Rolling salsa, merengue, bachata, and reggaeton thread 2007 (Ladies get in for free)

"Dear Friends. Oscar's Production thanks you for your patience. We have filed a lawsuit against Mr. Crespo, and his agents, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia's Civil Division. A hearing is set for March 16, 2007, before the Honorable Gerald Fisher in Courtroom # 519. We are requesting that as many of you as possible to appear in Court that day, to support Oscar's Production, while at the same time voicing your opposition for Mr. Crespo's failure to perform in Washington, D.C. on November 25, 2006, as he agreed to do. We ask for your patience on any refund request until after the court's hearing. Oscar's Production."

Not that I'm a big Elvis Crespo fan. Just found this, uh, interesting.

http://laondatropical.blogspot.com/

The lawsuit sounds like it would be a pretty clear-cut kind of thing. Not that big a deal.

Luny Tunes: Los Benjamins - La Continuacion [I didn't buy the first one, but this will have a version of "Noche De Entierro" with Ivy Queen, and maybe they will improve the rest of the album, which has received lukewarm reviews.]
Ivy Queen [overdue album]
Daddy Yankee
Calle 13
This new Elvis Crespo thing, if there really is a full album in the works
Spanish Harlem Orchestra [I have read good things about the new material they are performing and I think that the introduction of Luisito Quintero on timbales could shakes things up in a good way.]

Oh yeah, also probably another Michael Stuart album, but I am crossing my fingers about that. I thought I read that he was doing something with Papo Lucca, but the article I read was in Spanish, so I don't really know what I read.

http://www.salsaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=3185

(It's one of the first results that comes up in Google if you search on the title, too, which must be frustrating for certain parties.)

This is a good live recording of a song that has come to be one of his signature numbers (though I'm not sure he originally sang it). It's good, although I've heard him do more rhythmically off-the-hook versions than this. He doesn't seem quite as wound up.

Here's another live one. I've heard him cover this song, but I'm not sure if this is the same version I've heard. He does a good job, though I'd rather have the Marvin Santiago original.

Salsa Bandleader Delgado Defects To U.S.
January 26, 2007, 2:45 PM ET

Issac Delgado, one of Cuba's most popular salsa bandleaders, has defected to the United States to pursue an international career, a former associate said today (Jan. 26).

Delgado, 44, is the biggest name in Cuban music to leave the communist-run island nation in years. His 1999 recording of salsa queen Celia Cruz's song "La Vida es un Carnaval" was a major hit in Cuba.

The singer moved with his family to Tampa, Fla., late last year, his former representative in Havana, Raul Escalona, said. His 11-member band, Issac Delgado y su Orquesta, which stayed in Cuba, has changed its name and has a new singer, Escalona said.

The son of a tailor and a dancer, Delgado started out in the band of Latin jazz piano virtuoso Gonzalo Rubalcaba in 1980. He has frequently toured outside Cuba with his own group since 1991 and is popular in Mexico.

Delgado was one of the few musicians living in Cuba who managed to cross political barriers and perform in Miami, where the exile community has long blacklisted artists who had not defected from Cuba under President Fidel Castro's government.

In Cuba, Delgado lived comfortably in the leafy Miramar residential district and drove a Mercedes-Benz, a rare privilege for Cubans, neighbors said.

His father-in-law, Miguel Valdes, a former coach of Cuba's national baseball team, has lived in Tampa since defecting to the United States with White Sox pitcher Jose Contreras in 2002. Delgado is the most prominent musician to defect since salsa singer Manolin, "The Doctor of Salsa," left in 2001.

Other high-profile departures include saxophone player Paquito D'Rivera and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval of the Latin jazz group Irakere, who defected in 1981 and 1990, respectively.

Cuba has long suffered a flight of talented artists and top athletes seeking fame and fortune in the United States, Havana's ideological foe since Castro's 1959 revolution.

COPYRIGHT: (c) Reuters 2006.

Bachata kings find a rhythm in New York
BY ED MORALES

January 28, 2007

For at least a moment last week, with a wildly enthusiastic throng on the set of MTV Tr3's Spanglish version of "Total Request Live" cheering their every move, Bronx-based bachata idols Aventura were on top of the Latin music world.

They had just finished performing "Los Infieles," from their new album "K.O.B. Live" (Premium Latin Music/Sony Norte), a song that nicely packages their modern bachata sound, complete with lyrics about illicit love that characterize Latin urban tastes that run through R&B and reggaetón. And although their music is in Spanish, lead singer and songwriter Lenny Santos felt at home with his growing legion of mostly female, bilingual supporters.

"I love traveling around to the Dominican Republic and Latin America," said Santos to the crowd in English. "But somehow in New York I can be more myself."

Aventura, whose new album is currently No. 4 in the Billboard Latin Albums chart, is a band whose time has come. They are a Latino New York version of the Backstreet Boys, but they choose to use the rhythmic, guitar-based format of bachata from the Dominican Republic to express what life is like in the big city. For the cover of their new album -- which contains a CD of new material, a CD of a live performance at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, and a DVD with concert footage and the video for "Los Infieles" -- Aventura dressed up in Edwardian suits and mop-tops in an apparent homage to a certain English rock group that invaded New York in the '60s.

"A lot of people thought we were trying to dress like The Beatles," said Santos backstage at the TRL sound studio. "But it was this '60s thing -- everybody dressed like that then. I wanted to do something different. I wanted to show that we don't always worry about our pretty-boy image."

But despite their image as teen idols and purveyors of the forbidden tryst, Aventura has a strong musicality that goes under the radar. The live album, in particular, accentuates Santos' florid guitar soloing, as well as Max Agende Santos' jazz-influenced electric bass playing.

"I don't want people to see us just as bachateros," Santos said. "We do modern bachata. I've been doing production work in salsa for Gilberto Santa Rosa, I did a merengue track for Sergio Vargas, an R&B track for Frankie J., and a reggaetón track, 'Noche de Sexo,' for Wisin & Yandel."

While Aventura is following in the footsteps of great Dominican musicians like their acknowledged heroes Juan Luis Guerra and Fernandito Villalona, they're also part of a New York style established by 2 in a Room and Fulanito, who fused merengue and the rustic perico ripiao with house music.

"The reason I named the album 'K.O.B.,' or Kings of Bachata, is to make it clear that we're the best at what we do," Santos said. "But our culture is filled with incredible artists. And it feels good to finally help put that culture on the map."

“I have a desire to transmit spirituality and good vibes through my music,’’ he said. “I think it’s the fundamental task of all genuine artists.’’

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/01/26/Tampabay/Salsa_star_leaves_Cub.shtml

Cuban salsa star now lives in U.S.
Issac Delgado appears to have a good chance to beat the curse of other island émigrés.
By Agustin Gurza
Times Staff Writer

January 26, 2007

World-renowned salsa singer Issac Delgado has emigrated from Cuba and plans to pursue his career from a new home in Florida, becoming the biggest name in Cuban music in more than a decade to make the politically charged move away from the communist enclave.

Unlike the highly publicized defections in recent years of two other prominent Cuban vocalists, Manolín and Carlos Manuel, Delgado made his move under a cloak of secrecy. Internet chat rooms have been abuzz about the star's whereabouts since late last year, but Delgado and his new U.S. business associates have kept mum until now.

This week, concert promoters were notified that the William Morris Agency had signed Delgado for worldwide representation. It was the first official confirmation that the rumors were true.

"Issac is probably the most significant singer of his generation," said Michel Vega, head of Latin music for William Morris, in an interview this week from his Miami office. "We're thrilled to be working with him and we think he's going to be a great addition to the American music landscape."

The critically acclaimed singer was not immediately available for interviews. But Vega confirmed that the artist has settled into a new home in Tampa, Fla., along with his wife and children. Details of his entry into the country were not disclosed.

Delgado is already recording a new album, in collaboration with award-winning salsa producer Sergio George, a key figure in the early success of New York salsa star Marc Anthony. The record is due in the spring, to be followed by a world tour this summer. Ten songs have been recorded so far, some featuring collaborations with major Latin artists, according to Adolfo Fernandez, spokesman for La Calle Records, a division of the Univision Music Group, which is expected to release the CD.

Despite the well-organized business plan, Delgado's move is risky, as the careers of some of his fellow Cuban singers collapsed once they set foot in the U.S.

"Carlos Manuel is just a complete disaster," said Hugo Cancio, a Miami businessman who was instrumental in bringing the young singing sensation to the U.S. "A great artist, tremendous talent, but he's nowhere to be seen. He's been here four years, and what has he done?"

Cuban artists who were superstars on the island have found scant interest for their style of complex and progressive salsa in the U.S., where tastes run more traditional. The handsome and charismatic Delgado, with his jazzy but smooth singing style, is probably the most marketable.

"He has a better chance than the other guys, but it still seems like a very questionable move," said Kevin Moore, an expert in contemporary Cuban music who writes for the U.S.-based website Timba.com. "He always worked the best-paying gigs in Havana and lived in a beautiful palace. To leave all that behind for an unknown financial situation makes you wonder, 'Why would he want to do that?' "

One potential answer: The political timing is right.

Delgado, who maintained good relations with the Cuban cultural authorities, may be trying to get a step ahead of political changes expected when Fidel Castro dies. A political opening on the island may close the doors on Cubans seeking to come to the U.S. because they could lose special asylum status, speculated Cancio. People in a democratic Cuba could be forced to get in line for U.S. visas with the rest of the world.

Manolín, who was a national celebrity in Cuba, where he performed as El Medico de la Salsa, said that artists who defect are led to believe they'll be greeted with a red carpet, but after they arrive, the carpet gets pulled out from under them.

"Here in Miami, Cubans own the radio stations, run the record labels and control the television, but Cuban artists are the ones who get the least play," Manolín said in Spanish from Miami. "It's as if we come from a country that doesn't exist. So it's worse than starting over because there's a need here to deny what comes from there. We are taboo."

Manolín, who still performs in Miami though his career faltered after releasing a pop record on BMG that tanked, said he spoke to Delgado last year while his colleague was mulling his move. Manolín's advice?

"You are a success already," Manolín recalled telling his colleague. "You can come here and try to maintain what you've already achieved. But if you expect anything more, you're going to be frustrated."

Delgado was one of the first artists from Cuba to perform in the U.S., at Madison Square Garden in 1996. And he has released several albums on U.S.-based record labels, including qbadisc, RMM and AhiNama Music, based in Studio City.

Delgado was one of the most prominent stars to emerge in Cuba during Havana's dance music boom of the 1990s.

In 1987, Delgado toured the world as a singer with Cuba's Afro-Cuban cabaret from the Tropicana. He became a star a year later when he joined NG La Banda, the Havana group that sparked the new wave of dance music known as timba, a fusion of jazz, salsa and funk.

The video is pretty amusing too.

Apparently there's a new Calle 13 album in March. Any sign of a single? I checked their myspace, but it's all old songs.

Triumphant, clearly, for these two, but triumphant also for the genre. Reggaetón, a Spanish-language cousin of hip-hop and reggae, exploded in popularity a few years ago, taking over clubs and radio stations throughout the Americas; the New York reggaetón station, La Kalle (105.9 FM), which is less than two years old, sponsored Friday’s concert. But in the last year or so the genre’s energy has flagged slightly, and skeptics have questioned its staying power. Would the reggaetón revolution end as quickly as it had started?

That seemed unlikely on Friday, when Wisin & Yandel kept a packed audience on its feet, screaming for nearly two hours. Wisin does the rapping and the between-song talking, while Yandel does the singing, but both are cheerfully one-track-minded. From “No Me Digas Que No” (“Don’t Tell Me No”) to “Noche de Sexo” (no translation needed, surely), their set ranged from sweet pleas to salty ones. At one point Wisin acknowledged all the women in the crowd who had suffered for love. There was a trebly scream. Then he switched sides, playfully extolling the loyalty of Latin men.

