bunny renders a portrait of a Puerto Rican woman hoping to live life on her own terms, and Buscabulla’s vocalist, Raquel Berríos, assumes the character’s voice. “I felt that the chorus had to carry a lot of weight about what it means to be a woman from the Caribbean,” Berríos said. “I had never worked this hard for a song.”...

“El Apagón” is a torch song that captures both the beauty and tragedy of Puerto Rican life. The track references the blackouts that persisted after a private consortium took over the island’s energy distribution last year. But it also incorporates laugh-out-loud citations of old school reggaeton, including a salacious lyric from DJ Joe’s “Fatal Fantassy” mixtape. It even ends with a send-off for the mainland investors who have descended on the island in search of tax breaks, driving up home prices and displacing locals. “Que se vayan ellos,” sings Gabriela Berlingeri, Bad Bunny’s girlfriend. “Esta es mi playa/esta es mi tierra” (“Let them leave. This is my beach/this is my land”).

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/06/arts/music/bad-bunny-un-verano-sin-ti.html

N*d S*blette is doing a zoom talk Thursday night et on his Post-Mambo Sessions with Dr. Ben Lapidus, musician/author who wrote New York and the International Sound of Latin Music, 1940-1990 that was mentioned in the 2021 thread here (but I still haven't read) .

Cool. Think I've seen Ben Lapidus play tres with Mike Eckroth's Arsenio Rodriguez project but didn't really talk to him at all.

Which I think I said before, on last year's thread. It was a lot of fun, so bears repeating.

Thurs. May 12-

Los Van Van y Havana D’Primera @ Cococabana in Hyattsville, MD near DC

Have seen Cuban greats Los Van Van a few times and would like to go tonight, but more mundane things in life may get in the way

They're playing near me, too; I saw a poster hanging in one of the Colombian bakeries.

the tickeri website lists Latin shows all over . So Los Van Van is at La Boom in Brooklyn Friday, and XL in elizabeth, NJ Saturday

https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-12-1963-latin-american-charity-game-is-polo-grounds-grand-finale/

So while I knew of the Fania show at Yankee Stadium in the 70s , I didn’t know that before a Latin American Allstars baseball game at the old Polo Grounds in NY, Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, and La Lupe performed in 1963.

https://www.salsaforums.com/threads/pianist-sergio-noro%C3%B1a-has-died.41709/

Cuban timba pianist Sergio Norona has died

x-post - I watched the Ben Lapidus presentation on Latin music in NYC tonight. Lots of details and cool photos. He jumped around chronologically though which was a bit hard to follow.

He's playing Saturday night @ Mi Salsa Kitchen, a Cuban place on Lower East side

reggaeton dembow rhythm as used around the world

https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/dembow-rhythm-list

nice caribbean pan steel drum comes in at one point on the reggaeton pop track by Zion & Lennox and Danny Ocean

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHzcZhlgK5U

Also liking Nesi & El Alfa "Mi Bom Bom (chocolate)"

and hipster fave Reyna Tropical (afro-Mexican tropical pop)

x-post - nice caribbean pan steel drum comes in at one point on the reggaeton pop track by Zion & Lennox and Danny Ocean

great summer song "Brisra"

"Brisa" I mean (Breeze in English I think)

early heads up --for Sat. June 25 event at the Smithsonian Folklife Fest on the national mall in DC (& on Youtube)--

* A tribute to Puerto Rican master plenero, percussionist, educator, and community leader Héctor René “Tito” Matos Otero who recently & suddenly passed (as noted upthread) . He played plena, an Afro-Puerto Rican drums genre.W/ Caribbean jazz fusion by Oakland-based John Santos Sextet and Friends; orchestrated plena by New York City-based Los Pleneros de la 21; the high-energy next-generation ensemble Los Pleneros de la Cresta ; & a collective of voices presented by Plenazo Cangrejero. The host is Libertad Guerra, a community leader and long-time friend. Video clips featuring Tito’s wife and son, Mariana Reyes and Marcelo Matos,will be included . 6:30 to 9:15 pm @ Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the national mall(& on Youtube)

Saw some of a free Afro-latin fest in DC w/ Cuban drummer Yissy Garcia, Cuban vocalist Dayme Arocena, and Dominican Yasser Tejeda. Liked some of Tejada set. Was disappointed by Garcia who at times seemed too jam band jazzy. She also backed Arocena which kind of detracted from that set, as her drumming was too over the top. Had fun watching folks line dance to a dj playing pop reggaeton and Elvis Crespo in between live sets

I wrote about the mighty Fruko for Burning Ambulance this week.

