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

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

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

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

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

Starting to get into the torchy Chilean pop singer Mon Laferte as a result of my recent explorations of Soda Stereo and Latino karaoke.

I guess she’s a Mexican citizen now.

Focusing first on her 2015 album Mon Laferte Vol. 1.

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.

Norma was supposedly recorded in one day in Capitol Studio A with no overdubs. Sounding pretty good upon first listen.

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.

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.

She's won four Latin Grammys so far.

Loving this collabo with iLe from last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHe7DSZWFEY

Her Metallica cover is good too. Okay I’ll stop for now.

Maybe I should start a separate thread, but who will read it? Probably as many as read this or the Cerati/Soda Stereo thread.

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.

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.

Because I think maybe the chops and stylistic diversity can distract from the actual talent that also seems to be there.

Really digging her SoCal LA album, 1940 Carmen. Which has three extremely personal songs in Google Translate English.

“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.

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks. Fascinating to see this happen, as despite same language the genres have always seemed so separate.

feels like that started here: natanael cano and corridos tumbados

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 Street
María 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

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?

Kiko is doing a gig near me.

been meaning to listen to his album. sometimes you just need some relentless dembow bass to blast the bad feelings away

first 2 cuts are definitely relentless. "Pichirry" has some El Alfa like sped up vocals

el alfa guests on that one, no?

produced by his favorite producer Chael Produciendo too

x-post-- I guess so, I [ducks head] was listening on Spotify on my phone and it didn't list guest vocalists there

After first listen I wish album had more variety in tempos, and not just mostly "relentless" . There are a few cuts that kinda vary

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.

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

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 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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Where do you follow Lapidus?

p4k included rosa pistola's cumbiaton total on their list of overlooked albums. short, 20-min survey of mexico city's "cumbiaton" scene (mix of reggaeton beats with cumbia instrumentation, occasionally also with hyperpop vocals and various animal noises). no surprise it bangs, particularly the first song "mamita sensual"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv9YP5OyT3A

it feels close to the spirit of first-wave reggaeton, with spare beats created by hard, primitive synthesizers and elevated by the sheer audacity of the beats and charisma of the vocals.

x-post to James Redd-- I follow prof and musician Lapidus on Instagram and his musician page on Facebook

Isabelia Herrera wrote about both Kiko El Crazy and Rosa Pistola's Cumbiaton total for P4k

Listened to a few more minutes of that Cuban trends Youtube and Washburne showed clips from that Beyonce video/film where she had Cuban footage in background and showed a quick glimpse of Professor Robert Farris Thompson's awesome book Flash of the Spirit. Washburne telling listeners that Beyonce recognizes the importance of Cuban music and dance is nice but it really doesn't tell me about the panel title "trends in Cuban music"...But maybe they get to that later in the panel

Your post is making me think several things.

Or at least two.

One is that I feel like I have spent the second half of my life making up for the fact that I didn’t take Robert Farris Thompson’s class in college.

Although I don’t think Robby Ameen did either, but he was already gigging so barely in college.

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/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/06/02/regional-mexican-music-peso-pluma/

A long feature on Mexican regional music star crossover to Latin pop act Peso Pluma who has been mentioned on this thread and others

Making some music this Saturday at @TheJazzGallery as a special guest with #Caracastrio...These guys have been exploring Afro-Venezuelan music from a modern jazz perspective, and they do it VERY WELL...You should come...#miguelzenon #jazzgallerynyc #caracastrio #nycmusic pic.twitter.com/pfzJ0ZwYFN

— Miguel Zenon (@miguelzenon) June 8, 2023

This gig could be good. Zenon’s music is usually too abstract jazzy for simple me without enough clave . I know he’s critically acclaimed and teaching 2023/2024 at Berklee school of Music in Boston

Zenon’s music is usually too abstract jazzy for simple me without enough clave . I know he’s critically acclaimed

Gosh, I wonder if there could be some link between these two things? *strokes chin while staring at a photo of an assemblage of current jazz critics*

I mean it’s Zenon’s choice to sound like he does and not to sound like standard Latin Jazz or to go pop or whatever. I am saying it’s me who is not a fan . I have seen him tweet on occasion re hiphop and reggaeton and I still entertain my fantasy notion that he could add such elements to his sound.

That end of year Francis Davis run jazz critic poll has a separate breakout for Latin Jazz and the small amount of critics who participate in that seem happy with Zenon, and also with Sanabria whose Latin Jazz I like but who I also wish would incorporate some newer elements

I'm not beefing either — I like some of Zenon's stuff. There's just a bias among jazz critics for music that can be appreciated from a comfy chair, is all.