The stiff, loping beat known as dem bow is what separates reggaetón from hip-hop, and on Friday night this pulse was omnipresent but not (usually) monotonous. Backed by a half-electronic band (it included a D.J., three keyboard players and sometimes a string section), the duo delighted in toying with the rhythm: switching to double time or half time, or cutting out the beat to make fans wait for its inevitable return.

If they wanted to Wisin & Yandel could credibly position themselves as a pop crossover act. But at Radio City they stayed faithful to the genre — and the fans — that made them stars. They spoke and sang in Spanish (including their Spanish verses from “Burn It Up,” an R. Kelly collaboration), and the night’s big special guest was the reggaetón pioneer Tego Calderón, who sauntered onstage to deliver a few rhymes.

The concert certainly didn’t secure the future of reggaetón, or even the future of Wisin & Yandel. But it was impressive proof of what this genre and this duo can do. In New York and far beyond, those staccato beats and those salacious lyrics attract a diverse audience of young Latino listeners, many of whom have come to enjoy thinking of themselves as reggaetón fans. Who knows where Wisin & Yandel will be in 10 years? But this audience isn’t going anywhere. "

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

I'm not sure why you are expecting soneros to be belters. That's really not what most salsa aficionados look for.

Well, damn, didn't have to wait long for that.

That guitar you are hearing is probably really tres (which of course is pretty much just a special type of guitar).

that's more of a hard-core salsa audience/NPR/world music audience type of thing

What mag do you write for, unperson?

unperson, you're fired!

Wisin y Yandel

Oh good, I'll finally get to hear some of that alternative rock I've been hearing about. . .

Inqlings | Rock in, rumba out at 104.5
By Michael Klein
Inquirer Columnist

Red Hot Chili Peppers, yes.
Salsa, no.

Alternative rock is now coming out of the radio at 104.5 FM.

Yesterday's debut of "Radio 104.5" marks the end of "Rumba 104.5," Clear Channel Broadcasting's Spanish station, after less than nine months.

"Rumba" has moved to 1480 AM.

The format flip ends nearly five decades of gospel on WDAS-AM, one of the vanguards of African American-oriented radio in town.

Louise Williams Bishop, who started at WDAS in 1960 and hosted mornings, learned of the switch after yesterday's show. She says she's been offered a Sunday gospel show on urban adult-contemporary WDAS-FM (105.3). Bishop also is a Baptist minister and a state representative from Philadelphia.

Radio 104.5's playlist yesterday included guy bands such as The Ramones, Green Day, Moby, Creed and Big Country. On its Web site (radio1045.com), the station wants to audition "real people" to "serve up the music" and to showcase local indie bands. How noncorporate-sounding.

The new format is clearly aimed at the young-male audience and ad dollars flowing into rock ratings leader WMMR (93.3), owned by Greater Media Inc. None of Clear Channel's other Philly stations - Power 99, Q102 and My106.1 - play rock or target younger males.

Many eyebrows arched in August when Clear Channel launched Rumba - a big-signal Spanish station in a market that's less than 10 percent Hispanic. Management at the time said it wanted to tap the growing Hispanic audience.

In March's ratings, Rumba was 19th of 27 stations in audience share. In terms of weekly cumulative audience, though, Rumba was 24th of 27. WDAS-AM failed to crack the ratings; gospel listeners seem to have flocked to a higher power, as it were: Radio One's WPPZ-FM (Praise 103.9), which signed on two years ago.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_klein/inqlings/7547922.html

The Ramones, Green Day, Moby, Creed and Big Country

owl.jpg

Well, at least you still have the station. And consider yourself lucky, the only latin stations in my locale consist entirely of bullshit Mexican polka.

I don't really mess with AM, but I guess if I get desperate, it's always there.

Elvis Crespo is due to have a new album out (his first in three years) at the beginning of next month. It's going to have some reggaeton elements, which hopefully won't ruin his formula for merengue.

New Michael Stuart on the horizon.

Dear Reverend:

Mexican polka is not bullshit. Some of it is, but most of it is not, especially if you know Spanish; these seemingly simplistic songs actually boast hardcore lyrical content, from gangland drugtrade sagas to impassioned pleas for immigrants' rights. You are within your rights to not give a rat's ass about that, but I just wanted to let you know I think you are being needlessly dismissive.

Your friend,
Matt C.

The Issac Delgado album is out, and there are some clips here:

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?z=y&EAN=808833004420&itm=1

Again, he has a good voice, and he can sing, but somehow he never does anything for me. This sounds better than it could have turned out though. It could have followed a really straight-jacketed formula for commercial salsa. It's cool that they threw in a changui for the last track (not that I actually like changui, but it's gutsy to put something so traditioanl, in a specifically Cuban way, on the album). Also, I think I could end up liking the cha cha cha on here "Cemento, Ladrillo y Arena," which features Cachao and Gonzalo Rubalacaba.

DC salsa instructor Eileen Torres sent this to her mailing list:

Rest in Peace Hector Casanova

Another of our shining stars, Salsa vocalist, Hector Casanova pictured above, passed from this life to the next Thursday, May 10, 2007 in Yonkers, New York. Casanova is best known for his association with Johnny Pacheco for whom he served as lead vocalist for over 30 years. In addition he performed with many others including Africando, Los Soneros de Oriente, Cuban Masters, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Hermán Olivera, Cheo Feliciano, Ismael Miranda, José Alberto 'El Canario', Michael Stewart, Tito Rojas, Adalberto Santiago, Johnny Ventura, Ray Viera,& Fania All Stars in addition to the many groups from the early days of his career. He was born in the Oriundo de Marianao, section of Havana, Cuba, Héctor November 19, 1944. In 1962 he moved to Boston, MA with his family with whom he moved to New York one year later. In 2004 he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He underwent therapy and the prognosis looked bright. He developed gangrene and underwent amputation of his left leg in December of that year. That did not deter him. He continued with his career traveling to sing and entertain with use of a prosthesis. In the middle of plans to launch a new CD with Pacheco the cancer returned traveling to his lungs which this time proved fatal. He spent his last days at the “Guild Home for the Blind", in Yonkers, New York

what do y'all think of the daddy yankee single prod. by SCOTT STORCH

SS goes reggaeton ... is it me or is the tempo much faster than most of this stuff?

deej, I don't like it, myself, but that's not so surprising. Maybe it's having to understand the lyrics? Fergie doesn't add anything for me. The vocoder part is fun as a surprise, but it doesn't add up for me. I haven't heard it much though.

There are some comments here, if you didn't see them:

http://www.stylusmagazine.com/jukebox/?p=433

(Hint: I am not any of those people in real life.)

(I inadvertantly stumbled on this stylus feature while searching for something else, and I have to admit I like it. Otherwise not a regular reader of such sites.)

Dear Matt C.:

My dismissiveness of Mexican polka has zilch to do with its lyrical content and everything to do with the fact that it is polka, the eleventh biblical plague. Fuck that shit.

Best of regards,
Rodney

Whoa there, dancing polka can be great. I would be quite happy to dance it on a regular basis. Not so sure about listening to it when I'm not dancing to it, but I bet I could get to appreciate some of it that way as well.

Nope, don't bother. Rodney's made up his mind, and that's that!

This is a job for Charles Keil.

My impression definitely is that Roc La Familia was just throwing money (and guest hip-hop MCs) at the genre, hoping for a quick pay-off. So none of this is too surprising.

Music News
Reggaeton no longer translates to automatic sales
By Leila Cobo
May 21, 2007, 18:35 GMT

The layoffs in mid-May of the entire staff of Roc La Familia, just two years after the launch of the label, are indicative of the evolving panorama for reggaeton. This is clearly no longer a genre that automatically generates sales.

But Roc La Familia`s woes point to a bigger issue: Successfully venturing into the Latin marketplace is not merely a question of tossing money around. Instead, it requires careful strategizing between Latin and mainstream teams often separated by cultural divides.

"The deep pockets from the large labels isn`t exactly the answer to success in the Latin market," one Latin executive says. "If they`re smart and they hire the right people and they`re patient they will be successful. But if they want instant gratification, well . . ."

In 2005, emboldened by reggaeton`s early success and crossover potential, coupled with a growing Latin market, a handful of English-language labels decided to give the genre a go.

"It was logical that all these people, me included, wanted to take a shot at this market," says Rich Isaacson, a principal at Fuerte, a marketing firm that works with Latin and non-Latin acts, many urban.

"The question is, How do you go from logical reasoning to strategically succeeding? There have been a lot of growing pains."

On its end, Roc La Familia opened its doors with great fanfare in July 2005 but released only two albums a full year later. The first, 'Roc La Familia & Hector Bambino `El Father` Present Los Rompe Discotekas,' has sold 134,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan - successful for Latin standards, but hardly extraordinary. The label`s subsequent release, 'N.O.R.E. y La Familia-Ya Tu Sabe . . .' has sold only 47,000 copies, and contributed to N.O.R.E.`s asking Def Jam for his release early this year.

At around the same time, Atlantic released Tego Calderon`s 'The Underdog/El Subestimado,' one of the most highly touted reggaeton albums in years.

To date, it has sold 85,000 copies, less than Calderon`s previous releases 'El Abayarde' (137,000) and 'El Enemigo de los Waisibiri' (113,000), both put out on his own label and licensed to BMG Latin.

Wu Tang Latino, a Latin arm of Wu Tang, did not release any albums and is no longer operating. And Bad Boy Latino, the partnership between Emilio Estefan and Sean 'Diddy' Combs, has released an album by a pop artist, Christian Daniel, but no urban acts to date.

Industry insiders blame the failure to launch on multiple reasons, ranging from lack of communication between Latin and mainstream divisions to lack of knowledge of the marketplace.

"Many people thought what happened in Puerto Rico with reggaeton would replicate itself in the United States," says Felix Bonnet, programming VP for Spanish Broadcasting System Puerto Rico. "They forgot that the markets are totally different."

A similar phenomenon occurred in radio, Bonnet says, where many stations that flipped to reggaeton have now expanded their playlists to include other genres.

Within labels, many say, the coupling of a new genre run by maverick musicians with mainstream labels run by people unfamiliar with the Latin marketplace was a recipe for disaster.

There are, of course, success stories, most notably Interscope`s venture with Daddy Yankee and TVT`s with Pitbull.

"This isn`t rocket science. This is doing the work," says Isaacson, who is working on the upcoming release of reggaeton artist Zion on CMG, a new label distributed by SRC Universal Motown. The key, he adds, is getting both teams to work together, leveraging their areas of strength. "I don`t think it`s that difficult. I just think it hasn`t been executed correctly."

Thanks again for everyone's help...I'm presenting tomorrow.

I decided to talk about Nicaraguan Reggae and Reggaeton. I'm specifically covering Carlos de Nicaragua and J. Smooth (the former was influenced by Ruben Dario, so I was able to discuss him, too). We have to plan some group activity, so mine is this game where I play a song and the class is supposed to figure out what style it is. I have a feeling that some of the Reggaeton songs are dirty (e.g. "Mamasota" or "No Me Importa" or "Ella No Disimula"), but the vocals are obviously rather fast-paced, so hopefully my teacher won't pay that much attention. I also included "Panis Et Circenses" just to throw everybody off (the answer would obviously be neither style).

Man, I wish I actually spoke Spanish.

You are now the ILM expert on Nicaraguan reggaeton.

(and reggae)

Ummmm.... please explain how "Panis et Circenses" fits into that. (Coincidentally, I've listen to it like, ten times in the past three days. Amazing song right there.)

I finally got my ass over to the one music store in the North End with a decent selection of Musica Latina (discovering that it is now an FYE, sigh) and picked up the most recent Fulanito, WyY, & Luny Tunes albums yesterday. I've only listened to the Fulanito album right now. Fun stuff. I don't understand why RS is being so reserved about them. The packaging is kinda annoying though.

