Is anyone here listening to salsa? Other Latin music?

Are you sure you don't mean merengue? They do get played side by side a lot. I can't see how salsa is rhythmically much like polka, but there is some similarity between polka and merengue. (I like dancing polkas, incidentally. Merengue is okay, too, but not as interesting as salsa.)

Thanks for suggesting that. I'll have to think about whether I have enough to say to make it into an article. I suppose it would beat simply saying "I love salsa" on a thread like this. It's just that last night when I was standing there at one point not dancing (due to a scarcity of partners), and yet feeling an incredible urge to dance, I realized for the nth time: I love this music.

It seems that the DJs around here have been getting better, playing more salsa and less merengue/bachata, etc., which is better from my point of view (though I don't mind the occasional merengue or bachata), and playing more really kicking salsa. (The quiet expansion in salsa dancing's popularity may be pushing the music away from a smoother salsa romantica sound. I like some of that, but it probably should not be the norm.)

I am almost never the arm-ripping type of dancer, but last night during a timbale solo* I got a little carried away with one of my regular partners, trying to get her through something complicated in time to a very fast song, and I think I got too forceful. She said she was okay though. I get a little possessed when I am dancing around 1AM.

*I think the song was some sort of tribute to Tito Puente.

The live stuff that's really popular among the new Mexican-American wave here is bandalero, which really does sound like polka. But in between those sets, the DJs play this incredible Mexican techno that I've never read anything about or even heard on the radio. Then you go to the Latin record store and describe this stuff and they point you to the cheesiest disco imaginable. To repeat: Must Learn Spanish!

The mix of stuff I hear when I go out salsa dancing is generally much better than what our local La Mega station offers. I can always ask the DJ what he's playing, but I don't like to ask too many times in one night. I have a pretty good sense of who the big artists from the past were, but I'm not sure of the identity of the musicians behind a lot of contemporary salsa.

I too must learn Spanish, though I don't think I can start taking classes again until the spring, at the earliest.

Was that Coletivo Nortec? Their main ideal is to pick up norteño music sample to their trax, mainly expect LOTS of latin trumpets, i think you should like it even though it isnt very dancey

They are criticised for being far too much "for export" but not so much as some other stuff like Kinky

Llora
Llora

i got Fania All Stars "Latin, Soul, Rock". it's a live album from 73 or so. amazing bass lines, groovy chorus singing, and one of the Santanas plays some mean electric guitar on a couple of songs. makes me want to learn a lot more. i really like the slower, darker tracks.

the only other thing i have that has some salsa in it is the comp "Yo! Hot Latin Funk from the Barrio". pretty great comp. some soul, some rare groove, some salsa.

(Tell us about Peret, Gatinha.)

FYI

i'll do some searches on the board. i'd love to learn more about this era of salsa.

i think i took a latin american music course back in college, but i don't remember the differences between any of them except maybe cha cha cha, because the musical phrases ended in a "cha cha cha". i hate the fact that i don't remember anything from college.

*--I don't particularly like Eric Dolphy, but I'm pretty sure I will end up buying the album where these two played together, out of sheer curiosity.

(Just floating this as a possible description. It doesn't nearly cover everything going on.)

I'm not exactly saying you should dance that way, just that the music sort of throws an aural strobe-light on the dancing. I'm taking you too seriously anyway. Sometimes the overwhelming feeling is one of flowing and floating, actually.

*

I discovered* a book called Music in Cuba, by a novelist named Alejo Carpentier. The introduction to this English translation looks very interesting, and includes discussion of Carpentier's connection to France, and the interest of various French modernist figures (e.g., Surrealist poet Robert Desnons) in Cuban music and culture. I might start a separate thread on this book, depending on how much I find to say about it.

*I have a feeling it's not a big secret, in fact.

I am an American of mixed West European ancestry. No family link to Latin culture. (Well, supposedly there is some Spanish ancestry on my mother's side, but my grandmother only ever mentioned it once and I suspect it's minimal.)