And a shortage of English language critics writing about Spanish language music that gets people out of their comfy chairs

I think Lindsay Zoladz in NY Times amplifier newsletter who usually just writes about American and UK indie and pop just wrote about Silvana Estrada and Lido Pimienta for first time because she acknowledged being hipped to them by fellow NY Times writer Jon Pareles and they felt indie comfy chair enough for her . Nothing from her on Kiko El Crazy or El Alfa

Cumbia seems to be the crossover style of the moment for English speakers

Also seeing teknocumbia dance nights

Harvey Averne begins most days with a bialy and whitefish salad. He watches “Morning Joe,” plays with his cat, Coco Baby, and fields calls from Latin music legends like Joe Bataan at his eclectic but tidy Woodhaven, Queens apartment.

On a particularly humid day in mid-March, they were advising each other on prescription medication. But a peek at Averne’s foyer — which is adorned with awards, concert posters, framed newspaper clippings and photos, including a prominently displayed shot with Celia Cruz — tells a story that belies his typical 86-year-old day-to-day travails. Averne is one of the last of the Latin music giants: a Jewish kid from East New York who had a hand in the development of Latin music, from the borscht belt to boogaloo and salsa.

[i}As a producer, manager and musician, Averne has a storied history behind the scenes at some of New York’s biggest Latin music labels. He was the de facto chief operating officer of the crucial Fania Records, where he produced or supervised records by Willie Colón, Larry Harlow, Ralfi Pagan and Ray Barretto. At his own Coco Records, which released Latin jazz and salsa, Averne’s work with the pianist Eddie Palmieri earned the first two Grammy Awards for Latin music...At 14, Averne was leading a Catskills hotel band when he noticed another employee strumming a guitar and singing in Spanish. He was “hypnotized,” he recalled, and asked to learn the song. Inspired, he changed the name of his Harvey Averne Trio to Arvito and His Latin Rhythms and made the leap from Catskills stages to the Palladium, where the group opened for stars like Tito Puente, Machito and Tito Rodriguez.

Before he entered the record business, Averne “ran errands for the local mafia guys,” he said, worked in diaper service and family photo sales,[/i]

“Ray was the one who really saw my potential,” Averne said of the percussionist. “I produced ‘Acid,’ but Ray Barretto produced Harvey Averne. He was the most prepared artist I’ve ever worked with.”...While Averne had no previous label experience, he aggressively (and successfully) marketed acts using the sales tactics he honed in his teens and 20s, broadening the appeal of Fania artists and Latin music beyond the tristate area. “‘Unfinished Masterpiece’ was a war between Eddie and I,” Averne said. Palmieri, now 86, declined to comment...“I’m relaxed. I’m chilling,” he added. But “if the right musical project came along that was interesting to me, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/13/arts/music/harvey-averne-latin-music.html

Cool! Only yesterday I was trying to explain judíos maravillosos to someone.

Larry Harlow is definitely mentioned in that article. I love that lead sentence

His brother too!

Like that the headline uses the term "record man."

the conflict between Averne and Palmieri is fascinating and hard to get to the bottom of. HA tells his side of the story here:

https://latinjazznet.com/featured/harvey-averne-interview-2/

but it seems that Eddie doesn't like to talk about it:

“It’s a scar. It’s a vital scar in my life,” regrets Palmieri, “my wife sent them the album with a bow on it that said ‘shove it’. I closed myself in my home in Long Island for three years.

Let me check if I can find the Irv Greenbaum book to see if he had something to say about this.

Money that Palmieri allegedly owed to Averne, and the way that Averne had musicians do overdubs on Unfinished Masterpiece seem to be issues

Irv does indeed have something to say. Not sure if I can summarize right now.

Palmieri talked about Unfinished Masterpiece a little when I interviewed him for the BA podcast, but I don't recall the details offhand.

Irv talks about how temperamental Eddie could be, how he personally had to pull out all the stops to finish Unfinished Masterpiece as well doing the same to edit the centerpiece of the previous album, The Sun of Latin Music, “Un Dia Bonito,” and how both Harvey and Eddie were very stingy about giving him proper credit.

Italics tags, why are they so bad and hated.

Had to hang with wife's family this past Friday on vacation at beach and missed Jose Alberto El Canario nearby (or maybe his show got cancelled as it was outdoors and it was rainy with some thunder earlier)

Meanwhile rapper Myke Towers is touring US in October and November and got a lot of airplay in April and May for various collaborations:

To ring in the month of May, the acclaimed rapper celebrated hitting #1 on Billboard’s Latin Airplay chart thanks to smash hits: “Caramelo” with Ozuna and Karol G; “Bandido” alongside Juhn; Manuel Turizo, Rauw Alejandro, and Towers’ “La Nota”; “Bésame” with Luis Fonsi; “Mi Niña” alongside Los Legendarios and Wisin; power collaboration “Travesuras”; and “Pareja Del Año” alongside Sebastian Yatra. In April, Towers joined forces with reggaeton pioneer, Daddy Yankee, for the momentous release of “Gasolina” (Safari Riot Remix) – a new remix of his 2004 global hit song, “Gasolina.” The remix is part of the original motion picture soundtrack to the new chapter in the Fast & Furious Saga, Fast X.