I saw something there labeled simply Ninos 2. It seemed to be a continuation of the Reggaeton Ninos series, but wasn't explicitly marked as such, so I didn't pick it up. Does anyone know about this? Oh, and I didn't think to look for Mala Rodriguez, which I should have done.

Matt: Recommend me some bullshit Mexican polka. Better yet, send it to me.

I've only listened to the Fulanito album right now. Fun stuff. I don't understand why RS is being so reserved about them. The packaging is kinda annoying though.

Their snippets of English language rapping getting on my nerves after a while. I find it's a little too much to listen to straight through (even when "listening" means just going about my business), but it's pretty good. On the other hand, most of it does in fact make me get up and get down, so that's a good thing. In conclusion, I just have mixed feelings about it.

I think there are lots of Reggaeton Ninos imitators out ther, so beware.

You know how it was supposed to be 5-10 minutes? Well, mine ended up being 30...ooops! Either way, it went well, even though I figured out that the lyrics to "Mamaseta" were really nasty.

please explain how "Panis et Circenses" fits into that

Well, the point of the game was to figure out whether the song was reggae/salsa, reggaeton or neither (stupid, I know, but I didn't have any other wonderful ideas), and I threw "Panis et Circenses" in there as the second track because I thought my class would think it was reggae/salsa. And yes, some did, which probably put my Spanish teacher in a bad mood since it's, y'know, Portuguese.

Well this little exchange comes actually from a different thread...

Ray Barretto - The Message (1972 salsa)

One of my least favorite "classic salsa" albums.
-- Rockist Scientist

...but what say you Rockisto about Ray B's (...ooh, no pun 'tended! 8) somewhat earlier "Acid" album?

Everyone always asks me about Acid. I actually just don't like Barretto or Acid very much, but if I had to choose, I'd rather listen to his somewhat later albums Indestructible or Rican/Struction. Also, I've heard some live tracks that I've liked (notably a somewhat recent live version of "Indestructible," my favorite Barretto song).

Ooh, I discovered Ray Baretto's "Together" at the EMP conference (a presentation on boogaloo) and am increasingly convinced that it is the single best song in the universe. (Is it from that album? I need to find something by this dude. That song is kicking my ass, as the metalheads would say.)

rodney are you blogging again or what? how come i dont have yr email handy? AND WHAT ABOUT NAOMI???

Oh, right. Blog: 425x350.blogspot.com

email: rodneyjgreene AT hotmail DOT com

Who is Naomi? You lost me there.

haha you are young

okay, sending some stuff as soon as my stupid computer starts working right

Yes, we all know you're the chairman of the AARP. You don't have to brag about it. : D

This is a pretty blistering take on the current salsa scene. I like it. Still, I'm ambivalent about the idea that the audience should spend most of its time standing and watching the band, rather than dancing. I have to admit, that tends to be what I've seen more Latino audiences do at live performances. (At any rate, if there's dancing, it's often more casual, not really couple-oriented, maybe dancing in place while watching the stage.) I saw Sonora Ponceña a couple years ago and thought they put on a very good show. In fact, I was a little surprised at how blasé the (mostly Latino) Philadelphia audience was when they first came on (although things warmed up as it went along).

La Sonora Ponceña is smoking hot, but did the dancers even notice?
La Sonora Ponceña makes a rare L.A. appearance, and most fans move to the beat rather than listen -- and that's a shame.
By Agustin Gurza
Times Staff Writer

May 28, 2007

There's a corrupting trend in salsa that comes from the growing but largely unspoken disconnect between those who make the music and those who dance to it. That divide was obvious this weekend during a rare local performance by La Sonora Ponceña, the revered Puerto Rican orchestra that headlined the ninth West Coast Salsa Congress, a radically pared down gathering that closed Sunday at the Radisson Hotel near LAX.

You could measure recent changes in music appreciation by the number of people who stood to watch this 53-year-old institution rather than keep dancing. During salsa's glory days in the 1970s, when this band was in its heyday, fans were so attuned to the jazzy skills of pianist-bandleader Papo Lucca and his dozen musicians that they would rush to gain standing room near the stage before the show started, leaving little room on the floor for dancers. All the great salsa bands used to get the same attention.

Those days are gone. Those intent on listening were only a few rows deep when La Ponceña (named for its hometown of Ponce, Puerto Rico) took the stage Sunday morning at 1, two hours late because the dance competitions ran over schedule. Rather than rush the stage, many fans actually left the room when the formal dance exhibitions ended, leaving ample space for people to dance while the band played.

One man even had the audacity to set up a chair at the edge of the dance floor to watch the couples in action, turning his back to the band. Clearly, fans don't come out to hear great live music. They come to watch one another show off.

That musical indifference is killing salsa as an art form, at least in the U.S. It was great to see so many young and sexy people still coming from all across the world for the congress. But what's going to happen when the great salsa bands of the Ponceña's brilliant generation begin to die off, with few young groups to take their place?

The answer might be gloomily apparent in this year's scaled-back lineup, featuring one major act, compared with five or six as in past years. What's next? The all-digital salsa congress?

Granted, La Ponceña delivered a mostly standard 90-minute set that offered nothing new musically. With its members wearing gray business suits and striped ties, the band basically gave the crowd what it wanted: a steady dance beat uninterrupted by the extraordinary arrangements and jazzy explorations that mark its best work on record.

Yet narcissistic hoofers might have missed some memorable highlights during the performance. At one point, Lucca was joined onstage by fellow pianist Oscar Hernández of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra (formerly with Rubén Blades' superb sextet Seis del Solar). The two keyboardists traded bars of improvisation, riffing off complex flute lines provided in between by guest soloist Nestor Torres.

It was one of those thrilling salsa moments worth watching. And it seemed to spark a fiery finale, the kind that makes it worth sticking around until 3 a.m.

At that point, you couldn't blame dancers for hitting the floor in a spontaneous synergy with the rhythms. Those fleet-footed dancers from Colombia showed off their dazzling, high-speed steps as others with less Olympian stamina crowded around to watch.

There's an old expression for moments like this: ¡Se fórmo la rumba!

Literally, it means the rumba (an event, not a dance) has started, and in Spanish, the implication is that it happens magically.

That's the trance-like magic of live salsa, created when music and dance come together as one.

http://www.calendarlive.com/music/cl-et-poncena28may28,0,3738849.story?coll=cl-music

My <I>Voice</I> article loosely based on the "Learning Latin" blog-post series is out this week. Go ahead and ridicule my ign'ance.

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0722,freeman,76785,22.html

I've been waiting for this opportunity!

Nice La Lupe photo!

My only complaint is that you didn't talk about more stuff, but it's a good write-up, and at least it sounds like you actually listened to the music (which obviously you did), rather than just repeating a lot of things that everyone else has already said. (Someone needs to create a "noise salsa" sub-genre.)

La Ponceña (named for its hometown of Ponce, Puerto Rico) took the stage Sunday morning at 1, two hours late because the dance competitions ran over schedule. Rather than rush the stage, many fans actually left the room when the formal dance exhibitions ended

All those damn dance performances. I got into a "salsa is/isn't dead" argument with a friend lately (well, it was an argument for me, for her it was just an exchange of ideas or something), and while I can't swallow the whole "genre x is dead" type of talk, I have to admit things don't look to great. The emphasis on performance troupes and competitions is a negative, to me.

My only complaint is that you didn't talk about more stuff

I started out with only 500 words, so I had to limit it to the three artists who really grabbed me hardest. (I just don't like Johnny Pacheco's stuff very much at all; does that make me a bad person?)

I don't like much Pacheco either (although I did find, in my youtube marathon last night, Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez performing "Catalina la O" with Johnny Pacheco). So, no.

You should listen to that Roberto Roena CD if you haven't though. He came up through the same band that I think helped propeled Ismael Rivera to fame, Rafael Cortijo's combo. He also gets into some pretty adventurous arrangements (in general--I don't actually know every track on the album you were sent). Oh that's right, you also were sent a compilation of his, maybe some other CDs too.

Also, you need a good El Gran Combo compilation. This one looks good:

http://www.amazon.com/Aniversario-Gran-Combo-Puerto-Rico/dp/tracks/B00004U1FS/ref=dp_tracks_all_1/102-8357135-0932145?ie=UTF8&qid=1180541691&sr=1-5#disc_1

(I have most of it spread out over other discs, etc.)

Because I know you will want to start blaring salsa around the clock now.

I do not get why Augustin Gurza is shocked that people were dancing rather than standing and watching at a "Salsa Congress" event. Salsa Congress events are marketed everywhere to Dancers. That is whom attends such events. Such a show is not your typical Latin audience event (whatever that is--I have been to salsa shows at one DC club whose Latin audience varied in age range from that of another club a few miles outside of DC in Maryland).

A music fanatic friend of mine years ago got into swing dancing. She once called me about seeing a band and said, "My swing dance friends won't like this--they're into dancing not music." I have also met zydeco dancers who are just into dancing to that traditional zydeco dance beat and nothing else. I think with some salsa dancers it's the same thing. And I bet these are the same folks who like to salsa dance troupes and competitions. Not sure how many percentage wise fall into this description. I also try to remind myself to each his/her own.

Listening to the Roberto Roena La Herencia compilation now. The first song, "Tu Loco Loco y Yo Tranquilo," is pretty great, but the ballad, "Soñando Con Puerto Rico," that follows it is, well, a boring ballad. Hope the majority of the disc is upbeat stuff.

Yeah, steve, actually, I find that I tend to spend more time dancing at live salsa shows than the majority of the audience does, so like I said (or think I said--maybe I decided not to): I'm ambivalent about some of what Gruza says.

Gotcha (how did I miss this before?)

La Lupe, who died in 1992, was like a Puerto Rican Shirley Bassey

Odd, considering she was Cuban.

That musical indifference is killing salsa as an art form, at least in the U.S. It was great to see so many young and sexy people still coming from all across the world for the congress. But what's going to happen when the great salsa bands of the Ponceña's brilliant generation begin to die off, with few young groups to take their place?

The great salsa bands are dying off, as are the great african bands, but I do not blame hardcore dancers like Gurza does for the status of the genre's vitality as an art form. I blame/attribute technological changes, musical changes, lack of access to old-school instruments and training, socio-economic and political issues, and globalism.

I agree, and I think you probably have that in roughly the right order, with technology topping the list.

La Lupe, who died in 1992, was like a Puerto Rican Shirley Bassey

Odd, considering she was Cuban.

But Puerto Rico and Cuba are two wings of the same bird. Or so it says on my Tito Puente/Celia Cruz reissue.

I hope you're just being facetious. Yes, in one sense you can look at them and see them as parts of a larger cultrual system (and throw in the Dominican Republic, as well), but the differences are huge, and I think they have widened over the past 35 years. I don't think most Puerto Ricans bother with the music Cuba has produced in that period of time (although some of the musicians draw inspiration from it and borrow from the work of current Cuban songwriters).

Yeah, I was, mostly.

ooh ooh new Bobby Sanabria album, Big Band Urban Folktales, is hot hot hot! Chris Washburne is on it, so are a bunch of other cool dudes/dudettes like Ricardo Pons and Chareneè Wade and Hiram "El Pavo" Remón; originals plus covers of "Besame Mucho" and "Since I Fell For You" and Zappa's "The Grand Wazoo"...plus two (2) Hermeto Pascoal songs!

San Antonio writer Ramiro Burr has a blog

http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/latinnotes/

Bought Willie Colón's Cosa Nuestra today, and There Goes The Neighborhood, the album he did with Mon Rivera in 1975.

Was admiring those cds in a Borders book store but decided not to pay Borders' prices for 'em. I'm glad I saw Willie live last year as I think he has now retired from perfroming live (or so he said he was gonna do).

When did he say that? I just missed him a few months back in Philadelphia when he was performing at a fund-raiser for a Latino candidate for city council. I am skeptical whenever performers say they are going to stop performing.