I went out to check out a new Latin night in my neighborhood, but there weren't really any people to dance with, and anyhow, they were mostly playing other types of Latin music (like reggaeton, which seems to be getting very popular--I don't know where the "ton" comes from incidentally: it just sounds like an updated Latin version of reggae) that I am not comfortable dancing to, and that don't seem to be partner-oriented anyway. It didn't sound bad, but was not what I was looking for, so I had a couple drinks, and hoped the DJ would play something more familiar and that I would havet he courage to ask someone to dance if any salsa or merengue came on. Ironically, on the way home I ran into someone I know from salsa dancing who was leaving a Cuban restaurant I was headed to, to see if it had dancing. He said that people weren't really dancing there (but the band was mostly playing jazz, with an occasional cha cha cha, or something danceable like that). We both live on the same block. This is starting to be scarey. My god, Philadelphia really is like a small town--well, especially for those of us who live in center city and don't have cars (which includes this person and me).

Arabic music I got into after having been Israeli dancing for a while, and wanting something similar to the music I had heard then; and I started Israeli dancing after being invited by the friend of a friend; but then I stopped for a while for personal reasons, then stopped for good for political/symbolic reasons.

But I don't feel all that unusual in immersing myself a bit in foreign musics.

I rarely drink and it's making me loquacious. I feel as though I have just revealed a few things maybe it would be better not to have said. Ah, what the hell.

I don't think I like what he says later in that entry about hard core (salsa) dance audiences being "fickle" and "judgmental." I'm a little surprised he'd write that in the context of something about Palmieri, when I've regularly heard two of his songs in salsa clubs, as well as a collaboration with La India (which was largely his own work). Yes, as a dancer, I want something I can dance to, so you can only break conventional structures down so much before I start to look annoyed. But fickle? Salsa clubs continue to play Frankie Ruiz hits from the 80's, and continue to play material by performers who have been around for decades (El Gran Combo, Willie Rosario, and Gilberto Santa Rosa, for example). I wonder what he meant by those remarks. Based on some other reviews I have tracked down by him, he seems to have some familiarity with this music.

It's also a good example of the limits of explaining why you like a certain type of music. The objective quality he is pointing to as something that turns him off is something I actually enjoy in the music. Most of the melodic activity will generally be in the singing and horn section.

I can't make up my mind about La India. I like the album with Eddie Palmieri (though it probably could have been cut down to EP length).

So how did you come to this site? Are you actually more of a fan of microhouse or Japanese noise bands?

I came back early from RL, even though Joe Bataan was playing. He just sounded so-so, and I was not having a good night. Most of my usual partners weren't there. There was a lot of cha cha cha being played, and last time I danced that, I was screwing up a lot. (I used to be okay.)

Most of what Willie Colon touches seems to turn out good, though I'm more impressed with the things I've heard from the 70's than anything after that. There's still so much I haven't heard.

I'm wondering...where are you from?
It's funny that you mention Andy, cuz my mom used to be a big fan, and hey! we share the same hometown, from which I humbly write to you (Santurce). As for how I got here, it was an accident! I just got tired of reading the same ol' online publications, and being always on the lookout, I came across the I Hate Music page, which in turn led me here. I purport to be Puerto Rico's answer to Joe Strummer/Marc Bolan/Iggy Pop, which is pretty preposterous, but you get the idea. I'm just a 20 yr-old punk kid struggling to get through college so I can (hopefully) dedicate my life to music. Yes, I am a fool.

As for La India, get a compilation. All her albums are patchy.
Willie Colón was golden up until the mid-80's, IMHO.

I also like Arabic music, which makes me sound like I just like foreign music, but that's not entirely true. Besides, I've sort of officially decided to stop thinking of salsa as foreign music, since so much of it has been made by people who were at least dividing their time between the U.S. and somewhere else, if not simply living here; and Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory after all.

Anyway, considering some of the stuff people stick up for around here. . .

I live in Philadelphia, PA, and have grown up in and around here for the most part. No Latino background. My how-I-got-into-salsa story is around here in a few different places, but not under my current name. (Hint: I actually started this thread.)