Bad Bunny in Rolling Stone cover story on what he’s listening to:

“I’ve been listening to Luis Miguel a lot,” he says, referring to the famous mariachi and bolero balladeer. He lists off a few more Mexican acts that have been blowing up lately: Grupo Frontera, Peso Pluma, Eslabon Armado. There’s a range of genres, too: “Radiohead,” he says, name-checking albums like OK Computer and In Rainbows. “Phob …” He trips over the name slightly. “Phoebe Bridgers?”

“Whether I’m at home or with the guys, we listen to everything: reggaeton, trap, bachata, salsa, música Mexicana, banda, regional, corridos tumbados,” he says. He sees a newer generation of artists as constant motivators: “I see them tearing it up, and it makes me want to tear it up even harder.

Salsa singer Victor Manuelle anniversary tour coming to DC area this weekend.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/tainy-producer-new-album-reggaeton-bad-bunny-ai-1234776008/

Reggaeton producer Tainey on the genre plus non-reggaeton artists he is working with including Four Tet and uh Skrillex

Tainy ( my phone’s spelling error)

Just saw a picture of Fruko on a wall.

Guess he’s appearing next week.

I saw Joe Arroyo do a good solo show years ago. He had previously sang in Fruko y sus tesos. I never saw that Colombian band though.

https://festival.si.edu/event/memorias-de-agua

Forgot to post this earlier. Streaming live now and hopefully archived is Puerto Rican bomba music from Bombaya and Cuban Orisha sounds and more from Bobi Cespedes and group at the Smithsonian Folklife Fest

Fruko tribute in my neighborhood on Thursday.

You should go

Totallly plan to, especially since the band has some aces and the singer, who sang with Fruko, seems to still have it, according to this video from several years ago.

Also primed the pump for myself by doing a salsa song last night there at karaoke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcblg8AKBdA

I guess that's his son who will be playing timbales on the gig.

Really excited about this

OMG they are starting with “Oye Como Va.”

Maybe that was just for soundcheck

First set was awesome although I don’t know well these paper napkin earphones are protecting my hearing.

They are playing Hector Lavoe’s greatest hits over the sound system during the break.

Had to sit outside the second set to avoid hearing problems. Then this morning my neighbor told me his girlfriend couldn’t hear for a week after a loud salsa show, which is apparently the norm, volume-wise.

The new Tego Calderón song is really good, but why does he look 75 in the video? He's my age!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGRxyz2W2Og

I like that song too

Saw Natalia Lafourcade at Wolftrap last night. Really beautiful show.

Nice. Was busy with family and couldn't make it. She did a good gig years ago at the now gone Rock n Roll Hotel in DC that I saw

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/08/04/chihuahua-mexico-misogynistic-music/

“a bandage measure that does not get at the root of misogyny …”

https://remezcla.com/music/karol-g-drops-new-album-manana-sera-bonito-bichota-season-peso-pluma-young-miko/

Karol G new album

We Like It Like That: The Story of Latin Boogaloo (2015) + a conversation with filmmaker Mathew Ramírez Warren.

Don’t remember seeing that doc and missed the Ned S zoom talk last night

Need to listen more to Karol G new album

Ned S*blette is excited about--

Music in NYC: Miguel Zenón + Luis Perdomo, Joe's Pub, Aug. 24, 9:30 p.m. I never miss an opportunity to hear these two masters play together. This is the launch event for their El Arte del Bolero Vol. 2 duo album.

Plus he just saw Ruben Blades uptown at the United Palace at 175th street ---
Rubén's voice is intact at the age of 75. At this NYC stop on his tour, he sang full voice for two and a half hours over the Roberto Delgado Big Band without taking so much as a sip of water that I could see, or leaving the stage, or bringing on any duet partners.

It was great to be able to hear this concert uptown. Most Spanish-speaking countries were in the house (there's always a roll call), and the audience knew seemingly all the catalog, singing along even with "Amor y Control" (1992). The penultimate tune of the night, his superhit "Pedro Navaja," a Threepenny Opera takeoff from the blockbuster Siembra album with Willie Colón in 1978, is a movie's worth of short story that's my favorite model of how to get a lyric to arrive at a perfect coro. If you know Latin music at all you know la vida te da sorpresas, sorpresas te da la vida, ay dios . . . He also sang "Mack the Knife" -- did I imagine this? no, he really did -- in his own English version. He kept the audience on a tight leash, announcing up front that there would be no encore, and on two occasions reprimanding people who shouted out the names of hits while he was talking.

The concert closed with his 1988 "Patria"

The one song I heard streaming from the new Zenon and Perdomo was really nice pleasant jazz. They are covering fave songs from new and old Spanish speaking artists and uh doing that .

