Is anyone here listening to salsa? Other Latin music?

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Unfortunately, I am coming to salsa music after it has been around for a while and probably not at one of its most vital moments, but there is a great back catalog to explore, and despite what a lot of the old timer's say about how much better 70's salsa was, I *do* hear a lot of relatively new things that I like, when I am out dancing. It's not a form of music that I used to like before I started taking dance lessons, though I had already begun to warm to it a little after seeing the Puerto Rico Day parade come rolling down the street (in Philadelphia, where it isn't really a huge parade). But anyway, as soon as I started to dance to it, I began to like it more.

I can understand why a lot of people would not want to have to work so hard at their dancing (rather than just going for pure release--immediately), but now that I am a little experienced, I find the experience of coordinating my movements to a partner's, as well as to the music, quite exhilerating.

― DeRayMi, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm not that good a dancer but whenever I get to hear something vintage by/on Fania I feel that need to swing. FANTASTIC orchestration too. There's nothing like when the song changes and the attack comes on. I never understood why it's pretty much the only form of dancemusic with that kind of approach to building momentum.

― Alacrán, Tuesday, 6 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

nix on the salsa but i'm a huge tango/piazzolla man, as well as intrigued by a lot of the 90s fusion stuff eg Illya Kuriaki & The Valderramas, Cafe Tacuba, Los Piojos, as well as Andre Calamaro & Los Rodriguez.

― Geoff, Wednesday, 7 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Um, I've got a Latin Playboys album... it's pretty weird.

― Sean, Wednesday, 7 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

These days I'm also much into boogaloo. Check the 'FreakOff' comp on Harmless Records: HURTLP030

― Alacrán, Wednesday, 7 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I have hardly looked into boogaloo, but the things I've heard from that period I like a lot.

― DeRayMi, Wednesday, 7 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I absolutely abhor salsa. Living in Miami, I've heard way too much of it over the years. I don't understand it, you hear about what a sexy form of music it is and all that, but to my ears, it sounds only one or two steps removed from a good Polish polka, which might possibly be the least sexy music ever made. As for "Latin" music, I don't mind hearing people like La Ley, Soraya, Moenia.....

― patrick, Wednesday, 7 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Patrick,

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

― DeRayMi, Wednesday, 7 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The last time I danced a polka was at a New Year's Eve party. I drank arak and champagne and got high on pot. Then I danced a polka with the wife of a music journalist. It was sexy, but not in a cerebral sort of way.

― DeRayMi, Wednesday, 7 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

six months pass...

It's just me again. I had an epiphany while I was out at a club tonight. Once again I realized: I love salsa. The way these songs build and drive you crazy, and then the cow-bells come in, and finish me off.

― DeRayMi, Saturday, 25 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

DeRayMi you should write a piece for Freaky Trigger about coming to love music through dancing to it (in bits and pieces on ILM you have probably already written half of it...)

― mark s, Saturday, 25 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

DeRayMi you should write a piece for Freaky Trigger about coming to love music through dancing to it (in bits and pieces on ILM you have probably already written half of it...)

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

― DeRayMi, Saturday, 25 May 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

three months pass...

There were so many good songs played last night where I went dancing, yet I don't know what most of them are. There's an almost metalic sound that I like in salsa, or it seems that the hardest edged stuff tends to emphasize that: the timbales and cow bell very up-front.

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

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

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

― DeRayMi, Sunday, 1 September 2002 13:21 (twenty-two years ago)

If (or more optimistically, when) I learn Spanish, I'll start to follow who's singing what more closely. I love what I hear on the radio, but never get the sense that I'd be better off buying it myself. There's a great local live orchestra called Sabor Tropical, whose singer has helped school me on the history and some of the greats. St. Paul has a mambo heritage, too, that's pretty rich.

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

― Pete Scholtes, Sunday, 1 September 2002 14:22 (twenty-two years ago)

I seem to remember reading about Mexican techno in TIME magazine. I don't like techno, but if there is enough of a distinctive Mexican flavor to it, I might just enjoy it. (I don't know much about Mexican music, but I like the mariachi samples Delinquent Habits have used.)

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

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

― DeRayMi, Sunday, 1 September 2002 14:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I seem to remember reading about Mexican techno in TIME magazine

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

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

― Chupa-Cabras (vicc13), Sunday, 1 September 2002 18:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember the term "Nortec."