(Thanks, it's okay I guess. I'm neither a rockist nor a scientist, though I'm probably closer to the former since my taste in rock music tends to be canonical, and I especially like music that comes in the form of songs, though I can handle other sorts of things.)

So you want to make rock or punk rock, or are those people you mention just sort of general role models?

Yea, those are some of my role models, and am mostly a rockist in practice, but I listen to pretty much everything. And by everything, I'm not going for the token response here. I really listen to a shitload of music. It's pretty ridiculous being eclectic, actually. I can't stop!

This is a pretty good board for people with eclectic musical taste, though some genres get much more in-depth treatment than others, obviously.

I should go to bed. I left that show early, and now I'm staying awake anyway.

To point out the obvious, times change and popular tastes shift. I mean, it's a sad thing to declare, but I think in a way we're all going through denial concerning the issue at hand. The consolidation of the entertainment industry is killing off artistry. People move on to the next trend, regardless of whether the product has a viable expression aesthetic. That's fact. Puertorican music is THE perfect example for explaining this phenomenon, as it offers us a very peculiar scenario for a backdrop. As a microcosm of the world at large, or more specifically, the Anglo pop charts, Puerto Rico could be seen as a pretty bleak mirror image. Down here, both salsa and rock are long past their golden age, and both the audience and performers seem to agree on this point. To use a rehashed, trite metaphor, both genres are old gods almost dead. The difference being that salsa actually flourished thanks to the efforts of working class boricuas, so the mass market immediately latched on to this as a result. With rock, there always was a language barrier that many didn't deem worth getting over, which brings in the major identity issues product of colonization. Only a bilingual elite appropiated rock music as their own. Just a handful of popular rock acts managed to cross over and find appeal here until the 80's (namely Led Zep, Sabbath, Clapton, and other blooz rock and metal acts, because they seemed like an exotic alternative to the norm). Then came MTV. We didn't get it here until the late 80's, but PR kids who studied, worked, or lived in the States became infatuated with the good ol' cock rock we've come to know as hair metal. It's still pretty huge here among the 30+ crowd, as it became a popular import. And as funny as it may seem, it presented the kids with a hefty dose of slick, yet sweaty escapism, leather pants and all that jazz. Synth-pop never caught on, unfortunately. Seeing as the political landscape here is so segmented, it was a matter of time before it became a cultural issue. True musical segregation in PR had its start right around then. Some make it seem like a class issue (PR is extremely classist as you can imagine; some people here still think we live in the Spain of yore), but the truth of the matter is closer to a questioning of national identity. If you likey the American music, you are automatically labeled pro-statehood, which is equated with being anti-patriotic, elitist, pro-subordination, "vende patria" = he who sells away his land, and so on and so forth. In a sense, there was no effective means of rebuttal, as the rockers didn't prove otherwise. Rock music here was EXTREMELY derivative and unoriginal. In the end, both forms were exhausted to their logical extremes. Grunge offers a glimpse of hope to my generation, by which time we started to gain interest in music. Hector Lavoe dies in '93. Kurt Cobain dies in '94. There is no one left to look up to as VAn Halen is way past their prime. Local rap music starts making its rounds as a mutant stepchild: a hip-hop, dancehall, and lo-fi hybrid simply known as "underground". It was intentionally designed to shock and repel anyone but the inner-city and ghetto populace. It deals mostly with gangbanging, and graphic sex. An extreme version of gangsta rap, if that's possible. However, it was more tuneful/melodic and had as much painstaking craft to its song structure in its best momets. It starts getting censored by the mid-90's as it gains momentum. Surprise, it breaks through. All originality and variety is sacrificed in place of popularity. It became THE indie success story to end all. Influenced by the greedy, mysogynistic tendencies in American mainstream hip-hop, and informed by colonial insularity, it grows out of being a subculture, takes the country by storm, undergoes a namechange, and is now from thereafter as "reggaeton"= reggae + reventón/party, named after a popular '97 (i believe) production by local DJ Nelson. It then becomes a national motive of pride, and its glorification of sex and violence result in the "thuggization" of a great deal of the working and middle class youth. Crime rate rises dramatically. The higher-upper class youth adopts reggae and surfing as their badge of designation, and the small minority of working/middle class kids that listen to rock nowadays are far more parochial than U.S./U.K. indie kids, although a bit nicer. ;D I've never belonged anywhere although I've flirted with all of these groups, in an attempt to broaden my horizons. Me and my friends would probably fall under lower-middle class outcasts, who'd rather watch from afar and shudder at the demoralization of our own society than participate in any established scene. The image of thuggery in rap music has been very damaging to the young people here on a far greater scale than say in the US, mostly because people here are more ignorant, due to poor educational programs and scarce career opportunities, which is why Ricans end up in the States usually. There is NO FUTURE, like John Lydon once said. A friend of mine once told me that living here with no money was like the American dream gone wrong, and he's not far off the track. I know those are pretty strong words, but when people don't realize the irony of it all, with their obvious reliance on the negative aspects of American pop culture, misinterpreting those same elements as our own, and chastising those who are different for wanting to improve our condition, by means of intimidation and quasi-persecution, it all comes off as ridiculously cartoonish. Puerto Rico is the only place I've ever been in where one is threatened with death for being a male with long hair, or wearing a tye-dye shirt, like it presents some threat to our sexual individuality. Ricky Martin, one of our biggest exports, is called a fag everywhere but in Caguas, where he's from, despite all he's done. The fact that he lives in Miami is seen by many as a betrayal, which is just plain stupid. Benicio Del Toro is hardly considered a celebrity round these parts, and he went to high school a mile away from my house. I graduated from the same high school as Raul Juliá, and I know for a fact people hardly gave a shit about him back when he was alive, much less now. Hell, look at the circumstances under which Laboe died. Pretty fuckin' heartbreaking story. (My uncle went to high school with him. My moms and her family were from the same neighborhood as Laboe. 2 streets apart! All of this is pretty irrelevant, but I just wanted to namedrop so bad!!!) I guess what I'm trying to say is that no one becomes a prophet in their own land. All these people who find success away from home are not treated to a triumphant comeback, but forever branded as sellouts who didn't stick out for their own, which is pretty sad, which is why we've reached an artistic slump that will be hard to get past. Critical thinking is at an all-time low. And I guess that all which is great devolves, and is shelved away and rendered old hat by those with short attention spans, because, well, people die, and people lose interest, and nobody wants to listen to good music older than 5 yrs anymore and see what it was that made it great initially. The emergence of the mainstream media and its traceable influence on the new youth subcultures signal not only the dumbening down of our society but the decline of Western civilization. I must've spent 4 hours typing this dreck, so I'll go get shot now. I...*flatlines*