I am liking the poppier songs on the Karol G album better than the more reggaeton ones

Seeing hype for Dominican producer / artist Diego Raposo but haven’t listened to new album yet

My Sunday night old school radio listening was nice as always. WPFW has a mambo show from 6 to 8 and a salsa dura 70s onward show from 8 to 10 eastern time

Cool!

i'm going to check that out!

WPFW shows are also archived on their website for 2 weeks. Worth checking out those 2 Sunday night shows.

ty

Listed as Latin Flavor Classic edition DJ Jim Byers

Latin Flavor Pa’lante edition DJ Daniel del Pielago

https://wpfwfm.org/radio/programming/schedule-grid

pretty into these guys recently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxcav4kIByo

i realize that white hipsters doing vintage cumbia might not exactly fit but w/e

cumbia is definitely a white hipster thing these days but yeah it can still sound good

While listening to multiple versions of the reggae song "No, No, No," I came across a group called Boogaloo Assassins, who were a similarly retro-minded thing (I guess I'd compare them to the Dap-Kings, but for 1960s boogaloo/Latin soul) about 10 years ago. Not sure if they're still around:

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

Here's a performance from 2017:

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

Looks like Boogaloo Assassins are still around. They're Los Angeles based I see on their website

https://www.boogalooassassins.com/

I am listening to Colombia salsa vets Grupo Niche 2023 album “Niche Sinfónico”, recorded in collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia

https://www.breakinglatest.news/news/symphonic-niche-a-dialogue-with-the-national-symphony-orchestra-of-colombia-news/

Nice!

It's their greatest hits by band founder and songwriter Jairo Varela who died in 2012; and by trombonist and arranger and co-founder Alexis Lozano who left the group in mid 80s , but it sounds good

X-post - finally listened to Diego Raposo album that J Lopez of Rolling Stone was touting. It’s ok — a mix of electro club beats and a bit of Latin pop.

Best Latin nominees for MTV video awards
Anitta – “Funk Rave” – Republic Records
Bad Bunny – “WHERE SHE GOES” – Rimas Entertainment
Eslabon Armado, Peso Pluma – “Ella Baila Sola” – DEL Records Inc. / Prajin Parlay, Inc. Grupo Frontera Bad Bunny – “un x100to” – Rimas Entertainment
KAROL G, Shakira – “TQG” – Universal Music Latino
ROSALÍA – “DESPECHÁ” – Columbia Records
Shakira – “Acróstico” – Sony Music US Latin

Brazilian Anitta won.

The Karol G & Shakira song Video TQG won in another category that is was also nominated for

i'm seeing these folks tomorrow night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrdyMfZ5ycw

Lone Piñon - La Julia

Man, this Festejation gig at Terraza 7 right now is totally happening.

Band was already sounding great with four percussion players, then they had a special guest from Perú Negro.

There was also some tap dancing and now an awesome cajón solo.

Now Edward is playing some Neil Jason-level virtuoso funkiness.

And somewhere in there he was quoting something which I think was “Popcorn.”

I like Afro-Peruvian music. That sounds great

Maybe there will be or is a clip on FB.

will take a look.

Saturday Washington DC event:

Sat. Sept 16 in DMV DC-Memoria, Salsa, y Resistencia w/ a talk (& documentary ) by Marcos Echeverria Ortiz on the Afro-salsa Oiste Project on hidden salsa music history w/ National Park Service's Melissa Hurtado and dj'ing by Leon City Sounds @ 2 to 5 @ Mt Pleasant Library.

I summoned you

Oh thanks

https://pitchfork.com/news/shakira-karol-g-bad-bunny-rosalia-and-more-nominated-for-2023-latin-grammy-awards/

Latin Grammys awards ceremony will be in Spain for the first time, which has angered some

https://nominations.latingrammy.com/Nominees-24th-Annual-Latin-GRAMMY-Awards-2023.pdf

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/ralphie-choo-supernova/

Ralphie Choo- Spanish pop rap reggaeton flamenco

Lots of listening here to catch up on

Some NYC gigs that author Ned S*blette in interested in

eptember 22 (tonight!): Pablo Mayor + Folkore Urbano, the first of this fall's Uptown Nights Latin Music Series at Harlem Stage.

September 26-27: Sammy Figueroa feat. Aymée Nuviola and Kemuel Roig, Dizzy's. Music from his new album, Searching for a Memory. (see below).

September 28: Pedrito Martínez, DROM, 8 pm

Musician/ author Ned likes Sammy Figueroa album too

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-latin/jimmy-humilde-slams-latin-grammys-corridos-tumbados-1234831675/

WHEN THE LATIN Grammys announced its nominees last week, the corridos tumbados of Rancho Humilde’s top acts were notably missing from its list. Not a single project from the likes of Fuerza Régida, Natanael Cano, or Junior H made the cut.