Haven’t even clicked yet but awesome news!

Just randomly put on El Violento because of that. So good.

Joe Arroyo died young at 55 in 2011. Glad I saw him a couple of times between 2004 and his death. His voice was kinda raspy, he looked like he was in bad health, but he and his band (who did Latinized Motown choreography) sounded pretty good. But yeah, need to go back and listen to Arroyo with Fruko recordings.

RIP Willie Sotelo pianist and most recent music director for El Gran Combo from cancer

https://www.billboard.com/music/latin/willie-sotelo-dead-el-gran-combo-pianist-dies-obit-1235081678/

Still listening to El Violento.

RIP Willie Soleto.

Some Fruko discussion here.

Thanks. Listening to this song now:

"Fruko El Grande" ("Fruko The Big") is the name of the album I'm talking about. It has one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) salsa hits made in Colombia. The second cut from side B, called "El Preso" ("The Prisoner") is a song that not one single Colombian can say hasn't heard at least once in his/her life. Not sung by Joe Arroyo but Wilson Manyoma "Saoko", the other lead singer in the band.

Cuban band Los Van Van were playing US gigs in May and now its former Los Van Van member Pupe to come with his band Los Que Son Son around the week of July 4th. I saw Pupe and Los Que Son Son, his timba band, once and they were great.

Now coming to SOBs in NYC on July 1st, DC on 2nd, XL in Jersey on 3rd, Los Angeles on July 8, San Francisco on 9th, Louisville, Kentucky on 15th, Chicago on 16h

SALSA TIMBA FESTIVAL - PUPY LOS QUE SON SON-EL NORO
Saturday, Jul 2, 2022 - Doors: 9:00pm
Karma DC Live Music Venue
2221 ADAMS PLACE NORTHEAST
WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 20018

https://www.facebook.com/DD-Records-Arts-Entertainment-107917724118129

Pupy

I wasn't familiar with her work, but RIP ethnomusicologist Roberta L. Singer.

I was not either. But I see she did this cool "A South Bronx Latin Music Tale"

https://placematters.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/mambo.pdf

Just saw the Bobby Sanabria writeup of Roberta SInger on FB that some have shared there

Yes. That's how I saw it first.

I shared info about Singer on twitter as she was barely discussed there. As annoying as FB can be, it's a better site for some older rooted music genres.

Publicists are hyping US small club tour of Chilean folk-pop Pascuala Ilabaca and her band

I shared info about Singer on twitter as she was barely discussed there. As annoying as FB can be, it's a better site for some older rooted music genres.

https://2022.jazz.org/bobby-sanabria looks really good. Don't know if I can get a virtual ticket.

Haven't gotten one yet but, ten bucks, cheep!

I'm in. Bobby is doing a Father's Day spiel about all the music he listened to with his dad.

There is kind of a Buddy Rich thing about him tbh.

Band is killing "Caravan" right now, or a medley that includes "Caravan" and maybe something else.

Really enjoying this long story about James Reese Europe and Rafael Hernández Marín.

Kind of a cool thing now where each trombone player took a mini solo.

Now they are doing a version of "Spooky!"

"Spooky"!

Now "Do It Again"

I feel disloyal to the Steely Dan backup vocalists.

Ha

Might buy a virtual ticket to Michele Roseman there next Wednesday.

https://2022.jazz.org/michele-rosewomans-new-yoruba
Somehow I had never heard of her until The Pope told me about her last year.

I know her name but not her music. Impressive looking band lineup there. That might be worth checking out.

In a different genre — have heard El Alfa doing gogo dance several times . It’s reggaeton not Dc go-go

Ugh, I messed up her name in my last post, Rosewoman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GHKHDxpK1g

Smithsonian Folklife Festival tribute concert to late plenero Tito Matos. The video has some tech glitches and unrelated footage at beginning before the emcee comes on and the music starts. There is also film of Matos wife and 8 year old son talking about him eloquently .

The tribute is long and there's lots of talking in between, but the dancer who joins La Plena de la 21 part of the way through is fun to watch '21 horn section and percussionists are impressive. The first group led by John Santos mixes plena with jazz fusion and they were my least fave of the night. The 2 younger groups who play after the long Plena de la 21 are good too, and a bit different. One did some nice harmonies and other vocal techniques that worked well.

Sirius xm is still playing The reggaeton pop track by Zion & Lennox and Danny Ocean “Brisa” a lot along with that “gogo dance” by El Alfa .