(As a side point: for what it's worth, I actually like some of the reggaeton I've heard when I've been out in clubs, but of course, I can't understand the lyrics, which would possibly turn me off as much as those in a lot of gangster and gangster-tinged hip-hop do.)

Oh shit! I'm losing my marbles again and my Internet connection keeps on screwing up. Blech! To tie this up, San Juan is essentially the Detroit of the Caribbean, a once bustling city with a now dead industry, and reggaeton is the emperor with new clothes. I hate what it's become, which leaves me very disheartened as I'm helpless to do anything about the place I used to love. It's also a question of challenging yr conventional stereotypes. Not all people belonging to a nationality are the same way but it has always been thus. Cultural aspects needn't be simplified and broken down in order to be celebrated. Not everybody likes Tito Trinidad!!! (Although, I do.) ;)

Holy crap! I'm watching TV, and a Rush tribute band's gonna be playing Hard Rock Cafe next week! Hahahha! They had Sabbra Cadabbra perform a couple o' weeks ago. And I just saw a music video by a Dominican merengue singer who in the great tradition of "Addicted To Love" spoofs, does his own version of the video with the model type girls clad in black and pretending to be playing along. That's probably the most clever tropical music video I've seen in at least 5 yrs., discounting rock en español. Well, I'm ranting by now, so I'll just stop.

BTW, Rockist, that would be a GREAT idea. I'd be willing to help you out with what I've learned from my own experience.