On Monday, Jimmy Humilde — the head of Rancho Humilde and an early champion for the urban-leaning música Mexicana subgenre — lashed out against the Latin Recording Academy for snubbing his label’s acts, describing the leaders of the Academy as out of touch with the culture and music.

NPR tiny desk news

NPR Music's' Alt.Latino is celebrating Latinx Heritage Month with an incredible "El Tiny" takeover of the concert series for the third year in a row with an all-star lineup that includes Becky G, DannyLux, Alex Cuba, Villano Antillano, Rawayana, J Noa and Ivy Queen.

RIP Jon Fausty engineer on lots of Fania salsa releases and other Latin music over the decades. He won some Latin Grammys over the years.

https://x.com/richieperc/status/1707930185494884420?s=46&t=u2ZSlsY3trRV36IPP6jNDQ

http://www.jazzconclave.com/i-room/fausty.htm

The first Latin thing I recorded was in 1968 or '69 I believe. It was a big Latin band by the name of the Cesta All-Stars. It was for Al Santiago. That was the very first time I saw a set of timbales. I had no idea how to approach it. I'm sorry to say that it was a tremendous disaster in the studio. In those days I was recording on one inch eight track. I had no concept on how it was supposed to sound. I think I ended up with a bass and piano track. The baritone sax somewhere else. It was just horrible.

GR: A nightmare to mix?

JF: Definitely! It was also a nightmare to record. It was just so loud, so many cowbells. I just didn't have a concept. Later, in 1969, I started working in a relatively inexpensive recording studio by the name of Delta Recording. Since it was so inexpensive, all the Latin promoters would go in there and record these groups. It was really a fly-by-night business in those days. I was the chief engineer there. Because of the price, we had a large Latin clientele. That's really where I got my chops. I learned about Latin music and the mathematics involved in the music. That was my introduction to the world of Latin music. In the end of 1971 I started my relationship with Fania Records. That is where it all developed and I blossomed. I started working with the real heavyweights.

wow

Like Larry Harlow, Fausty was another Jewish guy from New York who became respected in the Latin music world for their skills

I was thinking Irv Greenbaum.

Oh , that’s probably a better comparison

It’s okay. Lewis Kahn too.

Barry Rogers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgxR4JhlsBs

I kinda like this Maffio & Christian Alacea LAtin pop take on Blue Suede Shoes

x-post - still no New York Times obit for Jon Fausty

Listening to El Alfa again now. ILX search shows a few folks have posted about him over the last few years. Dominican rapper with a distinctive voice . He's on the new Kali Uchis single Munekita too

I like his rapid fire cartoon like voice

El Alfa just had a packed Madison Square Garden gig

Saw someone compare El Alfa’s voice to Elmo of Sesame Street

I previewed El Alfa Sunday gig for the Washington City Paper

RIP Orlando Marin at 88. Bronx, NY based Puerto Rican timbalero/percussionist extraordinaire

This is the most insane festival lineup I've ever seen: Besame Mucho in Austin, Texas, March 2024:

https://assets-global.website-files.com/61fb01e42f9e1e4db41b42b1/65404ecee2ec7aab25943002_BesameMucho_2024v2%202.jpg

Highlights from the four stages:

- Los Tigres Del Norte, Grupo Frontera, Bronco, Alicia Villareal, Ramon Ayala, Los Tucanes De Tijuana
- Banda MS De Sergio Lizarraga, Banda Los Recoditos, Banda El Recodo
- Caifanes, Cafe Tacuba, Juanes, El Tri, Maldita Vecindad, Molotov, Mago De Oz, Elefante, Kinky, Duncan Dhu, El Gran Silencio
- Gloria Trevi, Alejandra Guzman, Reik, Fey, Belinda, Belanova, Elvis Crespo

Trad Mexican stage ; alt rock Mexico stage; and pop ballad drama one . Yep, you don’t usually see all those together

x-post- Orlando Marin was great. RIP . I should post some youtube videos of that late percussionist

https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/at-77-last-mambo-king-refuses-to-let-the-rhythm-fade/

After his first high school mambo dance class, he taught himself timbales — shallow, high-tuned drums — and started a neighborhood band in the South Bronx, with a future Grammy winner, Eddie Palmieri, then a 14-year-old prodigy.

2011 article on Orlando Marin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hTSs9utKpk

I listened to Harold López-Nussa Timba a la Americana featuring Grégoire Maret with Luques Curtis & Ruy Adrian López-Nussa, and was not impressed. Bland Latin Jazz without much timba

They are touring US now .

I guess it’s not surprising that I am underwhelmed by Lopez-Nussa Latin jazz billed as timba

From an email I was sent:

Mambo Diablo Tito Puente is still “The King of Latin Music.”

