Rolling Afro-Latin Music 2015 and onward: Salsa, Bomba, Merengue,Reggaeton, Bachata, Latin-Jazz and more

This is the new thread to discuss salsa music and dance (from 2015 onward or reissues) and other Spanish language genres and instrumental sounds too. One is free to dis or praise here bachata and Latin-jazz and NPR-friendly alternative Latin sounds and hipster Anglo salsa.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/10-great-latino-albums-2014-n276481

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102304900

Today, the top sources of Fania's revenue are partnerships with Sirius/XM, advertisement sharing with YouTube and licensing to Spotify and other streaming services. Fania recordings are downloaded by fans as far flung as Japan and Eastern Europe.

Thanks for restart. Still waiting to hear about my neighbor's López-Nussa Christmas.

Me too. Still catching up on lots of Latino music...

https://nacla.org/news/2014/7/17/un-verano-en-nueva-york-summer-latin-alternatives

This year, two Cuban singers, Diana Fuentes and Danay Suárez, were particularly interesting because they were both seeking a radical new direction while clearly influenced by the Cuban tradition, expressing themselves in distinctly different ways.

The above is from NYC writer Ed Morales. Below is a link to descarga.com's list and their intro paragraph. They continue to fight for salsa

http://www.descarga.com/cgi-bin/db/onsite_best_of_2014

This year we have a couple of great Cuban titles, from Adalberto Alvarez and Pupy y Los Que Son Son respectively. There were a good number of superb new releases from known entitles like the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Don Perignon y La Puertorriqueña, Puerto Rican Power, Herman Olivera, Ismael Miranda and Bobby Cruz. There was also a major push by deserving lesser known artists like Avenida B, Boogaloo Assassins, Crocro y Su Tumbaka, Lucky 7 Mambo, Neftali Rosado Jr. & Fernandito Jr., Peliroja, and The Latin Heartbeat. Additionally, we have some superb Latin jazz releases from Bobby Sanabria, Luisito Quintero, Steve Kroon, and Steve Pouchie.
As usual, there were many other outstanding releases that aren't represented here. The new big band release by Oscar D'Leon, for example. Furthermore, the self imposed thirty-five title limit restricted us from including some really great reissues.
In all, a very strong year for our music, and a very promising 2015 ahead.

Interesting. Wondering if Luisito plays his SlapStick bass on that recording. Wonder if Diego Lopez is on that Steve Kroon record.

Lucky 7 Mambo is a Los Angeles group.

Also found this of interest re the Morales article:

Fuentes sees herself as a kind of intelligent pop singer influenced by the “feeling” and not the “filin” of the legendary Elena Burke, and has an extraordinary power and range. She’d already been a backup singer for post-nueva cancionero Carlos Varela, a collaborator with the legendary Sintesis, and has recently married Eduardo Cabra, musical director of Puerto Rico’s Calle 13, who produced her soon to be released debut album.

I haven't heard her album yet

x-post

You had me curious, so Diego Lopez is mentioned on Spanish Harlem born Kroon's bio on Kroon's webpage, shortly after a discussion of the cd, so I think the answer is yes.

Here's the 2014 thread btw:

Rolling Afro-Latin Music All Stars - Tribute to Afro-Latin Music Thread 2014 (DVD incl.)

Ned S*blette is excited about this Wed. gig:

i'm going out tomorrow (Jan. 7), to Subrosa, for Manuel Valera's New Cuban Express: Manuel Valera - piano / Troy Roberts - saxophone / Luques Curtis - bass / Samuel Torres - percussion / Ludwig Afonso - drums.

See those guys all the time in my neighborhood /jaded.
Well except for Luques, who only came out here once with Manuel, although I've seen him in the city at some other places. And Troy Roberts, who I never heard of until now. Also that place is expensive,drinkwise at least. But I hope other people go.