Nice to see you say this! I think a good case can be made for this. (Obviously a few different streams from other countries fed into it though.)

I like 20 Years of the New York Salsa Festival, one of the first salsa compilations I bought. The transitions are occasionally a bit bumpy and the second disc has what appear to be studio recordings with applause and cheering dubbed in, in some cases, but there's a lot of good material here and it will introduce you to several major figures in this music. It's pretty reasonably priced, as well. It's a little dated, but I wouldn't say there have been any real major stylstic breaktrhoughs recently anyway.

it did seem to me that most on the link i posted did not fall under what i think of as salsa but hey, the compiler is the author of the Rough Guide to Latin Music and author of a book on salsa so figgered she knew more than me. that was why i was asking if this could be a roots of salsa comp.

Roots, branches, moss on trees that happen to be growing near by, etc.

I have yet to find a really satisfactory general salsa compilation, and I don't have one of my own to send you, but the one I linked to is definitely pretty good. I think the real title is something like The 20th Anniversary of the NY Salsa Festival, rather than the weird title listed on amazon.

Oh, it's true, boss! Haha. I'd have to agree that my contribution wouldn't be encountered with open arms. People will be stubborn about it, no doubt. It's the story of my life. But then again, I speak from personal experience, having lived in the inner city for 15+ years. And I AM a huge hip-hop fan. However, I am a firm supporter and paladin of good music that may have something of a function to bestow upon the listeners. Ja Rule is a bard when placed next to these guys. I am against most reggaeton, because simply put, it is crap, that within its cultural context, does have damaging repercussions. In the U.S., the lyrical content might even be seen as one big joke that presents no sensible threat. Unlike O' Reilly, I don't believe hip-hop will bring about the collapse of America, because U.S. audiences are quite different in their responses from Latin American ones. The situation in Puerto Rico is quite detached from the reality in the States as national insecurities and outside influences actually result in something different altogether, which is why in Puerto Rico it does exhibit a potential for social disaster. The disgruntled masses are looking to lash out against something, ANYTHING that they may perceive as foreign, and therefore, a threat to their identity, and since they've attached themselves to the myth of reggaeton being very much their own, the heretics will be oppressed and lynched. Notice how Catholic moral values play into this outcome as well.

And H, I would have to agree with Rockist, in that that isn't a salsa mix by a long shot. No way, no how. Rough Guide are pretty much unreliable, even if they're affiliated with AMG (I think).

Although. . . "salsa" albums in the 70's often included cha cha chas, guajiras, boleros, etc. However, I think that if anything the common usage of it among people who pay attention to this music has actually narrowed over time. "Salsa" may be a shakey genre, in the sense that a person who knows more about Latin music will often be able to say "Well specifically this is a descarga" or a guaguanco, or whatever, but still, I think most people can learn to recognize a general category of "salsa" and be able to distinguish salsa from other related genres. Try playing merengue for someone who wants to dance to salsa or vice versa and see how loosely the term is used. You will end up with an unhappy customer. Maybe I take an excessively dance-oriented perspective, but after all, this is dance music. (I am not defending myself to anyone in particular here, certainly not you, FW, since you seem to agree.)

So, it appears she can treat salsa as a genre in a narrower sense when she wants to.

what do you think of the I Love Salsa compilations on the site http://www.unionsquaremusic.co.uk/collections.php?COLID=64

that seems closer to what i think of (Jimmy Bosch and ppl like that at least) wehn i think of salsa

It's a little more current than the one I have been pushing for. (I guess I should stop, since it sounds like you've already made up your mind.) There was one in a recent descarga.com update that looked good too. I'll see if I can track it down.

Francis, do you know the Nico song* "The Fairest of the Seasons"? Don't you think that could easily be made into a good salsa song?

(Was it written for her or does she just sing it?)

If not, it had a similar goofy title. If I can see the cover, I will no, since it was one of those thong bikini girl covers.

(FW, Forget Nico, it's a nice song. Actually it was co-written by Jackson Browne, which might scare you away, but I have a warm spot for some 70's soft rock.)

suggestions for what other artists to look out for would be most welcome!