Their algorithms also have them playing Victor Manuelle and El Gran Combo on occasion, so that must mean folks other than me like salsa and Reggaeton.

For those Latin jazz gigs in NYC with pianist Rosewoman this week , I see that she has a band including Chris Washburne, trombone/tuba, and Robby Ameen, drums among others

https://www.moderndrummer.com/2004/05/robby-ameen/

Yes! And Alex "Alexander Pope" Norris, who I just ran into yesterday at Samuel Torres gig in my neighborhood whilst running an errand. Think Roman Diaz is usually in her band too.

SiriusXM Caliente station keeps playing El Alfa “Go-go Dance”

they might soon start playing “Chu Chu Pamela” too, again produced by Chael Produciendo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BAEmXqOdJc

great stuff

Sometimes I think El Alfa's speedy, warped vocal sound is really clever and cool, but after awhile (if listening to a full album) it can get a bit annoying.

Still like him enough I would want to see him live when he performs locally in about 2 weeks (but am gonna be away)

Some dates of that tour I mentioned upthread with former Los Van Van member Pupe & his band Los Que Son Son, have been postponed. DC show is now July 22 at a club called Karma that usually just has really late night djs or rap and bouncebeat go-go gigs.

Couldn't remember name of this thread well enough to find on search, so just now posted on Rolling Reissues:
With this year's American Clave Piazzolla set, mentioned upthread, out now on various streaming services:
https://astorpiazzolla.lnk.to/TheAmericanClaveRecordings?eml=2022June10/5728203/6011771&etsubid=33248291,
Nonesuch reminds us of this, from last year:

Tom Service commemorates the centenary of the birth of Astor Piazzolla with a portrait of the great Argentine bandoneon player and tango composer, and explores his revolutionary style which changed the genre for ever. He also questions his legacy in today's Argentina.
We hear from Piazzolla himself in rare BBC archive material, as well as his widow Laura Escalada Piazzolla; his grandsons Daniel Villaflor Piazzolla, who runs the 'Fundación Piazzolla' and Daniel 'Pipi' Piazzolla, drummer in jazz band 'Escalandrum'. There are contributions, too, from the critic Fernando González, who translated Piazzolla's Memoirs into English and interviewed him for international publications; the pianist Pablo Ziegler, who performed with Piazzolla for 11 years in one of his Quintets; and amongst others, the singers Amelita Baltar, who premiered many of Piazzolla’s songs, and Elena Roger, who offers a new take of Piazzolla's music...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000t4fp

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]

Isabella Lovestory

These playful, maximalist caricatures of sex are half the fun here, and one of the major reasons Lovestory stands out among her peers in neoperreo, the club-minded underground reggaeton subgenre that has become a haven for queers and femmes of all genders. “Gateo,” which features one of the scene’s foundational artists, Ms Nina, is perhaps the album’s best expression of the movement. The two don’t simply exchange verses—they hype each other up, flaunting their assets and asserting their excellence atop a thrashing beat. More than anything, the collaboration serves as a reminder that despite the genre’s male-centered narratives, women have always been present in this movement, and will continue to thrive.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/isabella-lovestory-amor-hardcore/

I listened once while doing other stuff. Need to listen some more.

x-post-- I think 33 year-old Luis Figueroa is the youngest of the salsa leader nominees

Haven't listened to Figueroa album yet. Been revisiting Marc Anthony and Bomba Estereo ones

The Isabella Lovestory got a 7.2 from Pitchfork which gave Taylor Swift a slightly lower 7.0, and Dry Cleaning a higher 7.8 if you care about such things

My wife and I saw Jorge Drexler do a great show at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington DC last night. As I said on a thread long ago he’s a former ear, nose, throat doctor (and grandson of refugees from the Holocaust) who sorta broke in to the US market in 2004, after a song he wrote for the movie The Motorcycle Diaries became the first Spanish-language work to win an Oscar for Best Original Song. From Uruguay but has been living in Spain since 1995. I think he lived in Brazil for a bit.

He has a gift for lilting pop melodies, sometimes over folky strumming, other times over polyrhythmic sounds drawn from South America, the Caribbean, & uh Talking Heads. He talked a lot between songs in both Spanish and English. Spoke about the value of immigration, speaking multiple languages, the importance of art, being willing to try new things and more. He dueted separately with each of his female backup singers, and did other songs with various other combinations of musicians — guitarist, several keyboardists, drummer. A 2 hour show and he was so into it.

