HothouseSalsero
Member
I'd like this to be a thread for talking about salsa and related music recordings that came out in 2003 or that have come out this year (or will come out later this year).
I'm not going to attempt to write actual reviews, but here are my responss to some of the recordings I heard last year:
Eddie Palmieri: Ritmo Caliente. By far, my favorite track was the remake of his old song "Lo Que Triago es Sabroso." Other than that, I like the first songs, "La Voz del Caribe" (though it sounds a little too familiar--too much the standard Palmieri sound of the last few years), and a cha cha cha (or something like that) somewhere near the middle. Otherwise, it's not something I have any real desire to listen to, but I'm not a big fan of most Latin jazz. This CD made a lot of Latin music "best of the year" lists, but I don't see it. (On the other hand, maybe it didn't have that much competition.)
Los Soneros del Barrio: Siguiendo la Tradicion. Honestly, I was disappointed with this as well. The first two sons do a lot for me, but after that it's kind of blah. It's not bad, but it doesn't excite me. I can't point to anything specific that I don't like about Frankie Vasquez's singing style, but I can't get into it.
Yerba Buena: President Alien. Not really salsa. A mixture of Afro-Cuban and other Latin American rhythms with hip-hop and other stuff. Once again, I was disappointed. Some of the rapping seems a little strained for me. It has some good moments, but not my sort of thing. (I'm actually pretty down on rap, in general, but on the other hand, I think I was enough of a fan at one point to make some sort of judgment.)
Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban: Mambo Sinuendo. Not exactly salsa either. I listened to this a few times, but I'm afraid I found it pretty boring.
Elio Villafranca: Incantations/Encantaciones. Latin jazz. Predictably, I was not that taken with it. I have seen Elio Villafranca play live about three times, since he lives in the area, and he's an amazing musician. But he's very enthusiastic about jazz.
My favorite Latin CD of 2003 was a collection of previously released material: Lost Classic of Salsa Vol.1. This pulls together things that were originally released in small quantities on small labels (back in the 70's I think). There's not a single track on this that I feel the desire to skip over. Some of it may be a little rough around the edges, but I like it. (It's definitely a bit lo-fi at times, since I don't think they were able to find the master recordings for any of this.)
I'm not going to attempt to write actual reviews, but here are my responss to some of the recordings I heard last year:
Eddie Palmieri: Ritmo Caliente. By far, my favorite track was the remake of his old song "Lo Que Triago es Sabroso." Other than that, I like the first songs, "La Voz del Caribe" (though it sounds a little too familiar--too much the standard Palmieri sound of the last few years), and a cha cha cha (or something like that) somewhere near the middle. Otherwise, it's not something I have any real desire to listen to, but I'm not a big fan of most Latin jazz. This CD made a lot of Latin music "best of the year" lists, but I don't see it. (On the other hand, maybe it didn't have that much competition.)
Los Soneros del Barrio: Siguiendo la Tradicion. Honestly, I was disappointed with this as well. The first two sons do a lot for me, but after that it's kind of blah. It's not bad, but it doesn't excite me. I can't point to anything specific that I don't like about Frankie Vasquez's singing style, but I can't get into it.
Yerba Buena: President Alien. Not really salsa. A mixture of Afro-Cuban and other Latin American rhythms with hip-hop and other stuff. Once again, I was disappointed. Some of the rapping seems a little strained for me. It has some good moments, but not my sort of thing. (I'm actually pretty down on rap, in general, but on the other hand, I think I was enough of a fan at one point to make some sort of judgment.)
Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban: Mambo Sinuendo. Not exactly salsa either. I listened to this a few times, but I'm afraid I found it pretty boring.
Elio Villafranca: Incantations/Encantaciones. Latin jazz. Predictably, I was not that taken with it. I have seen Elio Villafranca play live about three times, since he lives in the area, and he's an amazing musician. But he's very enthusiastic about jazz.
My favorite Latin CD of 2003 was a collection of previously released material: Lost Classic of Salsa Vol.1. This pulls together things that were originally released in small quantities on small labels (back in the 70's I think). There's not a single track on this that I feel the desire to skip over. Some of it may be a little rough around the edges, but I like it. (It's definitely a bit lo-fi at times, since I don't think they were able to find the master recordings for any of this.)
wink