I feel inadequate: I don't actually know these recordings, for the most part.

Almost any of the other Salsa Caliente de Nu York collections would be good, though I don't see them listed (but perhaps they'll turn up in the future).

I think it's a lot less serious than the forgetting of political and social history, which does seem to be facilitated (at the very least) by the major media.

And aphilosophical? I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but I don't see why music needs to concern itself with philosophy. It has other things to deal with. (I'm not thinking primarily of lyrical content, by expressive form generally.)

You listen Salsa as a way to expand your own musical knowledge, something that is in itself admirable, unless you're drawn to it because you want to shake your ass to the rythm of some hot chick's thong, using music as an instrument, as a way to something that has nothing to do with the music itself.

A little of both. As I've said elsewhere, initially I started dancing mostly for the sake of meeting women, but I've always loved to dance anyway, so dancing becomes an end in itself as well. I'm not sure that sex has nothing to do with the music itself, since I can't believe that music and dancing have not developed at least in part under the pressue of sexual selection (an evolutionary angle). The rumba roots of salsa dancing include movements which are pretty overtly sexual (even if maybe they were being sublimated into something sacred). Still, I know what you mean. . . Getting into the flow of dancing salsa all night is its own reward.

*Former Van Van pianist.

Palmieri is wonderful. While sometimes live he can get too avante-jazz for me, he's been going back to and revitalizing some of his older more straight-ahead material lately. Celia Crus still sounds great live. I saw her on a wonderful double-bill with El Canario Jose Alberto about 2 years ago. There's so much wonderful great old stuff, and even new stuff. I just find it hard to keep up and to learn about the old stuff as I'm a bit diletantish--trying to keep up with rock, rap, r'n'b, African and Caribbean styles etc...
Some people that I've met who are real into couples dancing be it swing, zydeco, or Latin are for some reason not music fans or not open-minded ones. They only care if the music has those(count those steps off) specific patterns that they can move to, and they insist that their partner be a great dancer as well. I don't have the time to spend to become such a pro. Thankfully not all folks into dancing fit that mold.

However, as a listener, I am open to hearing other things. (I haven't liked most of the timba that I've heard though, even when I've tried to listen to it as something distinct from salsa.)

01 Alfredo De La Fe - Latin New York

(Somewhat experimental violinist. Played with Tipica 73 among many others.)

02 Valentin Valdes - A Puerto Rico
03 Fania Allstars - Djobi Djoba

(Most of you have already heard of them.)

04 Miguel Cruz Y Grupo Skins - Noche De Rumberos

(This is a good song, but I've never seen or heard it anywhere except UK salsa compilations.)

05 Arabella - Cuanto Tienes, Cuanto Vales
06 Cuco Valoy - Amor Para Mi

(Don't know this song. Cuco Valoy's does some really killing salsa songs, but I've also heard a lot that didn't grab me. He's better known for merengue. Nice to see Dominican representation here.)

07 Louie Ramirez - Las Parabolas

(Great vibraphonist, arranger, all around musician. Worked with just about everybody in Latin music in New York at one time or another.)

08 Johnny Pacheco & Pete "Conde" Rodriguez - Amor En La Arena

(Pacheco co-founded the FANIA label, etc. etc. I'm starting to think he was a bit regressive compared to Willie Colon and Eddie Palmieri, but I won't go there quite yet.)

09 Jorge Cabrera Y Su Tres - Esa Negra
10 Bongo-Logic - Rococo

(I'm not sure I've heard them, but I think this is kind of "indie" Latin music.)

11 Jimmy Bosch - La Cacharra

(Same thing. Bosch and Bongo-Logic, and De La Fe, all released material on (what I think is the now defunct) RykoLatino. I think basically this stuff is all here because Nascente happened to be able to get the rights to it.)