In other news, just got Chris Washburne mailing about SYOTOS appearing at Winter Jazzfest

What about this NYC resident & band (who are visiting my hood soon)

Gerardo Contino y Los Habaneros

A lawyer by day, Contino, or “El Abogado de la Salsa,” as he is affectionately referred to by fans, is singer and songwriter who is best recognized as the former lead singer of renowned Cuban salsa and jazz orchestra NG La Banda. Upon moving to New York City from Cuba, he formed Gerardo Contino y Los Habaneros, a group known for its refreshing take on salsa and timba tunes, its impressive rhythm section and interactive call-and-response performances led by Contino

So Dow listed this Rough Guide to Psychedelic Salsa album that's coming out soon on another thread. It includes:

Track List

01 Grupo Fantasma Feat. Larry Harlow: Naci De La Rumba Y Guaguanco
02 La Mecanica Popular: La Paz Del Freak
03 Quantic Presenta Flowering Inferno: Dub Y Guaguanco
04 Conjunto Siglo 21: Jud Ross
05 Ray Perez Y Su Orquesta: Recordando Los Soneros
06 San Lazaro: Muchacho Tranquilo
07 Bacalao Men: Japones
08 Nelson Y Sus Estrellas: Londres (London)
09 Los Sander's De Nana: Recuerdos
10 Los Pambele: Cannabis
11 Fruko Y Sus Tesos: El Son Del Carangano
12 Orchestra Rytmo Africa-Cubana: Vamos Pa' Dakar
13 Bio Ritmo: Chuleta 07:00

Yes, didn't think to look for this thread, here's the rest:

THE ROUGH GUIDE TO PSYCHEDELIC SALSA

Release Date: 23 February 2015
Cat No: RGNET1304CD
Barcode: 605633130423
Format: CD & Digital Download

This Rough Guide explores the heady influence of psychedelia on salsa, from the fuzzy tropical guitars of the sixties and seventies to today’s cutting edge bands experimenting with weird & wonderful psychedelic sounds.

Psychedelic rock and salsa came of age together in the mid to late 1960s under parallel socio-cultural circumstances of upheaval, unrest and experimentation within the respective youth cultures of their core audiences.

Historically there are direct connections between the world of the hippie counter-culture and Latin music (from Fania’s Jerry Masucci being friends with Woodstock’s Michael Lang to ‘mambonik’ Bill Graham urging Santana to cover Tito Puente. In places like Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, and especially Peru, non-Latin global youth culture – or at least some of the music, dress, art, and social attitude – was quite influential as well, producing tropical music with fuzzed out guitars, echo effects, and electric keyboards.

In the late 1970s through to the 1990s, discotheque remix dance culture spawned the psychedelic extended salsa mixes of studio wizards like Baron Lopez and the wild playing of Cuban violinist Alfredo de la Fé (featured here with Orchestra Rytmo Africa-Cubana), both of which factored in trippy dub effects borrowed from another Caribbean music with psychedelic leanings, namely reggae.

This collection explores not only those early connections and cross-pollinating influences but also the resurgence of interest in the subject of the psychedelic sound today, from a revival of the experimental vibe that made the early years of salsa so varied and interesting to the equally intriguing phenomenon of retro analogue aesthetics that seems to be on the rise.

Current Latin artists like Bio Ritmo, La Mecánica Popular, Bacalao Men, Quantic, Fantasma and San Lázaro have found themselves looking back to the days of progressive, open attitudes when the emphasis was on message and music, not on singer as star or producing bland pop for mass consumption. This is, perhaps, a reaction to the fallout of the over-commercialisation and dilution of salsa in the 1980s and the concurrent ascendance of merengue, bachata and (later) reggaeton. The influence of rare groove collecting, DJ-driven investigations into the golden era, and a spill-over from the success of retro funk and soul acts like Sharon Jones have shaped current ‘indie’ salsa production as well.

