Le World... Cuba: Los Exitos de los Años "50"

Benny Moré, Rolando La ‘Serie and Tony Camargos have had considerable success in Cuba and the world over in the 50s. Omly Benny Moré is still famous today and considered a Cuban music god. The three musicians were regrouped in this compilation for their highly similar voices and repertoires.

Maximilian Bartolomeo Moré (1919-1963), “el barbaro del ritmo”, was born to a modest African family settled in Santa Isabel de Lajas. He was very young when he started learning music with his brothers. One of his uncles from Congo taught him how to play the guitar and the congas. […] In 1940 he set off to Havana. There he won several singing competitions and […] was noticed by the already famous Conjunto Matamoros. He played in one of their records and in 1945 he took part to a tour in Mexico with them. He obtained a visa that allowed him to go to Mexico as often as he wished to. His recitals at Mexico Citu’s prestigious Rio Rosa cabaret were steps towards fame throughout Latin America. He met Lalo Montané with whom he founded the Fantasma Duet. In 1948, as mambo appeared in Mexico, Benny Moré was immediately seduced by this new rhythm and enriched his Afro-Cuban genre with it.

When he came back to Cuba in 1950, Benny Moré had become a star throughout Latin America and was given a triumphant welcome. […] He later joined the famous Bebo Valdés’ orchestra as well as Ernesto Duarte’s. Then he joined forces with trumpet player Armentero Chocolate to found his own line-up. From 1953 to 1963, the Banda Gigante became increasingly successful and helped Benny Moré rank among the greatest artists.

Rolando La ‘Serie was among the singers of the Cuban popular genre. Born in Las Villas in central Cuba, he made his first steps to music playing the kettledrums in Santa Clara’s local band. […] In 1945, he had become quite famous in Havana. […] He liked and was extremely gifted for imitating great singers.

In 1952, Benny Moré appointed him as his orchestra’s drummer. He was then noticed by the record company gema with which he recorded his successes. Gema had the great idea to have pianist Bebo Valdés’ Orchestra accompany him. Following this, Rolando La ‘serie became a star. […] He released over 30 records and won a Gold Disc in 1959.

Tony Camargo was renowned in the 1950’s big Cuban perios as one of the most gifted Mexican singers in the Cuban genre. He was lucky enough to play with the time’s best orchestras and had the privilege of singing in duet with Benny Moré. In the rare as well as precious songs featured in this compilation, Tony Camargo is accompanied by two of the Jazz Band genre’s “big shots”, chucho Rodriguez and Luis Gonzalez. (From the liner notes).

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Cal Tjader - Plays the Contemporary Music of Mexico and Brazil (1962)

«This 1962 set by Cal Tjader, recorded at the beginning of the bossa nova craze in the United States (released in the same year and on the same label as the smash Jazz Samba by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd), has one of the most boring titles imaginable — which doesn't begin to describe the laid-back yet magical innovations in the grooves. Produced by Creed Taylor, the date was arranged and orchestrated by the great pianist Clare Fischer (who also wrote the liner notes). Tjader set out to offer a very modern portrait of the music pouring out of Mexico City by showcasing selected Mario Ruíz Armengol compositions and out of Brazil by spotlighting numbers by singers such as Elisete Cardoso and João Gilberto. Tjader's vibes are placed in juxtaposition with Fischer's piano and percussion by Changuito, Milt Holland, and Johnny Rae, with a woodwind section that included both Don Shelton and Paul Horn, and even some wordless exotica vocals by Ardeen DeCamp. In addition, Brazilian guitar star Laurindo Almeida helps out on about half the set and contributed "Chôro e Batuque," while Fischer offers "Elisete," named for the singer. The feel here is gentle with infectious rhythms and beautifully wrought woodwinds (check "Se é Tarde, Me Perdoa"), gorgeous piano, and spacious vibes. The arrangements by Fischer certainly represent the era, but they endure into the 21st century because of the shining example of interplay between the percussion and melodies (note the breezy "Silenciosa"). Tjader had been playing samba on records for a number of years by this point, and worked with Getz in 1957, but this was the first place he allowed his own complex yet delightfully subtle melodic (rather than just rhythmic) sensibilities to shine on the vibes. The most remarkable thing about this set is how effortlessly the two traditions blend.» (AMG)

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Monna Bell y Aldemaro Romero - La Onda Nueva en Mexico (1970)