I think he said it on his website and at the show I reviewed (that tour was billed as his farewell tour). I think he was gonna get more involved in politics himself (he was supporting Republican mayor Blomberg which aggravated some folks).

On a different note, I am working on my review of Aventura live now. Will report back later.

I have a copy of the Bobby Sanabria album mentioned just upthread, sitting in my office; I will have to check it out this week. I'm also planning on picking up Colón's The Good, The Bad & The Ugly this week; that 2CD compilation I have, The Player, has one track from it that's just amazing - "MC2." It's like a 70s movie soundtrack funk instrumental (the album is from 1975, I think) with crazed synth sounds and hard rock guitar and blaring horns.

I've seen Sanabria and Washburne (who Dimension 5 Matt Haikunym mentioned above as playing with Sanabria) both live. They both teach at various New York schools and that aspect comes through when you see them playing live at non-club settings. That is, they did alot of explaining what each song was about. Their anecdotes and explanations were interesting enough, and their playing impressive enough to make it enjoyable. Percussionist Sanabria's the more energetic of the two, and I will always associate the word "clave" with him based on his videotaped explanation of the term that was used in a Smithsonian exhibit several years back.

unperson, I think you'll like The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. It's a varied mix of stuff. I don't really get why you like the style of the particular track you single out, but everyone else here seems to like 70s movie track funkiness more than I do, so maybe that's why.

curmudgeon, are you going to post a link to the Aventura write up? I like them on a track by track basis, but it's difficult sitting through an entire album. I've never seen them live. I'm a little sorry that the dominant model for bachata now is this very romantica, kind of soft, approach. (See the bachata band Extreme form an example of Aventura imitators.) To some extent bachataton is displacing that, but then I hear that as a sub-set of reggaeton than a sub-set of bachata. Either way, I like it.

My Aventura writeup should be appearing in the Monday paper (and online) and I guess I will let you folks rip up my take on them! You have actually nicely captured what they are like already.

I am curious about the new Juan Luis-Guerra as I liked him live and enjoyed him to some degree on cd. I do recall that others here did not share my enthusiasm.

It looks like we are getting Son de Cali, instead of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, during the free concert around the 4th of July (in Philadelphia). I had wanted to hear SHO live, but in some ways I'm more excited to have Son de Cali play (even though, yeah, there second album only had one really good song on it and I never got the one from last year, although I might get around to it, since I think it was better). Grupo Niche put on a tight show when I saw them play, so hopefully as a band head up by ex- Niche members, they will be similar.

x-post:

Actually I think I called Aventura a bachata boy band (here on ILM) before I saw anyone else using that (or similar phrases), for which I put myself on the back.

Anyway, for "Cuanda Volveras" and "Obsesion" alone, they deserve their place in history. But they've put out some other good things besides though.

(Cuando not Cuanda)

Here's my review of heartthrobs Aventura (it's the 2nd review in the weblink print format):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/03/AR2007060301231_pf.html

Anybody heard the new Daddy Yankee (with Scott Storch producing)?

The listing in my local paper for the ALMA Awards on ABC tv tonight (9 p.m. Eastern U.S.) describes the show as honoring the best in Latin music, film, and tv. The list of performers: Beyonce, Prince,Dashboard Confessional, and Los Loney Boys. Hmmm.

Just turned the tv on (at 9:20 or so) and there's Sheila E. upfront of the stage singing and banging away on percussion with Prince on "Glamorous Life" accompanied by a great booming horn section. I wonder what I missed them doing (my Dad thought that was the end of a medley when I called him and asked)

x-post

Hahaha. That kind of ties in with the argument I e-mailed you about. (I don't want to name names here.)

I don't think I can deal with watching TV right now. I'm just not ready to deal with all the flash of mainstream pop culture at the moment. In fact, I'm not particularly ready to be awake at all, at the moment.

But Calle 13 were just on with a band including an accordionist and plenty of percussion. They kept getting bleeped too. Los Lonely Boys did not wow me, Beyonce's doing "Irreplaceable" en espanol and English now.

I need to get up at dawn and work early, not sure why I'm still up. Thanks for that reminder about the salserocollective yahoo e-mail thing. Some interesting stuff there in that discussion.

I guess nobody else here reads that yahoo group e-mail thing. Did anybody else see calle 13 on the Almas?

Man, I'm listening to this 2CD Johnny Pacheco compilation, El Maestro, and I just don't like the guy's stuff at all. I'm into Disc Two now, and every song has either been generic/forgettable or viscerally unpleasant to the ear (the early charanga stuff with the flute and violin is particularly odious).

Sorry, no objections from me. He does seem to be well-regarded by an awful lot of people who know Latin music inside out, but for the most part I don't like the recordings where his hand dominates. His charanga recordings were hugely popular in parts of Africa.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/511K3w7wcWL._SS500_.jpg

Gee, let's be subtle about where we put the "R" in "Rumbero." I think it's a decent cover though, by salsa standards.

unperson, I think Pacheco basically sticks more closely to certain Cuban models than just about any other major band-leader type that was associated with Fania.

We need a pro-traditional Cuban approach person to post here and debate you guys! I have not heard enough Pacheco or charanga in general to make up my mind.

A rare appearance of a Cuban band in the US media, Los Van Van on the Today show (recent):

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19033078/

Apparently this is a very old song of theirs and some fans are scratching their heads over why they picked this one.

(Under "Meet 'The Rolling Stones' of Cuba." I think they have been called that primarily because of their longevity.)

I don't like it, incidentally, but that's typical. There are about three Van Van songs I like.

I just saw the video for the new David Bisbal song featuring Wisin & Yandel; it's called "Torre de Babel," and it's really, really good. A lot of Arabic-meets-flamenco feel to his vocal melody, and the beat is killer.

I like that Los Van Van song. Their style does not have as much edge as Puerto Rican or NY derived stuff, but its nice enough in a smoother poppier way.

As for unperson pick, I enjoy the middle-eastern meets reggaeton instrumental feel of "Torre de Babel" although Bisbal sometimes is a bit too melodramatic for me. Wisin y Yandel sound pretty solid.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/11/arts/music/11blin.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin

K. Sanneh in the NY Times on the big reggaeton and salsa(well, just Victor Manuelle) show at Shea Stadium

Unfortunately, that link doesn't work for us mere mortals.

I'm registered with the NY Times and get e-mails from them but do not pay for a subscription or anything. So I'm a mere mortal as well. Maybe it will work tomorrow-- or I'll paste it-

Take Me Out to the Bling Blineo (I Don’t Care if I Ever Get Back)
By KELEFA SANNEH, N.Y. Times
It seemed like a great idea: a reggaetón grudge match in Shea Stadium on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade. Daddy Yankee and Don Omar — two of the genre’s biggest stars, and longtime rivals — were scheduled to be the headliners at El Bling Blineo, a Saturday night concert organized (and tirelessly promoted) by the reggaetón radio station La Kalle, 105.9 FM.

But then came a last-minute announcement: Daddy Yankee was in the hospital, suffering from “acute viral syndrome and dehydration,” according to a radio-station press release. So there was no grudge match, just a celebration, co-starring Wisin & Yandel, Hector El Father and his former partner, Tito El Bambino, and others. The party lasted more than five hours, with short sets interrupted by long breaks. (Somehow the crowd stayed cheerful, even though the beer sales stopped long before the intermissions did.)

From a stage near second base, the performers led singalongs and the M.C.’s led cheering contests. (Puerto Rico always won, but the Dominican Republic usually finished a strong second.) Part of the fun was watching performers emerge from the wall in right field like so many relief pitchers, ready to face the crowd.

The concert was also a birthday party of sorts: it was just over two years ago that 105.9 FM became La Kalle, jettisoning its old format (“Latino mix”) in hopes of cashing in on the reggaetón boom. Univision Communications, the Spanish-language media conglomerate, has turned La Kalle into its reggaetón brand. There are now La Kalle stations serving San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas and Fresno, Calif. Though the genre doesn’t have the same momentum it had in 2005, reggaetón — a Spanish-language cousin of dancehall reggae and hip-hop — doesn’t seem to be going away either. Don Omar certainly didn’t seem to mind having the headlining spot all to himself: He emerged from behind a scrim that proclaimed him “King of Kings” (that’s also the name of his ambitious 2006 album), descending to the stage on a motorized podium. He made a few veiled references to Daddy Yankee, but no one would confuse the two men’s styles. While Daddy Yankee is known for reeling off rat-a-tat lyrics, Don Omar has found a sweet spot between rapping and singing, and he finds ways to retrofit his songs with rhythms from older Latin genres.

By contrast Wisin & Yandel, a rapping-and-singing duo, succeed by sticking to reggaetón basics: synthesizer lines so bright they glow in the dark, staccato electronic beats, amor-centric lyrics. Their stadium-shaking rendition of “Rakata” was one of Saturday night’s high points (no doubt the two performers won’t soon forget it either), and they earned a second round of ovations when Don Omar brought them out for a couple of songs, including “My Space,” which changes the setting (from club to computer) but keeps the duo’s standard love-sick plot basically the same.

It’s not easy to be an old-fashioned singer at a hyped-up reggaetón show, as Victor Manuelle discovered. His salsa set came near the end so it felt anticlimactic, and a number of people in the crowd responded by doing something extraordinary: They sat down.

By contrast, the merengue star Héctor Acosta (known as El Torito and formerly the lead singer of Los Toros Band) absolutely killed, earning the night’s first encore. He has a marvelously reedy voice and a showman’s ostentatious humility, so he returned, kissed the stage, and picked up where he had left off.

At this concert, as at most concerts, you couldn’t go wrong by appealing to the women in the crowd. The duo of Jowell y Randy earned screams with fizzy hits like “Soy una Gargola” and “No Te Veo,” while Tito El Bambino achieved a similar effect with “Caile,” a Latin ratio hit. Even Hector El Father, who cultivates a tougher image, found himself surrounded by male back-up dancers. And all night long performers and hosts alike chanted, “Do my ladies run this mother for ya?” A simple yes would have sufficed. Needless to say, it never did.

Sounds like a great show, thus providing me with another opportunity to lament that reggaetoneros never come to the Great Nor'West. I did see a good banda de salsa a couple weekends ago, though, called Nueva Era. Grammy nominated apparently, as if that means anything. I got a cd from them, but haven't listened yet.

Solo Por Un Beso and Cuando Volveras and Los Infiels are good, as is Noche De Sexo. I prefer Aventura to Monchy and Alexandra as bachata is SUPPPOSED to be nasty and bitter, about sex and heartbreak. NOT about "we're so happy to be in love". Plus,M&A are TOOOOOO soft,most of their stuff is a bunch of old soft love songs remade into bachata.

Reggaeton? Listen to Wisin y Yandel or Arcangel and DeLaGhetto.Yomo is pretty good.

Salsa and Merengue are gonna die because promoters forget what its like to be young and full of passion.Young ppl want music that is as full of fire as they are. Reggaeton has taken over as the music for those who want songs about dancing and having fun, so merengue is waning. And for the romance kick- bachata.

Salsa USED to be sung by 20 year old men who were DYING for the love of a woman or their country, or fighting over who had the best chops.But who is young and hungry anymore? Who still has that raw drive and passion? Very few salseros. Any under 30? I think not. Seems that ppl forget that kids want to hear music by their peers and that the music we know consider Older ppl music WAS music made by ppl for their peers WAY BACK WHEN.
A young cocky 20 year old is gonna get of on seeing El Malo, or Hector and WIllie jacking Santa. He isnt gonna relate to them sitting in suits at a window staring at the rain as the sun hits their graying hair. Cmon now.
If I can find It, I'll post my rambling explanation on why the heck reggaeton marketing FAILS. Its not dying. Its not being promoted right, but I have seen zero indication that the audience for it is waning, they want MORE.But the ppl marketing it dont seem to understand the music or the audience at all.
Anyway, just rambling. I like the Cuando No Me Tengas by Ivy Queen,La Caballota! La Diva! (I cant say her name without saying that)

The Daddy Yankee with SS, which is that?? Let me google, listen then report. Hmm. Impacto, its ok. Decent. Papilover? So so. A Lo Clasico- Good. Impacto RMX- Better. I like Voltio.