12 Alfredo De La Fe - Xiomara
13 Raulin - La Rebellion

(Dominican singer covering Colombian Joe Arroyo's anthemic hit. It's okay, though it can't really compare to the original. This also appears, along with that "Noche de los Rumberos" song on the Music Club compilation Salsa Classica. For whatever reasons--differences in taste, or copyright issues--British salsa compilations tend to have a different mix than what I see elsewhere.)

14 Somos 21 - Somos La Fuerza Latina

(This appeared on a tribute to baseball player Roberto Clemente. Also on Ryko Latino. Hmmm.)

15 Spanish Harlem Orchestra - La Musica Esa Mi Vida

(More salsa consciously attempting to emulate the golden age of salsa, but somehow not succeeding in generate the same energy. Many of the same musicians appear in Soneros del Barrio, which pulls it off more successfully, IMO.)

16 Tipica' 73 - Majestad Antilliana

(Don't know this track. Tipica 73 has some great songs, but I'm not crazy about the charanga instrumetation (which includes violin and flute), which they use, albeit, in an expanded form. Despite not liking that sound too much, some of De La Fe's solos are pretty appealing even to me.)

17 Los Brillanticos - Pa' Curubande Yo Voy
18 Truko Y Zaperoko - Porque Adore

(I don't know if I've heard this. Truko y Zaperoko do a spin on folkloric stuff, but I think it's fairly vital. They have a new CD, but this is probably old.)

19 Hector Love - Mi Gente

(A classic song from a classic singer. Instant nostalgia, and I mean that in a good way.)

20 Tito Puente - Que Bueno Baila Usted

(Don't know this song.)

21 Eddie Palmieri - Mi Palo Pa' Rumba

(Ditto.)

22 Orchestra Harlow - No Hay Amigo

(Another established classic, not just a throw-back. I'm not that big a fan of Larry Harlow though, so far.)

23 Tambo - Coco My My
24 Cubanismo - En Las Delicious

(A lot of people love these guys. Not really my thing.)

25 Sonora Poncena - Moreno Soy

(Puerto Rican band that has been around since the 60's. I don't know this song, but there is plenty of good material to choose from. They produce the sort of good basic salsa I'd like to see better represented here, rather than these RykoLatino projects.)

26 Ray Barretto - Indestructible

(Another classic. Not a personal favorite, though I think I might like this particular track. I remember hearing the album its from in someone's car and being wowed by it, but I had just been out dancing with the person playing the album for me, so the total experience may have had something to do with my response.)

27 Jose Alberto - Vete I Pregona

("El Canario." Hahaha. Some good stuff by him. Not a personal favorite. I saw him open for Celia Cruz.)

28 Celia Cruz - Quimbara

(A famous Celia song. I assume her name is familar.)

29 Pochi Y Su Cocoband - Salsa Con Coco

(They are pretty good, from what I recall, but I don't know this song. I thought they specialized in merengue, but I may be confused.)

30 Sex Appeal - La Llorana

(No idea.)

I wish I knew who did some merengue dub I heard a while back.

(This is for anyone who has asked for salsa compilation recommendations.)

got two big boxes of records from my friend mike. stuff I had priced for him years ago and it was all still in the boxes at his shop! anyway, stuff some of the stuff I will be checking out at my store tomorrow:

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Only one I have is that Beny Moré, on CD. You win.

how much are you asking for those?

most of that stuff looks like boleros and rancheras not salsa. wilfrido vargas is ace tho!

oh venezuela 75 is p swell too

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jee, i want the saoco one!

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picked this thread cuz it said salsa AND OTHER latin music...

be back in a flash. got more...

here's a track from "El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico y su pueblo"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLuBU8Jkus

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i'm sure I've heard at least a dozen el gran combo albums. but that's just the tip of the iceberg with them.

are those mambo records? yuo need to get rid of jose jose asap

*you*

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there's so many great unknown/forgotten latin records no one gives a fuck anymore its staggering

i would buy that conjunto quisqueya one just for the cover

yeah dude, i dig this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWYwAllpW4s

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okay that'll do for now. latin class tomorrow.

just bumped this thread a bit:
70s Salsa (was The Fania Label 1970-1980: S/D)

also just discovered "el judio maravilloso" larry harlow, an interesting curiosity of salsa I had not been aware of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVK2FTGaZ7k

and also, I love 70s videos of outdoor salsa concerts in the bronx, see also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC1_brYsHjQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S9x1DgdQrw

i love this vid by the latin brothers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUTmDZX2aZg

piper pimienta not only looked uncanny similar to sammy davis jr, his stage presence and dance antics were outta this world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STEqb8uycHY

I'm a little jealous scott, but it's mostly about the music maaaan, not the format.