― DeRayMi, Sunday, 1 September 2002 18:56 (twenty-two years ago)

It must have been. I dont know about any other mexican techno, they pretty much are the kind of band made to be on the Time. I would be feking amazed if it wasnt them

― Chupa-Cabras (vicc13), Sunday, 1 September 2002 19:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Two ex-Nortec members have an album coming out: "Plankton Man vs. Terrestre", on :\run records. It's el dope.

― Matt C., Sunday, 1 September 2002 19:25 (twenty-two years ago)

My salsa song of the moment: Tito Gomez "Llora"

― DeRayMi, Sunday, 15 September 2002 01:02 (twenty-two years ago)

My favorite part is when they go:

Llora
Llora

― DeRayMi, Sunday, 15 September 2002 01:19 (twenty-two years ago)

six months pass...

I like the way the congas, and the bongos even moreso, pop, or bubble up.

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 28 March 2003 02:04 (twenty-two years ago)

i just bought my first salsa record this week, and i think i'm in love

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

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

― JasonD (JasonD), Friday, 28 March 2003 02:23 (twenty-two years ago)

(Yay JasonD!) I don't have that Fania All Stars CD. In fact, my collection is inadequate across the board. Do you know the names of any specific tracks you like? I might be able to suggest something similar.

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 28 March 2003 02:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Fania All Stars - "Coro Miyare" has shown up on a number of comps; it's great.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 28 March 2003 02:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I love the last three tracks (including one featuring Santanaesque electric guitar--no personnel listed on my CD) on Fania All Stars con Willie Colon y Ruben Blades, but I can't really recommend it in unqualified terms, since I don't really like the first four cuts.

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 28 March 2003 02:39 (twenty-two years ago)

It' not Salsa, ¿but does anyone else out there like Peret? http://cine-filia.iespana.es/cine-filia/Cinespanol%202/Carteles/A%20mi%20las%20mujeres%20ni%20fu%20ni%20fa.jpg

― Gatinha (rwillmsen), Friday, 28 March 2003 02:55 (twenty-two years ago)

I see that Latin Soul Rock CD has "El Raton" sung by Cheo Feliciano (who I've mentioned here a lot)--good song. There's a very nice selection of his work on the Nacente label (though it leans toward the upbeat, which might not be what you are looking for). It has a 1964 version of "El Raton."

(Tell us about Peret, Gatinha.)

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 28 March 2003 02:57 (twenty-two years ago)

If you mention Peret to Spanish people of a certain age, they laugh uproariously and then disparage him. However, if they actually hear any of his songs after a lot of drinks they fall all over the place and sing along at the top of their voices..he's like a Spanish Tom Jones, I guess.

― Gatinha (rwillmsen), Friday, 28 March 2003 03:04 (twenty-two years ago)

FYI

― Gatinha (rwillmsen), Friday, 28 March 2003 03:07 (twenty-two years ago)

that track "El Raton" sung by Cheo Feliciano is the one i really like.

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

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

― JasonD (JasonD), Friday, 28 March 2003 18:43 (twenty-two years ago)

I like Cheo (the album) a lot, as well, but it's more romantic than creepy, so I'm not sure it would be much of a follow-up on "El Raton" for you. Cheo has a fairly stripped down sound, with heavy emphasis on vibes and acoustic guitar. I have trouble imagining anyone not like "Anacaona," from that album. It also has fast rumba sorts of things, boleros, and some nods to Brazilian music.

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 28 March 2003 19:04 (twenty-two years ago)

No, but I ate some good Salsa last night.

― matt riedl (veal), Friday, 28 March 2003 22:05 (twenty-two years ago)

La Lupe!

― Sean (Sean), Saturday, 29 March 2003 04:18 (twenty-two years ago)

JasonD, I can't resist saying it again: some of the best 70's salsa songs I've heard appear on the album Louie Ramirez y Sus Amigos. Louie Ramirez was a real giant presence in Latin music, playing with a very long list of familiar Latin names (very nearly anyone who was anyone) including Cheo Feliciano, to mention someone you are marginally familiar with, as well as, for instance, less obvious collaborators like Eric Dolphy*. But the singer Azuquita makes this album for me. I have to warn you though that it is upbeat; in fact I can hardly stay seated for a couple of these songs. On the down side, it has a couple Beatles covers that I think are pretty bad, the original recordings need remastering (or better remastering, or something)--but that's going to be true of a lot of older Latin stuff, and the song sung by Ruben Blades which starts the album off is just so-so, to my ears.