Watching
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GThLhdudLy4
right now perform live and wearing the same t-shirt as the bass player.

Which has the logo on it. He’s not wearing in the video though.

Ah interesting. I like the cajon percussion instrument in that video.

Re my prior post - ilx search tells me I have largely been the only person over the years here talking about Jorge Drexler. Oh well.

was recently talking with a Brazilian friend who holds Drexler in high regard

Yay. ! Drexler has many Brazilian like melodies, he lived there for a bit, and Uruguay is not far ( although Drexler has been living in Spain for last 30 years)

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/jorge-dexler-tinta-y-tiempo-1341695/

Latin Grammys Thursday November 17 on Univision

Both Latin Grammys and the big Grammys show have not included Rosalia on any of the big general awards . They have her in Latin alternative rock

Haven’t been paying attention. Don’t know if anyone I am familiar with is involved.

Awards are on tonight. Best Latin Jazz nominees;

1. JOBIM FOREVER
Antonio Adolfo
[AAM Music]

2. #CUBANAMERICAN
Martin Bejerano
[Figgland Records]

3. CHABEM
Chano Domínguez, Rubem Dantas & Hamilton De Holanda
[Altafonte]

4. MIRRORMIRROR
Eliane Elias, Chick Corea, Chucho Valdés
[Candid Records]

Awards are on tonight. Best Latin Jazz nominees;

1. JOBIM FOREVER
Antonio Adolfo
[AAM Music]

2. #CUBANAMERICAN
Martin Bejerano
[Figgland Records]

3. CHABEM
Chano Domínguez, Rubem Dantas & Hamilton De Holanda
[Altafonte]

4. MIRRORMIRROR
Eliane Elias, Chick Corea, Chucho Valdés
[Candid Records]

Cool!

I haven’t heard any of those but they look worth checking out

I saw drummer who plays with Eliane Elias playing with bass player who plays with Martin Bejerano on Saturday. I did not see Chano Domínguez since he cancelled his gig because he may have green card issues. The first artist I think I may have a book he wrote.

Elaine Elias gig down here sold out and I was busy with family that night.

Marc Anthony just won salsa Grammy on Univision

Elaine Elias won the Latin jazz Grammy

Rosalia was eligible for more categories than I thought, and won 4

95-year-old Ángela Álvarez has made history as the oldest person to win the Latin Grammy for Best New Artist.

The Cuban singer, who just released her first album last year, accepted her Best New Artist award by saying “it’s never too late.” pic.twitter.com/5j5EyNKXQk

— Pop Base (@PopBase) November 18, 2022

oh nice! listening to her album now, sounds solid

Alvarez has those dramatic Cuban folk vocal melodies

Listened to new Rauw Alejandro album Saturnian tonight. He adds throwback freestyle club dance and older reggaeton as well

Details in this NY Times interview feature

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/arts/music/rauw-alejandro-saturno.html

Autocorrect ugh - it’s Saturno

Salsa legends El Gran Combo are still at it . Playing the MGM casino near me Friday

Finally watched my dvr of the Latin Grammys and wow Jorge Drexler song “Tocarte” that he did with C. Tangana won song of the year and record of the year. Drexler beat out a bunch of big names in those categories. He was also nominated for album of the year but Rosalia won. The Latin Grammys had Drexler perform “Tocarte “ live with Elvis Costello ( I guess because he had that Spanish language duet version of his album This Year’s Model). I like that Drexler song as well as some of the other nominees

Puerto Rican Bedy Stut Brooklyn Percussionist Johnny Almendra who played with Willie Colon and Ruben Blades among others has died of cancer

https://www.salserisimoperu.com/johnny-almendra-fallecio-victima-del-cancer-noticia-22-11-2022/

oh autocorrect --- Bed Stuy do or die Brooklyn

Reading Ned Sublette's email I see that the soon to be 86 year old Eddie Palmieri got sick and his bandmembers and others honored him over a some nights at the Blue Note. The band Sonido Solar, says Sublette is an all-instrumental band with brothers Luqués and Zaccai Curtis, brothers Jonathan and Jeremy Powell, Louis Fouché, Camilo Molina, Marcos Torres. And Jimmy Bosch, in from Japan. Along with guests Pedrito Martínez (through Sunday) and (on Saturday) tresero Nelson González, who can lock with Palmieri's tumbaos like nobody else. Donald Harrison also guested .

Didn’t know about that. Didn’t know that Jimmy Bosch lived in Japan now either.