I'm surprised you weren't familiar with Larry Harlow before, Hurting. His brother Andy Harlow is also worth checking out. (As far as Jewish salsa musicians, I think you could argue that trombonist Barry Rogers was at least as important as Larry Harlow, even though he wasn't a band-leader. In the long run, his sound was pretty important.)

Judíos maravillosos

There was a long article about Barry Rogers on descarga that some of us read a while back, should probably repost the link here.

http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/archives/Profile42

FYI Barry's protegedisciple Chris Washburne will be playing with his band at Smoke on Wednesday, May 8.

Another one of those marvelous guys was recording engineer Irv Greenbaum.

i'd never have guessed harvey averne and jerry masucci were jewish

here's an article (in spanish) about jewish salseros in new york. looks like there were lots of musicians/entrepeneurs involved in the business back in the day.

http://www.salsabrava.com.ve/index.php/secciones/salsa-y-sabor/101-salsa-y-sabor/416-los-judios-en-el-negocio-de-la-musica-latina.html

Rolling Afro-Latin music thread 2013

another thread

the art historian and mambophile Robert Farris Thompson

from that descarga piece on Barry Rogers. If you ever get the chance to hear Thompson talk about mambo or salsa, do it. Very entertaining and knowledgeable. He's a character too.

The Will Hermes book Love Goes to a Building on Fire also discusses some of the above

Sat in on a few of Bob Thompson's lectures my freshman year way back when in a course called "The Structure of the New York Mambo."
here's an article (in spanish)
Cool. Nice picture of George Goldner and Celia Cruz. Don't think I knew what he looked like.

el cubano judio Chico O'Farril
Is this true? I mean besides the misspelling of his name with only one terminal 'l'

Chris Washburne tonight at Smoke. I may have an extra wildcard seat at my table, Hurting, if you are interested and can get out.

x-post-Re the late Chico O'Farill's son Arturo:

Latin music star Arturo O’Farrill may not be Jewish, but he loves to show off his Yiddishkeit.

Of Cuban descent, O’Farrill lives in New York, is married to a Jewish woman and is raising his children as Jews. As a youth, he would shlep out to Coney Island to hang with his best friend’s Yiddishe grandma. And back in the day, as an up-and-coming musician, he and his band would jam to impromptu horas

http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/59041/jazz-musician-to-reprise-yiddish-album-with-a-latin-beat/

Yes, I saw the same thing. Maybe somebody assumed that just because he made that record he WAS

I sold some of those records to my pal Pablo. including that nice African fantasia one. Pablo wrote the rough guide to salsa. he lives near me. he posted some nice Cuban covers from his collection on his blog:

http://bongohead.blogspot.com/

he also wrote rough guide to latin psych.

Pablo's awesome - he helped me out with some stuff when I was editing Global Rhythm some years back.

http://www.latimes.com/includes/projects/hollywood/portraits/celia_cruz.jpg
Hurting, ¡yo soy tu Gracia Divina!

ok i don't know what this kind-of music is, if this sounds familiar to anyone i'd appreciate some leads.

growing up in NJ and living in Brooklyn i'd hear this music blasting from cars that's like 180 bpm with horns and infectious rhythms repeating over and over again. i have no idea what it is. any ideas? really insanely fast paced stuff. my dad called it "cockroach music", in his racially sensitive way, and i've never had any luck in figuring out what it was. i'd like to get my hands on some of this stuff.

merengue! finally found it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFiZeeFD47E

That's it in a club-friendly mix

holy god this is the answer to all of my uptempo dance music dreams. i could dance to this for hours. yes i am insane.