The Mambo Legends Orchestra is his old band with special guests who played with him and were mentored by him.

The All-Star lineup features John “Dandy” Rodriguez, Ronnie Puente and Tito Puente Jr; Carlos Henriquez, Jimmy Delgado, Louis Bauzó, Ray Vega, Humberto Rámirez from Puerto Rico, Lucrecia (singing Celia Cruz), Dominican Yolanda Duke (singing La Lupe), and Jeremy Bosch (singing Vicentico Valdes, Santos Colon, and more).

If you love mambo, salsa, and bolero, you will love this concert.

Sat Nov 11 at Hostos Center in the Bronx

Grammys 2024 songwriter of the year nominee:

Edgar Barrera

• Cuestion De Tiempo (Don Omar) (T)

• Falsa Alarma (En Vivo) (Grupo Firme) (T)

• Gucci Los Paños (Karol G) (T)

• La Despedida (Christian Nodal) (T)

• Mi Ex Tenía Razón (Karol G) (T)

• Que Vuelvas (Various Artists) (T)

• Un Cumbión Dolido (Christian Nodal) (T)

• un x100to (Grupo Frontera & Bad Bunny) (T)

• Yo Pr1mero (Rels B) (S)

Grammys nominees for Feb 2024

33. Best Latin Jazz Album

For vocal or instrumental albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded material. The intent of this category is to recognize recordings that represent the blending of jazz with Latin, Iberian-American, Brazilian, and Argentinian tango music.

Quietude
Eliane Elias

My Heart Speaks
Ivan Lins With The Tblisi Symphony Orchestra

Vox Humana
Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band

Cometa
Luciana Souza & Trio Corrente

El Arte Del Bolero Vol. 2
Miguel Zenón & Luis Perdomo

Grammys nominees for Feb 2024

56. Best Latin Pop Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin pop recordings.

La Cuarta Hoja
Pablo Alborán

Beautiful Humans, Vol. 1
AleMor

A Ciegas
Paula Arenas

La Neta
Pedro Capó

Don Juan
Maluma

X Mí (Vol. 1)
Gaby Moreno

57. Best Música Urbana Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Música Urbana recordings.

SATURNO
Rauw Alejandro

MAÑANA SERÁ BONITO
Karol G

DATA
Tainy

58. Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin rock or alternative recordings.

MARTÍNEZ
Cabra

Leche De Tigre
Diamante Eléctrico

Vida Cotidiana
Juanes

De Todas Las Flores
Natalia Lafourcade

EADDA9223
Fito Paez

59. Best Música Mexicana Album (Including Tejano)

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new regional Mexican (banda, norteño, corridos, gruperos, mariachi, ranchera and Tejano) recordings.

Bordado A Mano
Ana Bárbara

La Sánchez
Lila Downs

Motherflower
Flor De Toloache

Amor Como En Las Películas De Antes
Lupita Infante

GÉNESIS
Peso Pluma

60. Best Tropical Latin Album

For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new tropical Latin recordings.

Siembra: 45º Aniversario (En Vivo en el Coliseo de Puerto Rico, 14 de Mayo 2022)
Rubén Blades Con Roberto Delgado & Orquesta

Voy A Ti
Luis Figueroa

Niche Sinfónico
Grupo Niche Y Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia

VIDA
Omara Portuondo

MIMY & TONY
Tony Succar, Mimy Succar

Escalona Nunca Se Había Grabado Así
Carlos Vives

59. Best Música Mexicana Album (Including Tejano)

No Grupo Frontera? No Yahritza y Su Esencia? The Grammys fuck it up again.

Weird how some categories have 5 nominees, others 6, and others 3

Only 3 nominations for musica Urbana Grammys seems crazy to me

Omara Portuondo album Vida is now out

The Latin Grammys are tonight Thursday. In Spain for the first time. Airing @ 8 ET in US on Univision, Unimas, and Galavision. On RTVE in Espana

Barrera, 32, is likely to gather even more trophies on Thursday night, when the 24th annual Latin Grammys are broadcast from Seville, Spain. He is the most-nominated musician this year, with 13 citations including producer and songwriter of the year. In some categories, Barrera is competing against himself. Two songs he co-wrote are nominated for song of the year, while three each are nominated as best tropical song and best regional Mexican song...