«For those unaware of the greatness of Venezuelan conductor Aldemaro Romero, we could compare him with the better known Esquivel. Romero and Esquivel had more than one thing in common. In addition to being piano virtuosos with a futuristic sense for popular music revitalized with vocal arrangements and original instrumentation, they each experimented in the recording studio and maintained a mutual admiration and friendship. Probably the rarest album from Aldemaro Romero is this homage to traditional and popular Mexican songs, with the Pop singer Monna Bell on vocals. The musicians (well-skilled Jazz players from Mexico) were free to bring in any idea to the studio and to improvise during the recordings. The result was an explosion of tonalities that, in spite of being essentially popular traditions, revealed something exceedingly unique cosmopolitan and modern. La Onda Nueva en Mexico has remained a cult record among those searching for rare grooves because of its completely unique concept of combining traditional Mexican music arranged by a cosmopolitan Venezuelan influenced by Bossa Nova, sung by a Chilean pop singer and orchestrated by Mexican jazz musicians, all on one record! Vampisoul. 2007.» (Amazon)

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Putumayo Presents: Nuevo Latino (2004)

«This is the perfect chill disc to throw in your musical rotation. A mix and match grab bag of musical styles with one common thread; it's in a Latin groove. The artists span the globe which is what one comes to expect from Putumayo. The styles of music run the gamut of Latin exotica but with an edge of electronica that results in world beats with a modern attitude. It is very exciting to hear traditional music getting a musical makeover; it is music steeped in tradition with wings for the future. There are long established artists like Jarabe de Palo, Aterciopelados, Los de Abajo and Sergent Garcia but there is much more. Lesser known but not necessarily less talented artists abound for your discovery. Hey! That is what Putumayo is all about, discovery of cool music from elsewhere. Speaking of cool, all these tracks are way cool, especially "Mi Negra" which has that Manu Chao Clandestino multi-layered, percussive lush sound, punctuated by horns and quirkiness, the reggae-Cuban flavored "Original" by Kana and "El Indio" by Los de Abajo, which has a modern tropical feel to it and the ever-lovely voice of Andrea Echeverri from Aterciopelados on "Manana," where she invokes an electronica-driven sambaesque beat that has a retro-futuristic vibe that is pure nirvana. This is good music for relaxing late night and finishing off a good night, or anytime, for that matter. Highly recommended for world music aficionados.» (Amazon)

More info here

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Lhasa (de Sela) - The Living Road (2004)

One of my favorite albums of the new millennium.
Simply W-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l.
Best wishes, Lhasa, and thanx for existing!

«Lhasa de Sela's debut album, La Llorona, appeared quietly 6 years ago.Her voice on that record came over like some ancient matriarch in a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel; heartbroken songs from a long life of exodus and lost love, offering ominous warnings of the weirder, darker corners of the human heart. Incredibly, Lhasa was only 19 at the time of its release, and now, after a long wait, its successor has arrived. It's a more ambitious record, with a very different feel. There's still the irresistible languid ache and yearning in Lhasa's voice, but the album's overall sound is more contemporary.

Her collaborators on this record, Montreal-based musicians Francois Lalonde and Jean Massicotte, have blended an impressive variety of styles to complement Lhasa's intimate, beguiling voice.Arrangements of the songs move between surging orchestral settings and electronic pulses and breaks, with sounds of the sea, the circus, and the wild west. It's music to conjure rich and magical imaginings by.

Lhasa's roots extend through Mexico, Canada and the States, and the songs on The Living Road reflect this. With lyrics in French, Spanish and English, as well as a very natural-sounding combination of all kinds of musical traditions, it crosses borders in various ways. There's a weariness in all the wandering though, and an undercurrent of cultural dislocation. It's as if the record is an attempt to find harmony in the bewildering chaos and pace of a modern, urban world.

Apocalyptic shadows darken Lhasa's songwriting. In the prayer-like "Soon This Space Will Be Too Small" (the album's last song), she asks to be released from the cruelties of the world. The song is performed with a passion that is Lhasa's hallmark and this passion is the reason her music will one day reach a much wider audience.» (BBC World)

Spanish review here

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Lila Downs - La Cantina (2006)

«En este disco, esta gran cantante, oriunda de México y USA, nos redescubre con su poderosa voz la ranchera mexicana (impresiona la versión de “La cama de pietra”). No sólo hay rancheras, también hay otras expresiones musicales mexicanas como el corrido y alguna composición propia. Temas melancólicos, críticas sociales, la receta del aguacate… todo esto tiene cabida aquí, dándole una mezcla de tradicional con lo tabernario, pero dando lugar también a los ritmos del otro lado de la frontera, conviviendo lo estadounidense con lo mexicano pero sin parecerse en nada al tex-mex, o es que no ¿pueden convivir amigablemente, por ejemplo, con un mismo hilo melódico una ranchera y un blues?» (Musicas de la Tierra)