Me either

Maybe he was just visiting/working?

Seen a bunch of those guys but not all in other contexts. Did see Luques with Eddie at Dizzy’s once when Steve Turre guested. I believe Eddie likes to use Jimmy Bosch and Conrad Herwig and then if one of them can’t make it some other trombone player I might be familiar with.

Just looked at Jimmy Bosch's twitter and it lists him as being based in both NYC & Tokyo. He tweeted once something about his Tokyo home.

Pretty sure I have seen Conrad Herwig with Eddie

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/arts/music/latin-grammy-awards-winners.html

Jon Pareles in NY Times on Latin Grammys

Bad Bunny #1 on Time magazine list for 2022

New Talisto track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hKtc7W8vnk

It could probably use a bit of polishing, production-wise, but I love it. I don't think I've ever heard anything I dislike from him.

Nice enough

David Virelles “Nuna “ album made NYTimes top jazz album list. The blurb for it says this pianist “pulls heavily from Cuban folk traditions: Changui, Abakua, danzon” but the blurb also refers to a lot of avante jazz pianists .

I haven’t heard it yet

iLe album Nacarile made Jon Pareles list in NY Times . His 15 more includes Rauw Alejandro, Bad Bunny, Jorge Drexler. Caramanica has Bad Bunny at 11. NY Times critic Zoladz has Rosalia in her top 10 as do the the others. She also has Bad Bunny in her additional albums list

really digging the new rauw alejandro album. i like how it looks both backward and forward - it uses the dinky, primitive synths from early reggaeton to create a futuristic soundscape. the back stretch really kicks the danceyness to another gear

I heard some freestyle flashbacks in there too

loving the Rauw too - it positively throbs

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rican salsa singer and musician “Lalo” Rodríguez was found dead Tuesday at a public housing project in the U.S. territory, according to police. He was 64.

Police said that while there were no visible signs of violence on his body, an autopsy would determine the cause of death.

The singer, who was born Ubaldo Rodríguez Santos, had struggled for years with drugs and alcohol and was previously charged with possession of cocaine.

Rodríguez once formed part of Eddie Palmieri’s band and is best known for his 1988 hit, “Ven, devórame otra vez” or “Come, Devour Me Again.”

So sad.

saw on twitter in Spanish but translated here== In 1975, at the age of 16, Lalo Rodríguez won a Grammy together with the Eddie Palmieri orchestra for the album, “The Sun of Latin Music”.
On that record there is a composition authored by Lalo. For me that song is one of the most beautiful boleros of salsa, "Wild Desire"

https://remezcla.com/lists/music/10-best-reggaeton-trap-songs-of-2022/

remezcla top reggaeton and trap songs of 2022

https://remezcla.com/lists/music/10-best-dembow-songs-of-2022/

Dominican dembow and more

that mediopicky song is a banger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAz6GL5yOhY

lots of fun to be had on that reggaeton/trap en español top ten as well.

loving this Mexican one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msVB4L2Hrfk
Bellakath • Gatita

especially the parts where the bass starts doing its own thing (act up like a tuba would?) at several points during the track

also from the dembow Dominicano list:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEdDaalYx0s
El Alfa ft. Noriel & Trueno • Los Aparatos

si es trucho es trucho!

...and this, it's number one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYjtsSngogY
Angel Dior • A I O

a brand new one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj86BVgsOzI
Bulin 47 x Flow 28 • Po po po

El Alfa got a bit of airplay for awhile on the Sirius XM Caliente station I listen to in the car sometimes. They play reggaeton and some salsa .

he gets a lot of airplay out of car speakers in brooklyn, but idk if they're listening to caliente

El Alfa’s “Gogo Dance”, mentioned way upthread, is #35 on the Fader’s 100 Best Songs of 2022 list.

El Alfa’s partnership with producer Chael Produciendo is 🪲🪲🪲

sorry for party rocking en español:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtc-ameWXNk
Tivi Gunz x Angel Dior x Young Gatillo x Dflow • Zuculento

some wonderful production choices on those Angel Dior tracks, I'm not too familiar with the genre but sounds very fresh

and that "aji titi"! makes me wanna sing "aji titi" all day

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/22/arts/music/bad-bunny-rosalia-latin-pop.html

In 2022, Latin Pop Thrived on Innovation. Again.
Bad Bunny led a takeover, not a crossover, in a year that featured standout releases from Rosalía, Rauw Alejandro, iLe, Carla Morrison and Lucrecia Dalt.

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