...Barrera is also the main songwriter for Grupo Frontera, an accordion-topped, cumbia-based regional Mexican band from his hometown, McAllen, Texas. He heard them playing for a handful of people at the opening of his brother-in-law’s tire shop in 2022. Barrera co-wrote and co-produced Grupo Frontera’s collaboration with Bad Bunny, “Un x100to,” a Top 5 pop single in the United States Barrera grew up in southern Texas, near the Mexican border, and he soaked up both American and Latin American music; his father was in a cumbia band and had a large record collection. Barrera named his own label and publishing company BorderKid because, he told Billboard, “I’m always in the middle.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/15/arts/music/edgar-barrera-latin-grammys.html

Looks like Latin Grammys are happening now in Spain and of course are on tape delay tonight in US. Edgar Barrera won composer of the year

https://x.com/LatinGRAMMYs/status/1725222077689373021?s=20

x-post - Jon Pareles in NY Times on the American Grammys snubs of Latin music acts

Emerging Latin stars get left behind.
After a year in which Latin music continued to explode on streaming services and forge all sorts of cross-cultural hybrids, this year’s Grammy nominations are, well, puzzling. Edgar Barrera, the Mexican American songwriter who has collaborated on hit after hit for singers across the Americas, is rightfully a nominee for songwriter of the year. But there’s no best new artist nomination for Peso Pluma, the cutting-voiced Mexican songwriter whose career skyrocketed in 2022 and 2023 — he’s touring arenas this year — and who bridges regional Mexican corridos and Latin trap. Peso Pluma’s 2023 album, “Génesis,” is just tucked among the nominees for música mexicana. Other emerging Mexican-rooted acts that had a blockbuster year — among them Eslabon Armado, Grupo Frontera, Grupo Firme, Christian Nodal and Natanael Cano — go unmentioned.

Then there’s the oddity of the música urbana category. Its three — only three — nominees are deserving: the reggaeton producer Tainy, the electronics-loving pop experimenter Rauw Alejandro and the Colombian songwriter Karol G, whose 2023 album, “Mañana Será Bonito,” was the first Spanish-language album by a woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200. But música urbana — encompassing reggaeton, Latin hip-hop, dembow, Latin trap and more — is a crowded, competitive, hugely popular format. The Grammys couldn’t find five nominees? All they had to do was turn on the radio. JON PARELES

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/10/arts/music/grammy-awards-snubs-surprises.html

Billboard on Latin Grammys snubs and surprises

https://www.billboard.com/lists/2023-latin-grammy-awards-snubs-surprises/

Rolling Stone on snubs from nominations time in September :

WHEN THE LATIN Grammys announced its nominees last week, the corridos tumbados of Rancho Humilde’s top acts were notably missing from its list. Not a single project from the likes of Fuerza Régida, Natanael Cano, or Junior H made the cut.

https://x.com/RollingStone/status/1706734471783784719?s=20

LA Times also took American Grammys to task for snubbing Mexican regional music

Karol G won a couple of Billboard Music Awards and performed too (in water)

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/listings/items/grupo-niche-and-hector-acosta-nov-24/

I previewed Colombian salsa greats Grupo Niche gig at MGM National Harbor tonight, but going to be busy with family, so will miss the show. Oh well

dang i would love to see them -- classic!!

Me too.

Listening now to DJ Jim Byers play mambo and boogaloo and stuff on WPFW . Great stuff . He's on to 8 pm ET and his show is archived on the WPFW website.

I didn’t know they still were a going concern.

Grupo Niche have had many membership changes but they're still at it

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/22/theater/buena-vista-social-club-musical-cuban.html

Buena Vista Social Club becomes an off -Broadway musical with actors playing the musicians, the songs in Spanish, and the dialogue in English. Short off-Broadway run at Linda Gross Theater in NY through Jan 7

Buena Vista musical sold out when I am up in NYC area December 14 and 15. Not seeing Old school salsa gigs at Hostos in Bronx on those nights. Need to check Tickeri closer to date also. Maybe Barbes has something

https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/this-great-new-book-chronicles-the-indie-blog-era-across-latin-america-and-its-diaspora/

Isabelia Herrera talks to author of new Spanish language book re early 2000s Latin indie

If you are a millennial elder (or viejiennal, as I like to say in Spanish), you might remember a time between the mid 2000s and early ’10s when it felt like music blogs ruled the world. Back then, entire scenes and careers blossomed thanks to websites run by overeager nerds who fawned over artists no one else cared about. This is the largely extinct ecosystem that inspired Testigos del fin del mundo, Javier A. Rodríguez-Camacho’s ambitious survey of the last decade of Ibero-American (or U.S. Latine, Latin American, and Spanish) indie music.

Cool. I don’t know anything about any of that stuff at all.

Jon Pareles in NY Times has Karol G album in his best of 2023 list

And Pareles has Peso Pluma and Kali Uchis in his additional top 20

Just got a copy of Eddie Palmieri's Live at the University of Puerto Rico in the mail. It's a double LP recorded in 1971, while the campus was full of demonstrations and battles between students and cops; it's been edited down to a single CD in the US (and on streaming services) but the whole thing is available as a 2CD set in Japan, so that's what I bought.