«Mexican-American singer Lila Downs, who grew up shuttling between homes in Minnesota and Mexico, caught the attention of the general public with her performance in the film Frida. Those who turn to this album for more of what they heard there won't be disappointed, but they may be a little bit startled by the rhythm loops and subtle electronic effects that weave in and out of the traditional instrumentation over which she sings this wonderful program of Mexican ranchera songs. Downs’ dark, smoky voice is the perfect vehicle for these songs, which juxtapose the deep emotion of fado and mariachi music with norteño and tejano influences (notable especially on those songs that feature the legendary Texas accordionist Flaco Jimenez). Everywhere you turn there are deeper complexities lurking beneath the already complicated surfaces of the songs: the quietly wailing clarinet that follows the distorted guitar solo on “Agua de Rosas”; the ska-funk inflections that are constantly hovering around the edges of “Tu Recuerdo y Yo”; the dubwise phase-shifting effects on “Cumbia del Mole” (a song that explains how to make one of the more popular Mexican sauces, and which is helpfully performed in both Spanish and English versions). On “Arboles de la Barranca” the horns are over the top even by Latin standards, but so what? Over the top is half the fun. Very highly recommended.» (AMG)

«Sette anni dopo La Sandunga – l'album che la fece conoscere – e due anni dopo Una Sangre – il disco della consacrazione – torna Lila Downs, artista di padre statunitense e madre messicana che si è ormai affermata come la più originale esploratrice dei limiti della tradizione folk a sud del Rio Grande – l’unica sua vera rivale per talento e ambizione potrebbe essere Lhasa de Sela ma le sue uscite discografiche sono troppo sporadiche.
La Cantina è il lavoro in studio più a briglie sciolte della Downs, stavolta gli accenti jazz sono episodici e i virtuosismi vocali – la nostra Lila è diplomata in canto – sono tesi soprattutto a esaltare il vigore tutto messicano dei quindici brani contenuti nel CD. Passo avanti? Passo indietro? Difficile a dirsi perché Una Sangre è uno di quei dischi cui era difficile dare un seguito giacché l'artista con esso aveva raggiunto l'apice del discorso musicale avviato due lustri fa, perciò pare appropriata la scelta con La Cantina di pigiare il piede sull'acceleratore, lasciare che la sezione fiati fiammeggi come una pietanza messicana e – fermo restando la classe di Lila Downs – strizzare magari l'occhio al mercato: “La Cumbia del Mole” è il suo primo brano a essere sostenuto da un video.
Proprio “La Cumbia del Mole” è la canzone che apre l'album; scritta dalla Downs assieme al suo compagno d'arte e di vita Paul Cohen, ha un testo che è un viaggio tra le mille salse della cucina messicana e così finisce per essere anche una dichiarazione d'intenti per il menu musicale che seguirà. Il disco è stato registrato tra New York, Città del Messico, San Antonio e Austin: eppure all'ascolto dà l'impressione d'essere stato registrato in una sola sessione, segno che la complicità tra l‘artista e i suoi numerosi collaboratori era totale – da segnalare tra i session-men la presenza del leggendario fisarmonicista Flaco Jimenez. Le quindici tracce del disco offrono tutte momenti d'interesse e alternano momenti d'emozione (“Penas del Alma”) a sonorità travolgenti (“La Tequilera”): qualcuno dirà che è un album di transizione, e forse lo è, ma soprattutto è dimostrazione e conferma che Lila Downs è ormai signora e padrona degli infiniti sapori della musica popolare messicana.» (MusicOnTnt)

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Putumayo Presents: Mexico (2001)

«Even in the northern states, Mexican music is easy to find on American radio, but airplay almost exclusively consists of the Tex-Mex norteño style. In contrast, there's barely an accordion in earshot on this sparkling collection of traditionally rooted songs. Los Bravos del Norte de Ramon Ayala weigh in with the bouncy ranchera "Andan Dicendo," but on all other fronts guitar trills rather than squeezebox sighs propel the music. With violin swoops and falsetto vocals, La Calaca unleash the galloping son huasteco/ranchera "Rogaciano." The same ensemble graces the gusto "El Tecolote" with less ferocity but equivalent momentum. Los Lobos dip way into their past with a 1977 version of the son jarocho sped up into a self-proclaimed son loco on "Flor de Huevo," complete with dizzying fretwork and a flailing rhythm. The delicate instrumental son istemeno wedding song "Mediu Xhiga" from Dueto de los Hermanos Rios brings exquisitely ornamented requinto guitar from Mexico's Pacific Coast. Rounding out the set is a slice of Latin cabaret complete with braying clarinets and a gritty vocal takeoff on, of all things, a traditional Mexican Christmas carol via Lhasa de Sela's "Los Peces."» (Bob Tarte, Amazon)

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