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

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 30 March 2003 16:46 (twenty-two years ago)

(Actually, the middle of the cover of "Someting" is pretty good once it gets past the string-y introduction, though it gets a little cheesy again toward the end, depending on one's taste.)

― Rockist Scientist, Sunday, 30 March 2003 16:50 (twenty-two years ago)

(Out dancing tonight. "Llora" still sounds good and drives me to a higher level of dancing. Most of what I heard tonight sounded pretty good to me, but unfortunately, I didn't know what a lot of it was. At one point my SO turned to me and asked, "What type of music is this [song]?" It was salsa, like everything they played while we were there, but it had a heavy component of something else--probably cumbia. I need to get that Rough Guide to Cumbia, so I can be the cumbia expert when I am with my circle of salsa friends.)

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 3 April 2003 04:35 (twenty-two years ago)

The rhythm in some salsa songs is like an aural equivalent of a strobe-light, in that time is chopped up into small little sub-units. Stop/stop/stop/stop.

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

― Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 23:13 (twenty-two years ago)

are you talking to yerself again?

― JasonD (JasonD), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 23:35 (twenty-two years ago)

no! i read it. my latin music knowledge is very sketchy. i will apply the strobe theory next time i dance to some. should make for some freaky shape throwing.

― gaz (gaz), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 23:38 (twenty-two years ago)

No, I'm talking for posterity. (No "posterior" jokes.)

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

― Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 23:42 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.worldsoul.com/datas/pics/1873.jpg

― SplendidMullet (iamamonkey), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 23:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I love this Mongo record! it sounds like the 70's TV theme music vs latin jazz fusion

― SplendidMullet (iamamonkey), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 23:44 (twenty-two years ago)

anything by Mongo achieves Classic status automatically

― H (Heruy), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 23:46 (twenty-two years ago)

You guys are ahead of me when it comes to Mongo Santamaria. I have nothing by him. I will probably start with albums he did with vocalists I like (La Lupe and Justo Bentacourt).

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

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

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 17 April 2003 00:13 (twenty-two years ago)

RS - i had not read the whole thread before posting but I agree with mark s that you should write a piece

― H (Heruy), Thursday, 17 April 2003 00:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Thanks, but I don't think I have much more to say. I use this thread to jot down notes though, in case I ever accumulate enough. "Toward a Phenomenology of Salsa Dancing."

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 17 April 2003 00:49 (twenty-two years ago)

you know i'm joking about talking to yourself. i read this thread.

― JasonD (JasonD), Thursday, 17 April 2003 02:17 (twenty-two years ago)

oh yeah, i've been meaning to ask: what nationality are you, or if that's not really the issue, how did you get into salsa and arabic music? i know you dance to it a lot, but how did you start dancing to it. latin girlfriend? neighborhood?

― JasonD (JasonD), Thursday, 17 April 2003 02:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I was taking a jazz samba dance class and thought it would be easier to meet women if I took up some sort of partner dancing. (And I had started taking the jazz samba dance itself, with the idea of meeting women. I was looking for a dance form requiring less relaxation and less athleticism than African dance, which I had dabbled in, but wasn't cut out for. Actually, I'd like to get back to some sort of African dance eventually.) Or to put it crudely: I started taking salsa classes in order to get laid. But salsa dancing quickly became an end in itself. I remember a night out dancing around the time I was still learning the basics when a woman who I would ordinarily have been scared to approach wanted to have a conversation with me, but I was interested in finding a different, better, dance partner. I wanted to get out and practice my stuff on the dance floor, although I was ostensibly doing it to meet women like this particular rather cute one who was interested in my company (at least then and there in the club). I didn't start salsa dancing specifically to meet Latinas, though after spending some time around them, I have to say I generally find them particularly attractive (a combination of their appearance, though of course there isn't "one" Latina look, and some cultural differences I find appealing); however, I can't say I've had much (any!) luck with them (aside from getting some of them onto the dance floor).

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

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

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

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

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

― Rockist Scientist, Thursday, 17 April 2003 03:39 (twenty-two years ago)

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― scott seward, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:32 (twelve years ago)

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

― What About The Half That's Never Been POLLed (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 22 April 2013 03:33 (twelve years ago)

how much are you asking for those?