I've only heard the version of "Impacto" with Fergie, on MTV, and I don't like it much at all. Plus, the video is just way too over-the-top with computer animation and party-all-over-the-world stuff that makes him seem like he wants to be Will Smith, or something. I like the Daddy Yankee from the "Noche De Entierro" video. Glossy, draped in gold, but still just some PR kid putting on airs. Bring him back. This bestriding-the-globe thing is not good.

Its one of those horrible Saline Project videos. Every damn vid they do looks exactly the same.

I just heard a great Plena Libre tune on the radio, guess they're playing a free concert series in L.A. July 14 and I'm going. Anyone know about them?

Plena Libre is good if you like plena. I do.

http://laondatropical.blogspot.com/2007/04/crossing-over-beyonc-shakira-alejandro.html

The Impacto RMX sans Fergie.

Plena Libre play traditional Puerto Rican sounds but w/ a bit of a modern edge using horns, acoustic bass, and lots of percussion

Young ppl want music that is as full of fire as they are.

*rolls eyes*

I'm away from this thread for a few days and someone comes here and starts trouble.

Yep. Lotsa young people want sappy romantic bachata that is not full of fire.

If I can find It, I'll post my rambling explanation on why the heck reggaeton marketing FAILS. Its not dying. Its not being promoted right, but I have seen zero indication that the audience for it is waning, they want MORE.But the ppl marketing it dont seem to understand the music or the audience at all.
Please post your explanation

On a different flavor--in the new Beat Magazine Dave Hucker has joined those praising that Soundway "Colombia- The Golden Years of Disco Fuentes" label retrospective.

Changing

Hey, RS, if I don't get around to it in the next week or so, remind me that I have something I want to send you.

R.I.P. Tito Gomez-

Puerto Rican singer Tito Gomez started getting involved in the tropical scene when he teamed up with prominent artists Ray Barreto, Charlie Palmieri, and La Sonora Ponceña, among others. After moving to Venezuela, Gomez participated in a local group called Orquesta Amistad, joining Grupo Niche after settling in Colombia. In 1992, Gomez signed with Musical Productions. He made his debut with the release of Un Nuevo Horizonte, which featured the hit single "Dejala," singing with Tito Rojas for "Dejala II," featured on Recogiendo Frutos. ~ Drago Bonacich, All Music Guide

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.azcentral.com/lavoz/spanish/entertainment/articles/entertainment_44507.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=2&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dtito%2Bgomez%2Bmuerto%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DRNWN,RNWN:2007-01,RNWN:en%26sa%3DG"> http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.azcentral.com/lavoz/spanish/entertainment/articles/entertainment_44507.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=2&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dtito%2Bgomez%2Bmuerto%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DRNWN,RNWN:2007-01,RNWN:en%26sa%3DG I had to google a translated version to find this. An area salsa dance instructor mentioned this but the link she had did not work.

Salsero Puerto Rican dies Tito Go'mez in Colombia

06/12/2007

BOGOTA - the Puerto Rican salsero Tito Go'mez in the morning passed away Tuesday after undergoing an attack to the heart in the city of Cali, at where it arrived to have an artistic encounter with the Niche group, close friends to the singer informed. It was 59 years old.

Google translations are so poetic.

LOL, was it the sentiment or the words?

Rocket Scientist. Dude. Kids dont want to hear a bunch of sappy sht with no passion, no drive. Roll your eyes at me, but look at the sales and ask the kids why they arent listening to NEW salsa. Because its BORING.They dont want to hear smooth anything, they want to hear their love songs in the form of Aventura or Daddy Yankee or Don Omar. They want "calle" "malicia" and all that good stuff.
So everyone who doesnt like to hear it can be all upset, but dont shoot the messenger.

Anyway, my most BASIC explanation of why reggaeton marketing fails
1. Because hiphop lovers and reggaeton lovers are looking for different things in the music. The style of dance is different.

2. It seems that the ppl who market reggaeton dont know WHAT parts of the music or songs are appealing. They say 'gasolina was fast and aggressive, fast and aggressive is what sells". They dont get specifically what aspects of hit songs are appealing, IMO. The interplay of the various beats, how that relates to the style of dancing,blah blah blah. They add hiphop vocalists hollering and yelling over the music, not understanding the whole working WITHIN the music as in salsa, not ON TOP of the music like Lil John Hollering YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh. Its obtrusive and irritating.

3. The women. IMO they market reggaeton to the hiphop market as if all the buyers are males who want guns and gangs and fights. Women LOVE reggaeton, it makes them dance. The biggest reggaeton hits are LOVE SONGS or about romance (or sex). Despite the sexism, women arent just sitting idly by. Any song will tell you that the men make the music cuz it makes the women dance and the women who dance to it tell you they like the music because it makes them dance. Downplaying the sensual aspects of it and focusing on thug ass Hector and thug azz Jay-Z meanmugging and menancing ppl isnt gonna work. If they want to cross over a little better, they need to find a way to get women to listen to and buy the music and gangstas arent the way to do that.

Do they know ppl in the 17-30 age range who listen to it? Do they know how to dance to it? Do they know ppl who dance to it? Have they been to the clubs, a lot of clubs, to see what the ppl like about the music? What moves them? U cant market to the fans if u dont know what the fans want.
U cant market it to hiphop lovers if you cant find WHICH of the similarities would be appealing and which wont.

A lot of hiphop lovers find reggaeton to be like salsa lovers find timba- very messy. They dont hear polyrythm, they hear cacacphony.

Anyway, i have a few PAGES written on it, but thats the basic thrust of it.

I'm saving the full version for MY blog, btw.
Also, the DY cd sounds ok so far.Prolly a good cd in there after all the dreck and filler is deleted. They put out a cd of 20 songs with only 10 worth hearing, I hate that.
Fiel Amiga is pretty good. I've also got some other good ones bookmarked on my Imeem page, if I can rememeber the link to it!!

A lot of hiphop lovers find reggaeton to be like salsa lovers find timba- very messy. They dont hear polyrythm, they hear cacacphony.

This is true, when I first heard reggaeton, (through "Oye Mi Canto", how typical, and pretty much coming in with the expectation that it was basically hiphop en espanol), it made no sense rhythmically to me. I just dismissed "Oye" as having a wack beat, and didn't get it until about the twentieth time I heard "Gasolina" (again, how typical).

It must also be mentioned that with the exceptions of myself and my father, (who's mostly just into stuff I've put him on to) all of the non-Latinos I know who are into reggaeton are women.

RIP, Tito Gomez. I hadn't heard that.

Mulatita Rumbera, I agree with the general thrust re the marketing of reggaeton. Jay-Z & all jumped on the bandwagon, without necessarily getting how the thing works, so it's not surprising that Roc La Familia, et. al. are going down the drain.

I type this while sitting here in what I have to admit looks like old man clothes.

*

Incidentally, folks, I am in Albuquerque, sitting at PCs in the public library, along with all the other out of town sleaze-balls (and some locals). Not much to report musically (although maybe later), since I haven't been doing much. I did get out to one salsa (+ merengue/cumbia/bachata/reggaeton/a little bit of other stuff) night, and it was okay once more of the regulars got there. Mostly danced to merengue. (It was kind of merengue-heavy.)

I ate a bowl of green chile, which was good but kind of deadly.

I am in South Florida, there is a fair amount of salsa/reggaeton in the air at virtually all times.

I am in Elizabeth, NJ, where passing cars provide all the reggaeton you could ever want.

Listening to "Oye Mi Canto" for the first time in a bit today, I noticed that the backbeat is a bit more pronounced than it would generally be, which makes sense for a song more or less meant to introduce reggaeton to American audiences. Interesting. (To me, at least.)

80 some dollars for the best Daddy Yankee tickets near DC in September. That's alot more than the rockers and some of the anglo pop acts are charging.

La MulataRumbera what's the link to your blog?

Victor Manuelle was on the Shea Stadium reggaeton bill, and Tego had salseros on his cd. So salsa is still hanging on in the Latin pop marketplace a bit.
When I saw Willie Colon at a club, there were lots of Spanish-speaking 20-somethings there.

I am glad we are all in cool places.

It doesn't look like I'm going to catch any major live music. There is a flamenco festival going on here, and I had wanted to see some of that (just to give flamenco more of a chance--as these will be major performers), but things haven't worked out that way, and I have a feeling that tonight I will opt for going out dancing again instead, since it's more of a guaranteed transcendental experience than going to a concert in a genre I don't love (which can just end up being "well that was a learning experience").

Actually, I'd really like to split myself in two, tonight.

I did see a pretty decent cover band last night, Son Como Son, which had there own particular spin on things, using that cumbia style keyboard in some salsa songs, and using unusual (and probably their own) cumbia-laced arrangements for salsa in a couple cases. Sorry about the grammar but my time will run out in two minutes.

Got a reprieve. I should really be off doing other things, like eating blue corn tortilla enchiladas with green chile.

This weekend's purchases: Mon Rivera's Que Gente Averiguá and the Fania All-Stars' Latin-Soul-Rock, which was apparently their "crossover attempt," as it has guest appearances by Manu Dibango, Jan Hammer, Billy Cobham and Jorge Santana (Carlos's brother, also a guitarist, from the band Malo). The old man who owns the record store finally broke down and asked me what my interest in old salsa was; he was glad to see me buying stuff because his wife gave him a whole bunch of shit for stocking the Fania reissues, saying "Nobody cares about that old stuff!" Well, one gringo cares, at least.

I am glad we are all in cool places.

: /

This Fania All-Stars Latin-Soul-Rock album is amazing. Forget salsa; this is a collection of Latin funk-rock jams with ridonkulous solos (Manu Dibango, on the opener, "Viva Tirado," sounds like Fela or Archie Shepp or Robert "Chopper" McCollough, I can't decide which). Brilliant early '70s genre-mixing cop-show chase-scene music. Get it, get it, get it.

yeah i'm back in wisconsin now, no salsa to be found until the summer's big ethnic festivals

OH YEAH AND IN TWO WEEKS I"LL BE IN PARIS AND THEN ADDIS ABABA AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Cool. Will your family be getting bigger (I have not read your blog in awhile)?

Haha no one reads that thing. Yes -- I get to meet my daughter on July 6. And I'm gonna party with H in Addis...IN ADDIS!

That is so excellent. Happy Father's Day. Me and my boy have not decided what we're gonna do today. Maybe we should go eat Ethiopian food in tribute to you!

man i wish i was tearing into a big pile of misir wat right now. instead i made banana/mango waffles, which don't work because of the moisture in the mangoes, so now everyone is cranky and annoyed

still though thanks man, hope all is well with my people. i think this whole thing is helping my music writing "career" come to an end, finally. rip lol IT IS ABOUT TIME.

Hello, I am in Barcelona and I just came back from Sonar where I saw Mala Rodriguez and Calle 13 perform back to back in between all the dance music. Both Mala and Residente had great stage presence and were great at rousing the audience. Needless to say, the song they did together, where they exchange flirations and jibes at each other, was the highlight of the evening.

The crowd for Mala was substantially larger than Calle 13. The Spaniards here are quite proud of her - "She's the Spanish M.I.A." but not many people had heard of Calle 13. Everyone I've talked to here in Spain, other than Latin American immigrants, have expressed contempt at reggaeton - "que machista!"

I figured I should start posting on this thread since it introduced me to Mala, for which I am immensely grateful. I've only heard her new album but I think she's got a lovelily husky voice which she uses to sing as well as rap.