Cool to get the full thing

That jazz critics poll always has a separate “Latin” category. But it doesn’t get posted till January I think

*NPR Jazz Piano X-Mas w/ Cuban pianists Melvis Santa, Alfredo Rodriguez, & Hilario Duran @ Kennedy Center tonight Saturday December 2 (pricey ticket)

Anyone know these pianists? I don't . Need to research 'em

I still haven’t googled those Cuban pianists

https://los40.us/2023/top-latin-artists-of-2023-13881.html

X-post re Melvis Santa- she’s a Cuban pianist/singer now based in NY I think, who has a band called the Jazz Orishas

Her bio- Melvis graduated from the prestigious Amadeo Roldan Conservatory in Havana Cuba in 2001 in Piano and Music Education. She has toured and performed extensively with multiple projects as a bandleader, as well as part of other bands, including Kenny Garrett, Chucho Valdes and Irakere, Muñequitos de Matanzas, and Buenavista Social Club. Other special collaborations include Charles Tolliver, Andy Bey, Ravi Coltrane, Arturo O’Farrill and ALJA, David Virelles, Roman Diaz, Xiomara Laugart and others.

Karol G, Peso Pluma, and Bobby Sanabria showing up on a few 2023 best of lists

Come back to this thread please ilxors

Or not

Ha, you rang? Meant to post earlier that I didn’t even know Bobby Sanabria had a new record out recent.

Actually I think Arturo O’Farrill “Fandango at the Wall “ has gotten more attention now that I think about it

I gotta study the Rolling Stone top 50 Spanish language albums of 2023 list when I get a chance

Happy 87th birthday Eddie Palmieri! WPFW dj Jim Byers played some great songs from his first solo album Sunday night on Byers radio show

x-post

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-50-best-spanish-language-albums-of-2023-1234922548/

From Tainy’s mind-bending opus Data to Diego Raposo’s brash reinventions on YO NO ERA ASÍ PERO DE AHORA EN ADELANTE, SÍ, some of the most interesting sounds this year embraced innovation head-on. Música mexicana continued to reach global heights with artists like Peso Pluma, Junior H, and Carin Leon plotting new paths. And other acts, among them Francisca Valenzuela, Grupo Frontera, and Karol G found magic by embracing a sense of honesty and intimacy.

Grupo Niche - Sinfonica is the one salsa album on the list

Critic Geoff Himes has Pierrick Pedron and Gonzalo Rubacalba album “Pedron Rubacalba” on top of his jazz album best of list. Maybe it has some Latin tinge ( haven’t heard it)

Pedron Rubacalba is a nice jazz effort but I don’t hear any mambo, salsa, son, Norteno, reggaeton, Latin trap, etc

I need to dig more into that Rolling Stone 2023 list .

The one salsa album on it by Grupo Niche is a good one

Listened to Tainy album Data. It’s instrumental programmed music . Doesn’t wow me, it’s ok

Ha. Dumb me....Data is out both as an instrumental version and one with vocals. Near the end of the one with vocals is Bad Bunny rapping over 80s synths on one cut. This is a little more interesting to me.

https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/best-music-latin-spanish-artists-2023/

Kiko el Crazy y more

Ned S8blette showed the "Omara" film doc tonight that has just been at movie festivals. It's a doc on Cuban singer Omara Portuondo, who came to fame for many via her role in the Buena Vista Social Club. After the screening on Vimeo, Ned had a Q&A with filmmaker Hugo Perez. A knowledgeable interesting guy. Great doc w/ archival footage, plus recent tour footage of her in NY, NJ, Cuba, Mexico City, South Korea . I didn't know she was the daughter of a white Cuban mother and a black Cuban father. Her mother got excommunicated from her well-to-do White family in 1927 for marrying her Dad. Dad was a baseball player and sang at home with Mom and the kids.

Perez has been a consultant on the off-broadway Buena Vista Social Club onstage theatrical musical show in NYC (despite admitting he didn't love the album or tour-- he felt the big large band's playing overwhelmed Omara's singing). He says it may get on Broadway next fall.

RIP Afro-Colombian champeta & cumbia singer accordionist Lisandro Meza who did an awesome take on Fela's song Shakara called "Shacalao"

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

https://www.time.com/6548823/best-latin-songs-albums-2023/

Time Magazine critic lists fave Latin pop, dance, and rock

Listened to Mon Laferte again -- like some but not all. She has a range of influences which is good.

Also listened again to Rosalia & ex-fiance Rauw Alejandro ep .

Yeah, I kind of feel the same about Mon Laferte, but what I do like, I really like.

Just saw elsewhere 2 best of 2023 references to Piconema: East African Hits on the Colombian Coast . I haven’t heard it yet and haven’t seen references to it elsewhere here on ILM

It's 2024, time for a new thread

Rolling Afro-Latin Music 2024: Reggaeton, Dembow, Latin Pop, Salsa,Bachata, Bomba, Latin Jazz, Merengue, Urbano and more Latinx