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

― cock chirea, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:34 (twelve years ago)

oh venezuela 75 is p swell too

― cock chirea, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:35 (twelve years ago)

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― scott seward, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:35 (twelve years ago)

jee, i want the saoco one!

― cock chirea, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:35 (twelve years ago)

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― scott seward, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:38 (twelve years ago)

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

― scott seward, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:39 (twelve years ago)

be back in a flash. got more...

― scott seward, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:39 (twelve years ago)

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

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

― cock chirea, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:43 (twelve years ago)

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― scott seward, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:46 (twelve years ago)

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

― scott seward, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:47 (twelve years ago)

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

― cock chirea, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:51 (twelve years ago)

*you*

― cock chirea, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:52 (twelve years ago)

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― scott seward, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:52 (twelve years ago)

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

― cock chirea, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:54 (twelve years ago)

i would buy that conjunto quisqueya one just for the cover

― cock chirea, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:56 (twelve years ago)

yeah dude, i dig this

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

― cock chirea, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:58 (twelve years ago)

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― scott seward, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:58 (twelve years ago)

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

― scott seward, Monday, 22 April 2013 03:59 (twelve years ago)

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

― huun huurt 2 (Hurting 2), Monday, 22 April 2013 04:02 (twelve years ago)

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

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

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

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

― huun huurt 2 (Hurting 2), Monday, 22 April 2013 04:07 (twelve years ago)

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

― scott seward, Monday, 22 April 2013 04:09 (twelve years ago)

i love this vid by the latin brothers

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

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

― cock chirea, Monday, 22 April 2013 04:25 (twelve years ago)

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

― cock chirea, Monday, 22 April 2013 04:31 (twelve years ago)

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

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

― _Rudipherous_, Tuesday, 23 April 2013 21:26 (twelve years ago)

Judíos maravillosos

― What About The Half That's Never Been POLLed (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 24 April 2013 00:10 (twelve years ago)

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

― What About The Half That's Never Been POLLed (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 24 April 2013 00:12 (twelve years ago)

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

― What About The Half That's Never Been POLLed (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 24 April 2013 00:14 (twelve years ago)

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

― What About The Half That's Never Been POLLed (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 24 April 2013 00:21 (twelve years ago)

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

― What About The Half That's Never Been POLLed (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 24 April 2013 00:22 (twelve years ago)

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

― cock chirea, Wednesday, 24 April 2013 01:36 (twelve years ago)

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

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

― cock chirea, Wednesday, 24 April 2013 01:40 (twelve years ago)

Rolling Afro-Latin music thread 2013

another thread

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 24 April 2013 14:37 (twelve years ago)

the art historian and mambophile Robert Farris Thompson

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

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 24 April 2013 14:41 (twelve years ago)

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

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 24 April 2013 14:43 (twelve years ago)

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

― What About The Half That's Never Been POLLed (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 24 April 2013 16:28 (twelve years ago)

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

― What About The Half That's Never Been POLLed (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 24 April 2013 21:50 (twelve years ago)

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

― Retreat from the Sunship (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 8 May 2013 19:38 (twelve years ago)

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

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

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

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

― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 8 May 2013 19:45 (twelve years ago)

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

― Retreat from the Sunship (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 8 May 2013 19:48 (twelve years ago)

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

http://bongohead.blogspot.com/

― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 May 2013 19:54 (twelve years ago)

he also wrote rough guide to latin psych.

― scott seward, Wednesday, 8 May 2013 20:01 (twelve years ago)

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

― 誤訳侮辱, Wednesday, 8 May 2013 20:04 (twelve years ago)

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

― Retreat from the Sunship (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 10 May 2013 14:23 (twelve years ago)

three months pass...

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

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

― Spectrum, Sunday, 11 August 2013 04:38 (eleven years ago)

merengue! finally found it.

― Spectrum, Sunday, 11 August 2013 04:51 (eleven years ago)

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

― Spectrum, Sunday, 11 August 2013 04:53 (eleven years ago)

That's it in a club-friendly mix

― curmudgeon, Sunday, 11 August 2013 05:03 (eleven years ago)

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

― Spectrum, Sunday, 11 August 2013 05:52 (eleven years ago)

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