Also, is there a thread to discuss Spanish language pop music?

Hmmmmmmm. Maybe just use this one.

danzig, you could start a thread (although there is probably an old one if not a rolling one for this year). A lot of the world music thread ends up being about various types of music in Spanish, including pop. I'd still rather keep it mostly off this thread, but I'm not going to be a nazi about it. Or maybe I would be, I'm not sure.

I was at an outdoor salsa show in Albuquerque on Friday. During the DJ'd portion of the show, "La Cumbia de los Aburridos" (possibly the clean version--I don't understand Spanish, but this was a family-friendly type of event), which kept the dancefloor full. I was a little surprised to hear it in that context, especially so (relatively) soon after being released. Also, in Philadelphia, you normally wouldn't typically get any cumbia at a salsa event, but given cumbia's popularity with Mexicans, it makes sense it would turn up more in Albuquerque. Later on Friday night I saw a small band that played a mix of salsa, etc., sometimes using cumbia style keyboard in their salsa songs. For the most part it worked, and they were fairly tight. Some of their unconventional arrangements (again, the example I'm thinking of was a cumbia-tinged cover of an El Gran Combo song) didn't always hit it for me, but I give them credit for having their own sound. They did play some straight cumbia in their set, which I didn't dance to (not because I don't like it but because I'm not really sure how, and while I'm sure I could pick it up, I don't really want to inflict myself on people who know how to dance it, although I had already established that I could dance merengue and salsa, so there probably wasn't that much to fear). I think these long sentences are mostly caffeine-fueled. My body ran out of real energy in the middle of yesterday, and everything I'm running on now is artificial.

Saturday night. I went to see another local salsa band playing live. Maybe I should not have gone out. I was very tired, and I was pushing myself, but I haven't been out dancing late three nights in one week for. . . well, possibly for a few years. I wasn't in a great mood, and I was making weird mistakes in my dancing that I would never normally make. The band had occasionally been throwing in a timba feel, but it was manageable. However, there was one song where the dancefloor was full of couples dancing away. The band's front-man comes out and tells everyone to clap the clave. (I really hate that whole Simon Says type of stuff to begin with.) Then he had everyone on the dancefloor stop and turn around while clapping the clave. They were starting to emphasize the back-beat, I think, and we were no longer in the realm of salsa. Then he wanted us all to repeat his catchy little phrases a la Habana. Timba. This was timba. I knew that this band straddled that line, but they went overboard. I went to make arrangements for a taxi, while the song continued on in typically monotonous timba collectivist Simon Says call and response fashion. (I sound like Ayn Rand, don't I?) When it was over, I really wanted to yell out: play some salsa, but anyway, that's exactly what they did next. Also, there were a fair number of people who were into it. Albuquerque needs more Puerto Ricans to outweigh the influence of the (admitedly smallish) Cuban community there. Anyway, I would not go back to see that band. They were good musicians and they played together pretty well, but I don't want to deal with someone who would dictatorially make a whole dancefloor full of dancers stop so he can shove timba down everyone's throat. I fucking hate timba. (I probably shouldn't even mention it so much, I am only giving it publicity this way. Most people don't even know it exists.)

But now, I'm back in Philly and I don't know how I breathe this humid, polluted air on a regular basis. (I also don't know how I live in such a filthy apartment. I need to do better on that.)

SIMON SAYS MUEVE LA CINTURA!

The thing is, I was not going there to see that band. I was going there because I wanted to do some salsa and merengue dancing.

Honestly, I think I prefer dancing to pre-recorded music rather than dancing to a live band, unless it's a really top-notch band (and one not playing any timba). Also, far too many bands are very indulgent and drag songs out forever, which means people don't get a chance to switch partners as much, and people who sat out for a given song can end up sitting around for too long.

I can't understand the idea of one of the major weekly salsa events revolving around essentially one or two local live bands. They better be damn good salsa bands.

I like the new Mala Rodriguez album better than her previous one. I haven't heard her debut. The new one is a pretty good hip-hop record, and yeah, her voice is good.

I'm listening to clips from this new Michael Stuart album. His singing sounds okay, but overall, the style does not sound nearly as out of the ordinary as Back to da Barrio, from last year. I'll probably pick it up anyway.

Ivy Queen at H2O in DC Friday night. The re-opened H20 that is. The club threw 2 guys out a few weeks ago at a Boxing match post-party, and one of the guys went to his car, got a gun and killed the other guy blocks from the club. The city blamed the club and shut it down for awhile. My family and friends say I should not go there anymore (although the club has never had problems at Latin nights as far as I know--including nights I have gone). Shows start so late there, around 1:15 a.m., that I was gonna probably skip it anyway because I am reviewing Manu Chao elsewhere Saturday night and did not want to be totally exhausted. Plus since the Caribbean Carnival parade is Saturday afternoon there are also some awesome soca shows in town over the weekend.

So, excuse me for asking, but is Ivy Queen a man, baby?

Huh? She's a reggaeton female.

Nina, la feminista bandolera

En la columna pasada me preguntaba sobre los placeres que muchas mujeres derivan de la agresividad sexual del reggaetón.
Nina La Bandolera, una de mis ‘bloggers’ favoritas, nos da una de las claves en un texto llamado ‘The Death of Reggaeton’: “A las mujeres nos encanta cuando un hombre nos desea y no nos canta baladitas románticas sino que se nos acerca agresivamente. Quizás no en la oficina o en la escuela, pero para eso es la música. Un lugar seguro donde sentir esas cosas.”

Obviamente, a Nina (como dice la canción) “le gusta agresivo.” ¡Pero ojo! Ella no está abogando porque siempre la traten a lo agresivo. Nina no celebra una agresividad algarete. Lo que es apropiado en la pista, no necesariamente es apropiado en la escuela o el trabajo.

Según Nina, la música y el baile son espacios para el juego y el placer donde la agresividad masculina es un afrodisíaco, donde las mujeres celebran esa agresividad como parte de una fantasía sexual. Esa agresividad es un performance consensual, una improvisada pieza teatral que sólo se puede dar en un “espacio seguro” y con respeto mutuo.

“Claro que no queremos que nos vean como meros objetos,” dice Nina. Una cosa es celebrarse como “criatura sexual”, y otra cosa es ser reducida a mero objeto sexual.

Usualmente se les exige a las mujeres que se comporten “decentemente” y “con recato” como pre-condiciones para ser respetadas. Pues no, arguye Nina. El respeto no debe tener que ver con cuan lasciva en la pista o promiscua en la cama sea una mujer.

Nina está en muy ilustre compañía al hacer estos planteamientos; la autora Joan Morgan que popularizara el término “feminismo hip-hop” es el más prominente ejemplo. De hecho, Nina cae a la perfección dentro de lo que la escritora Jillian M. Báez ha llamado “reggaetón feminism.”

Que me perdone Nina si lo de “feminista” la incomoda. Total, la etiqueta importa mucho menos que las ideas. Y, a nivel de ideas, veo en Nina un juguetón feminismo reggaetónico.

Raquel Z. Rivera es investigadora en el Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, Hunter College.

http://www.eldiariony.com/noticias/ColumnistasDetail.aspx?TxtId=1662777&SectionId=230

This Aventura song/video I'm seeing on mun2 is so fucking bad. I swear if I never see/hear another bachata song again as long as I live it'll be too soon.

I like some pop bachata, but even if you don't, bro, don't give up on the whole genre. You might prefer the earlier, "bluesier" variety. Luis Segura sounds nothing like Aventura, for instance.

I think I like Aventura and Monchy & Alexandra a little better than the old classic stuff, but I have a feeling you would like the old classic stuff a lot more.

Edumacate yourself: http://www.iasorecords.com/bachata.cfm

I don't know...the guitars bug me as much as the vocals. The guitar/bass interaction is way too jazz-fusion noodly for me. The music just has no impact, no bite - and then these limp-dick pseudo-lovermen are emoting on top...it's just a complete washout to my ear.

I like the noodly guitar. I don't end up associating it with any other genre (certainly not jazz-fusion).

Sometimes but not always Aventura's guitar sounds like a really slick take on flamenco that does veer in a bland fusiony direction. Other times I find their vocals melodies and the guitar playing effective enough to carry their loverman pop.

http://www.myspace.com/ninalabandolera

Nina La Bandolera on reggaeton

Are those some Cheo Feliciano videos nested over there on her myspace page?

Probably, she loves Cheo.

She hasn't blogged in awhile though.

So Cheo's known for singing boleros and salsa.

Now Manu Chao does not exactly fit on this thread (maybe he's more a 'whirled music 2007 thread' guy)but I'm gonna go see him tonight

Machete is getting into the reissue business with a couple (late-career) Charlie Palmieri projects and one Larry Harlow CD.

Has anyone heard the Daddy Yankee album? I don't think anyone's weighed in on it.

I very nearly picked it up the other day, but, perhaps erring on the side of caution, filled in a hole or two in my collection instead.

I read one review raving about it, and one dismissing it, and I was not that impressed by the first single so I have not bought it. Daddy Yankee's also coming back to DC in the fall with tickets priced real high.

This dude is playing for free a few blocks away from my apartment this afternoon.

Did you go see him? He's a pretty good salsa player who also teaches and performs with drummer/Professor Bobby Sanabria. There's a big article on Sanabria that mentions Washburne in the latest Downbeat.

Washburne writes some great songs, both with his own SYOTOS Band and on Sanabria's new album.

And trombone players, um, rule.

True dat.

Curmudgeon, I wrote that in the middle of the night so the event in question is yet to happen.

The new Daddy Yankee? Get it.Impacto with Fergie sucks, but the other version is ok. A Lo Clasico is cool as is Fiel Amiga.

http://salvajesiempre.blogspot.com/

I love your blog, although I have to take issue with one thing. I am a tapper and I agree that tap has become institutionalized, but that hardly means there is no room for creativity and innovation. People are constantly finding new ways to tap and as far as the idea that all the spontaneity has been sucked out of it, improvisation is the cornerstone of tap. I could tap to anything you threw on as soon as I hear the beat, or without any beat, creating my own, all made up on the spot. I imagine this applies to many of the other music and dance forms you dismiss.

(Oh, and I did pick up the Daddy Yankee album today, but I haven't gotten a chance to listen.)

So I went to the free Washburne show in the park and then I liked it so much I went uptown later to Smoke to see him do the nighttime version.

DAMN R0dney I didn't know you were a tapper, that is awesome. My son just got done with his first year's tap lessons and he loved 'em, not sure if he's the best 8 year old dancer in the world but he's a natural on stage...OH SNAP I'M TALKING ABOUT MY KIDS AGAIN.

And K3n that is awesome, glad you liked him. PLEASE check out the Bobby Sanabria record, Washburne's song "Pink" is pretty sexy and might cut anything on the SYOTOS Band records.

M4tt, Pink is the first song on his latest SYOTOS record. But I will check out that Bobby Sanabria record.

haha what a maroon. i better re-listen to that shit.

But M4tt, why are you so into Chris W? Did you used to hang out with him when he was in Madison?

Haha, I never hung out with ANYONE. Just liked the SYOTOS album (although clearly I didn't listen to it all that obsessively), and now I'm really into the Sanabria disc.

I see recent defector from Cuba vocalist Isaac Delgado is embarking on a small US tour (The Miami Herald writer raved about the show there, while the Miami New Times was positive but not quite as enthusiastic. Super acoustic bassist Cachao played with him. That dude is really getting up there in years I think, but he's still at it. He was impressive when I saw him awhile back). I wonder why so few dates on the tour?:

JUN 16 07 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl (Play Boy Jazz Festival)

JUN 23 07 Miami, FL James L. Knight Center

JUL 5 07 Brooklyn, NY Prospect Park Bandshell

JUL 6 07 New York, NY SOB’s

AUG 24 07 Tampa, FL Indian Cultural Center

SEP 21 07 Monterey, CA Monterey Jazz Festival- Lyons

OCT 20 07 San Francisco CA Bimbo’s 365 Club

And yea, I know some of y'all do not like the Cuban approach as much as the Puerto Rican one...

What Issac Delgado is doing (and a lot of what he's done in the past) isn't really very far removed from Puerto Rican salsa, his singing just doesn't do anything for me. I would still like to hear the new album, but I doubt I will buy it.

This is one of the more interesting articles I've read about him recently. Note the comment I've bolded:

http://www.calendarlive.com/music/la-et-culture16jun16,0,5237005.story?coll=cl-music-features

CULTURE MIX
Issac Delgado is ready to test the free market
The singer hopes to find stardom in the U.S., something that has eluded other Cuban defectors.
By Agustin Gurza
Times Staff Writer

June 16, 2007

Cuba's socialist system didn't undermine the artistic freedom of singer Issac Delgado with draconian repression or ideological censorship. It gradually got to him by bureaucratic nicks and cuts.

Before defecting to the U.S. last year, Delgado was one of the island's top salsa stars, a celebrity who enjoyed relative prosperity in Havana and traveled freely throughout the world to perform and record. But back home, he couldn't even get the government to authorize an Internet e-mail account, forcing him to find Web access on the black market.

That may have been just a communist inconvenience. But then two years ago, Delgado said, authorities decreed that Cuba's most popular dance bands would no longer be allowed to perform at major tourist hotels because they attracted too many Cubans carrying U.S. dollars to venues meant to attract U.S. dollars from foreigners.

"In Cuba, there's a Ministry of Culture that dictates which way things are going to go in music, literature and art," said Delgado, who performs today at the Playboy Jazz Festival, his first Los Angeles appearance since moving to this country. "Everything is channeled, and one can't step out of those boundaries. So I didn't feel free to do what I wanted because the ruling system tells you exactly where you can work and what you can do."

Delgado is speaking out for the first time since he quietly settled in Florida last year. Before anybody realized it, the singer was living in Tampa with his wife, Masiel, and their two daughters, 4 and 11, along with a son by his first marriage, Issac Jr., who plays piano in Dad's band. (The family took up residence with the singer's father-in-law, Miguel Valdes, former pitching coach for the Cuban national baseball team.)

I broke the story of Delgado's migration in January, but he wasn't granting interviews at the time. Silence is a smart strategy for somebody caught in that political limbo between Cuban stardom and U.S. exile. It's like walking the plank. Behind you are those who consider you a traitor. Ahead is nothing but uncertainty.

Delgado says he had been thinking of making a move for some time, but he didn't dare while his mother was still alive. After she passed away last year, he felt free to take the chance of leaving Cuba, perhaps never to return.

"If my mother were still alive," he says, "I would still be in Cuba today." His only lingering concern is the two children he left behind, a 20-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter. Delgado says he hopes his decision won't jeopardize their future on the island.

Other top performers who took that plunge before Delgado — notably singers Carlos Manuel and Manolín, nicknamed the Salsa Doctor — have seen their careers suddenly tank. They burned their bridges by condemning the Cuban government, only to be rejected by audiences in their adopted homeland.

This musical drama has been playing out for more than 20 years, but it still hurts to see such great Cuban talent get marooned on the unforgiving shores of capitalism. Beyond that, it has been a severe disappointment to see the enormous promise of Cuba's astounding contemporary music scene simply collapse, partly because the music never got a strong foothold in the United States, a market Cubans came to covet at the expense of their once gloriously independent sense of creativity.

There was so much at stake, since some of us considered the Cubans as saviors of salsa, the Afro-Caribbean dance genre that had gone bland and mushy after the thrilling New York-based boom of the 1970s. We cringed every time one of our favorite stars fled from Havana and fell flat on his face in trying to translate his success to a new world.

Now, it's up to Delgado to overcome the curse of exile. In this quest, he faces another capricious and tyrannical master — the free market.

"I feel like I'm starting again from zero," said Delgado, who has put together a multinational, 13-piece band for his U.S. tour.

I've been following Delgado's career since my first visit to Cuba in 1988, when Havana was still an austere and surreal Soviet outpost. That same year, a new band emerged from the colorless communist environment, one destined to revolutionize Cuban music with a frenetic dance style called timba, a dense and complex fusion of salsa, jazz and funk. The group was NG La Banda, and it featured the smooth vocals of Delgado.

Though cultural comparisons are often ridiculous, Delgado can be likened to Frank Sinatra insofar as the Cuban singer also keeps his cool over a swinging big band and croons with jazzy phrasings on romantic numbers.

Delgado's vocal style comes through clearly on his latest album, "En Primera Plana" (On the e Front Page), released domestically by Univision's La Calle imprint. It's a stellar recording, co-produced by Delgado and Sergio George, who created Marc Anthony's successful New York salsa sound.

Still, timba fans will miss the more progressive sound of Delgado's Cuban recordings. The singer admits making some concessions — letting George select most of the songs, softening those driving Cuban bass lines and slowing down the tempo for more conservative stateside salsa tastes.

But he promises he won't hold back on stage.

"Besides, I'm never going to lose the essence of who I am," he says. "Everything around me might sound Puerto Rican, but I am Cuban, and nobody can take the Cubano out of me."

Interestingly, Delgado will share the Hollywood Bowl stage this weekend with Arturo Sandoval, the former trumpeter with Irakere who caused waves when he defected from Cuba to the U.S. a generation ago. (Artists such as Sandoval and Paquito D'Rivera, also formerly of Irakere, have found more acceptance in U.S. jazz circles than have exiles working the salsa dance scene.) Sandoval and Delgado will showcase different Afro-Cuban styles, pre- and post-Castro: The former with a big-band tribute to 1950s mambo and the latter with a taste of 1990s timba, a style, ironically, foreshadowed by Irakere's earlier experimentations.

"Being here doesn't give me any greater control over things, such as whether I can get the radio to play my songs or not," the singer says. "The only thing I can control is myself and my willingness to work and expose my music a little more to the public, which will have the last word. That's the biggest censor an artist can have — the public that listens to your music."

(In Cuba, the Ministry of Culture tells you what kind of salsa to play; in the United States, Sergio George tells you what kind of salsa to play.)

Cubano Flip, Cubano Flop

http://sunoflatinmusic.blogspot.com/

blogging of old-school Latino sounds

Coincidentally, I am listening to The Sun Of Latin Music as you posted that. I am looking forward to viewing that video of "La Murga" with Yomo Toro.

DAMN R0dney I didn't know you were a tapper, that is awesome. My son just got done with his first year's tap lessons and he loved 'em, not sure if he's the best 8 year old dancer in the world but he's a natural on stage...OH SNAP I'M TALKING ABOUT MY KIDS AGAIN.

Cool, man. Keep him at it.

Speaking of trombonists, I just bought a Jimmy Bosch CD from Phast Phreddie at the Archive sale for 5 bucks.

Meh. What did you buy. I hope it wasn't the airplane one. Salsa Dura has the most good tracks, imo.

Jimmy Bosch = massively overrated (in some quarters anyway).

(Is anybody not massively overrated in some quarters?)

In my original post I had thought about adding "despite the objections of Rockist Scientist..."

S'called soneando trombon. As soon as Hector Lavoe Strikes Back is finished I'll give it a listen.

But perhaps you will approve of my purchase the other night, at the prompting of Chris Washburne, of Eddie Palmieri's White Album.

Yeah, that I approve of (and Hector Lavoe Strikes Back, which I think has a distinctively melancholy sound).

(I guess I have commented a million times on Bosch already. I am a dottering old hater.)

Buzz is building around this obscure (new to me, for sure), but down and dirty reissue (coro consisting of Yayo El Indio, Adaberlto Santiago & Elio Romero) of Orquesta Dee Jay's Forget It:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/orquestadeejay

(Also La Mulata Rumbera has some new reggaeton and Dominican rap up and it's worth checking out when the links work.)

(Actually some of this stuff is not all that.)

("Los Capos" by Jowell y Randy Ft. Zion, De La Ghetto, Nejo, & Dalmata- is pretty good.)

The other day I got the Lebron Brother's Salsa y Control based solely on the cover. I just put it on and when I heard the first track the "Oh no! Leading off with a Bolero!" sensor went off, but the title track is redeeming that.

Man On The Street Observation: All the Latino waiter dudes in the bar where I watched the soccer game love the song "Vamos pal monte."

From the "Salsa Blends" DJ Willie mixtape-Palmerie- Vamos Pal Monte’ (DJ Willie Mix)

I don't even know what you people are talking about.

Yeah, that must be it.

I just found that mixtape via googling and it seemed to be the logical choice. I might get it.

Maybe you'd prefer if we called it "Vamonos P'al Monte"?

http://www.banicrazy.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=26&Itemid=62

Also, the Vitin Aviles album from the Sun of Latin Music blog is really hot (and I mentioned it here before, so I get some a star):

http://sunoflatinmusic.blogspot.com/

This list is a cubanocentric travesty (too bad I can't actually read the comments):

salsa top 10

(I'll take the Beny More, but not most of the rest of it.)

At least it includes what is probably my favorite Angel Canales album.

(This Charlie Palmieri/Vitin Avlies album is another example of great salsa from that late 70s/early 80s period, which might just be my favorite in salsa. When you hear some of that music, it sounds as though the genre would be able to go on at that intensity indefinitely.

Also, this would be a good thing to listen to for those of you who haven't been wowed by Charlie Palmieri's solo work, a feeling I pretty much share.)

#1 SALSA MIXTAPE IN NY & PR :: Salsa Blends - DJ Willie mixtape CD

Lil Jon Intro (DJ Willie Salsa Blend)
Victor Manuelle - Asi Asi Es La Mujer (DJ Willie Mix)
DJ Willie Scratching Intro (DJ Willie Blend)
Ne-Yo - So Sick Salsa (DJ Willie Blend)
Cuando Tu Beso Me Gusta Ami (DJ Willie Mix)
Soy El Hombre Misterioso (DJ Willie RMX)
Golberto Santa Rosa - No Tengas Miedo (DJ Willie Mix Blend)
DJ Willie Salsa Party Blends 1 (DJ Willie Exclusive Blend)
Un Carinito Intro (DJ Willie Mix)
Que Me De Un Carinito Mi Amor (DJ Willie Mix)
George Lamond & Rakim & Ken Y (DJ Willie Blend)
Ya Boy (DJ Willie Extended Version)
Frankie Ruiz- Bialando (DJ Willie Intro)
Me Tengo Que Ir (DJ Wille Mix)
Calle 13, 50 Cent, Tego Calderon (DJ Willie Exclusive Salsa Blend)
Tengo Una Nena Que Me Vuelve Loco (DJ Willie Mix)
Gilberto Santa Rosa - Yo La Aggarro Bajando (DJ Willie Mix)
DJ Willie Salsa Blends Pt. 2 (DJ Willie Exclusive Blend)
Don Omar & Fabolous (DJ Willie Blend)
La Coco Band – Salsa Con Coco (DJ Willie Blend)
Busta Rhymes – Touch It (Salsa Mix) (DJ Willie Blend)
No Le Pega La Negra (DJ Willie Mix)
DJ Willie Salsa Party Blends 3 (DJ Willie Exclusive Blend)
DJ Willie Salsa Party Blends 4 (DJ Willie Exclusive Blend)
DJ Willie - Fruko Intro (DJ Willie Mix)
Fruko – El Preso (DJ Willie Mix)
Oscar Deleon Blend Intro – Lloraras (DJ Willie Mix)
Angel Carales - Baracaniguara (DJ Willie Mix)
Tito Rojas- Ayer Me Dijieron (DJ Willie Mix)
DJ Willie Party Intro (DJ Willie Blend)
Booking Info
Zion & Lennox (DJ Willie Reggaeton Blend)
Senores Carruseles – Micheala (DJ Willie Mix)
Marc Anthony - No Hay Nadie (DJ Willie Mix)
DJ Willie Tito Mieves Party Intro (DJ Willie Exclusive)
Tito Nieves - De Mi Enamorate (DJ Willie Mix)
Jose Alberto El Canario – Quiero Salsa (DJ Willie Mix)
DJ Willie Party Blend 5 Machete (DJ Willie Mix)
Jerry Rivera - Amor Como El Nuestro (DJ Willie Mix)
DJ Willie Artist Intro
Rakim & Ken Y – Down With Salsa (DJ Willie Blend)
*****Palmerie- Vamos Pal Monte’ (DJ Willie Mix) ******************
Marc Anthony – Tu Amor Me Hace Bien (DJ Willie Mix)
DJ Willie Piz

But who buys salsa mix tapes? I generally don't like my salsa mixed. The way the songs are structured means you are waiting for certains transitions and peaks, and then they throw on something else. It's not a genre that lends itself to that sort of blending, either musically or what you might call pragmatically (in terms of dancers' needs, e.g., the comments on this thread, but I've seen similar remarks elsewhere: http://www.salsaforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2248&highlight=mixing+salsa).

I realize you were just trying to be informative.

People, go grab:

Jowell & Randy Ft Zion,De La Ghetto,Nejo & Dalmata - Intro (Los Capos)

from:

http://www.banicrazy.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=26&Itemid=62

Maybe there is an audience of young folks who buy and like salsa mixtapes as they also like reggaeton and bachata and Latin funk and pop (genres subject to mixes), and thus mixing is not painful to them as they are not as dedicated to the art of classic salsa dancing to album length salsa songs.

Maybe there is an audience of young folks who buy and like salsa mixtapes

I doubt it's very large. I think it's more likely this is something that other DJs buy, perhaps a mutual admiration sort of thing.

If anyone is in Philadelphia today, there's a free event on the Parkway from 2:00-8:30, featuring: Charanga la Unica (which might include Orlando Fiol in its line-up, though I don't think he's a permanent member), Michael Stuart (who put out my second favorite album of 2006), Adalberto Santiago (Fania era veteran), Son de Cali (Colombian band with a couple former Groupo Niche members), and the Tito Puente Original Orquesta. Here's a pointlessly brief snippet from El Gran Combo's performance last year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xLbegvkGgU&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eamericasbirthday%2Ecom%2Fcalendar%2Easp

(I am not in that clip. While I was dancing with someone I know, a camera-man did shoot our feet, but I don't know if that footage was ever used.)

I need to find out when things actually start. 2:00 seems too early, but with that many performers, it could start relatively early.

I always say "Fania veteran" when I talk about Adalberto Santiago and Ismael Miranda, because I don't really know what else to say.

I never did figure out where Son de Cali were playing in the DC area, if in fact they are. I somehow did not pick up this past Friday's Washington Hispanic newspaper. It might have been advertised there. 21st Century or not, many DC area salsa shows are just advertised in Spanish language newspapers and in Spanish radio ads.

That sounds like a nice Tuesday afternoon bill.

I read that they're going for a Guiness Book of World records feat for most salsa dancers on a street or something, for that Philly show.

Just found the last copy in a bin of last week's Washington Hispanic newspaper and I see that Son de Cali are gonna be out in Rockville, Maryland, outside DC on July 20th. Alas, I will be off to the beach. That's a busy salsa weekend here--El Gran Combo will be back in the area again on the 21st.

Alas, Jorge Celedon & Jimmy Zambrano and their vallenato band could not get visas approved in time to enter the states for the Friday night July 6th show I was scheduled to review.

Alas, I've used the word "alas" twice.

I remember that last year I spent a lot of time wandering around in the heat, so I decided to go a bit late this year. Things must have started on time at 2PM, because I totally missed Orquesta la Unica. While I was walking toward the Parkway I heard "Mayor Que Yo" and no, it wasn't the same as the album version. I missed two songs in Michael Stuart's set, although I caught part of "Mayor Que Yo," which he stretched out quite a bit. I thought he sounded extremely good. The band backing him up seemed to flub things at a couple points. ("Wait, these are new songs, not covers of classic salsa?!") But there was a pretty good trumpet solo on "Pobre Diablo" with Bitches Brew-like effects thrown in. I thought it worked. MS was improvising a lot. There weren't that many people in the audience (but keep in mind this was in the middle of the afternoon on a work day), and he was calling out lines to girls in the audience and (I think) commenting on some couples dancing. He seemed to be having a blast. In addition to "Mayor Que Yo," I heard him sing "Pobre Diabla," "Vengo Guapeando" (he tried to explain in English what "guapeando" meant, which also seemed to amuse him), and "Fuego en el 23." I can't remember if he did another song. He kept saying something like, "Thanks to all you Americans for showing up," which also seemed to amuse him. (Like I said, he seemed to be having a good time.)

(Break between set. Talked to someone I knew, ate a gyro, etc.)

Adalberto Santiago was up next. He did one or two Lavoe covers. It's hard to remember clearly, because I think he was weaving in a lot of allusions to different songs. I think he stuck to classic Fania-era material (which was of course what he is most closely associated with). He kept saying "Fiah!" (the first time mentioning reggaeton--prob. "like hey say in reggaeton"), which he seemed to find amusing. Santiago had the same band that back Michael Stuart.

Tito Puente Orchestra pleasantly surprised me. They were very tight and laid down a very classic Puerto Rican sound, smooth, in the pocket, etc. I didn't recognize the sonero, but he was introduced as Frankie Vázquez, one of those New York salsa dura guys. He turned out to be quite good. His voice doesn't strike me as anything special (though it's also not bad), but he was throwing down, and I was impressed. The crowd responded pretty well too.

Then there was that Guinness Book of World Records fiasco. This was happening west of the stage. I almost joined, but wasn't really excited about the idea. I guess it would have been an easy ice-breaker, so I probably should have. (It would have been nice to know more than one person there.) Anyway, it delayed the Son de Cali set by at least 15 minutes, and then they were forced to stop playing just after 8:30, so they played from like 7:50 (maybe? I didn't check my watch) until shortly after 8:30. I was surprised by how enthusiastic a response Son de Cali received (and it wasn't just Colombians). The Parkway was packed by the time they came on (with lots of people who had been involved in the mass salsa dance record-breaking thing). They never got to "Llorando" or "Ta Loca" (the two songs I like by them). People ate up a couple of the schmaltzier songs they did. They played a couple Grupo Niche covers (which obviously they are entitled to do since the two front men are former key vocalists for that band). They sounded good and were real showmen (like Grupo Niche when I saw them). Unfortunately, it ended too abruptly.

(Sorry for choppy grammar there. I edited that from an e-mail, rewriting parts.)

Some video clips from July 3rd on the Parkway:

A couple dancing during "Pobre Diabla":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyVbfVKvlsQ

Brief clip of Michael Stuart:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0REAI6lUCFo

Brief clip of Frankie Vazquez:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ9tN-1FiKE

Hey, I danced to this song, but I was further back:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwCc-8X0_Bs

Somebody tonight-the trumpeter at this evening's Chris W. gig-told me about some youtube of Machito with Chocolate playing but I can't quite seem to find it.

I can't find it either.

Here they are in Japan (!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlKtZ9568QE

Great photos from the Dominican Republic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17525731@N00/

Blog about merengue tipico:

http://accordiongirl.blogspot.com/2007/06/tipico-videos.html

(& elsewhere)

OK, I may go see Cachao this weekend, even though he is playing at my least favorite venue, The Blue Note, with Rockist Scientist's least favorite trombone player.

Permission granted. Cachao, I can live with. (Actually I wouldn't call Bosch my least favorite trombone player, but then I wonder if I even have a least favorite trombone player.)

np: Yandel - Suelto el Pelo (the mysteriously great little song)

But that doesn't mean you can discuss your impression of the concert, on this thread, without additional approval!

Most pointless salsa compilation I've seen for a while:

http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7473531&BAB=M

I thought you were going to be talking that 3CD unauthorized Fania comp the guy at Rincon Musical tried to get me to buy.

Is this not a wistful melody:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbZcifvN2iU&mode=related&search=

I like how it feels like a snapshot of a passing mood. So simple and brief. (I know I probably linked to this earlier, and it's not new or anything.)

Hmmm. A friend just translated some of the lyrics and it's slightly raunchier than I thought, but not offensive.

I approve of that particular combination of reggaeton and dorky glasses.

Seriously, they're like PB&J.

Short shows from Ruben Blades by Augustin Gurza, LA Times, July 14, 2007

Salsa star Ruben Blades has revitalized his long-dormant website, http://www.rubenblades.com , with a weekly series of video programs filmed at his home office in historic Panama City, where he serves as minister of tourism. In informal, 10-minute episodes titled "Show de Ruben Blades," the actor and musician holds forth on a variety of topics from songwriting to politics. He also answers e-mails, offers advice for aspiring musicians and gives a remembrance of the late Tito Gomez, his one-time co-singer from Ray Barretto's band.

Most important, Blades takes the opportunity to share his discoveries of new artists, including video and music clips. It's a great introduction to talent throughout the world that has captured his imagination. They include the thrilling flamenco fusion group Quinto Parpadeo from Spain; haunting jazz vocalist Beverly Rego from Venezuela; and a funky salsa/timba band from Japan, NANA cantarina and 7musica, featuring a solo by a rare female trumpet player.

The segments are occasionally too casual, as Blades addresses his producer off camera and makes cryptic asides. But the star's rambling gives it a conversational flavor, and that's the point. So far, four episodes are posted, with a new show due Monday.

For more videos and music links, go to http://www.myspace.com/rubenbladescom and http://www.youtube.com/rubenbladescom .

Cachao show at Blue Note was fun at the time although I never leave that place without feeling ripped off, having been roped onto a cruise ship I knew I didn't really want to take. Show was a little too crowd-pleasing- most material seemed to be off the Andy Garcia albums, every bar of a solo being applied by the audience as pure genius, among other things. I sat right at the front of stage right and could barely anything coming from stage left- apparently Jimmy Delgado couldn't either, because he could be seen asking them to turn his monitor way up. I did end up learning a lot about how the timbales are played. Anway today I received a copy of Descarga Guajira and am going to try to get the Vampi Soul Descargas in Miniature although it seems like there are a lot of these Cachao Descarga releases floating around with different titles and overlapping track titles.

Master Sessions, Volumes 1 and 2 are generally considered essential Cachao. Even I like some of that (very Cuban) stuff.

I like those two albums a lot, but maybe there's something a bit academic about them, like he's trying to teach you the history of the different styles of Cuban music. Actually, I probably started liking them better when I realized that, but still.

They are very didactic, you're right.

TS Benny Moré vs. Beny Moré

I'm a hardcore "Beny" man.

Me too, but I just got the Tumbao Banda Gigante box set, and they went with Benny. I think descarga does too. I already had some of the boxed stuff on the old RCA/BMG collections and some stuff is not on it, like "Bonito y Sabroso," which I guess he had done earlier in Mexico with Perez Prado, but overall it is a pretty nice package with a humungous booklet with lots of photos and lyrics at the back.

Actually it makes sense he did "Bonito y Sabroso" in Mexico, given that the lyrics mention mexicanas.

I just went over to AMC and for the front page Beny photo they took that picture of him with Felix Chappottin and cut out Beny and left in Felix! Also somebody in the review of the box misspells Chocolate's last name and seems to confuse him with Pedro Knight! I guess I shouldn't be surprised, this is probably just nitpicking on my part.

Like so
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/pic200/drP300/P341/P34104YQPGP.jpg
although there are some other pictures and they are in fact of El Barbaro Del Ritmo himself. And I guess you can see his hand in this one.

Now that Matt is back, maybe I should mention going to the Bobby Sanabria show on Tuesday.