Track List (incl.in curmudgeon's xpost)

Total Playing Time: 61:32
music from this and other releases here: https://soundcloud.com/world-music-network

Also in press release:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuXmXG9qbF8

Fruko's late '60s stuff isn't even psychedelic—it's like the garage punk version of salsa. And this is one of the most gangster-ass album covers of all time, in any genre:

http://vf-images.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/fruko-y-sus-tesos-el-tesura.jpg

What an awesome cover

Ned S*blette loves his latin-jazz:

I try never to miss Papo Vázquez's Mighty Pirates Troubadours. They're at Dizzy's Wednesday and Thursday (21 and 22).

>With Papo Vazquez, trombone/leader; Willie Williams, tenor saxophone; Rick Germanson, piano; Dezron Douglas, bass; Alvester Garnett, drums; Anthony Carrillo, percussion; Carlos Maldonado, percussion; and Invited Guest Sherman Irby, alto saxophone.

* * *

On Friday, January 30, at 7 pm, I'll be moderating a pre-concert talk with Lionel Loueke and composer / pianist / bandleader / ambassador Arturo O'Farrill at Symphony Space in Manhattan. The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra's concerts at Symphony Space are always something original, featuring bespoke big-band arrangements -- in this case, from Loueke's big book of tunes. The concert, "An Evening with Lionel Loueke," featuring Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, is January 30-31, 2015 at 8pm. Discounts for seniors and students.

The ALJO was in Havana on December 17 when the news of the diplomatic opening broke . . .

Thanks. Saw a member of the ALJO last Thursday who told me a little bit about that, although I didn't get to talk to him for too long. He also told me they did some recording down there.

Yeah, Fruko cover is pretty intense. It was in the booklet for that Discos Fuentes comp from about half a decade back.

I have seen Gerardo a few times, he is an exciting performer. Knew he was in NG La Banda, did not know he was a lawyer.

Ned S and I seem to prefer different venues to see music, which is why I never cross paths with him except for that one time.

that tesura album cover is demolishing me

Fruko y sus Tesos are still together and touring too (albeit with some mebership changes)

This is the new thread to discuss salsa music and dance (from 2015 onward or reissues)

Glad to see you are doing it this way. If it gets too big we can start a new one.

With any luck, this might be the year I start getting out again, in which case I might have something to report back on.

Still pretty uninspired by almost everything new I'm hearing, in this niche.

http://open.spotify.com/user/forksclovetofu/playlist/73ZkB3SrNp2QDIwHhr49G2

Cool. I need to post here N*d Sublette's fave Latin-jazz efforts from 2014 that he listed in the very back of a super long pdf attachment of his fave books, his New Yorker contributor wife's fave books, and Dave Marsh's fave books (sent out via email to his mailing list). Ned liked a Spanish language bio of Bebo Valdes on his book list, while Marsh liked that all-inclusive volume 1 Beatles one

Here's some of his faves. He doesn't like his stuff to be linked or re-posted online, but since I liked his books on Cuba and on New Orleans, I think his interests are of interest to us here (he has a Spotify list too):

New Throned King (5pasión) is Yosvany Terry’s seven-year project of self-discovery with his group Ye-Dé-Gbé

Elio Villafranca and the Jass Syncopators’ Caribbean Tinge: Live at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (Motema) takes an inter-island view

Miguel Zenón’s Identities Are Changeable (Miel)

I want to shout out a record that I was peripherally involved in: Danny Rivera and Nelson González’s Obsesión

Pro tip: "Latin jazz" isn't hyphenated.

Salsa choke fad persisting in Colombia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPhbr64BS3o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO69ua3Nggs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB-84cii7C4

All this stuff sounds pretty good to me, for the moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=galuD0vU1hc

yeah, i'm digging that!
http://remezcla.com/music/welcome-to-salsa-choke-7-tracks-reinventing-colombias-salsa-urbana/

me too

Holy shit, a new Tego Calderón album came out yesterday! His first since 2007. For a long time, it was supposed to be called Mr. T, which was kind of hilarious, but now it's called El Que Sabe, Sabe. He raps in English on "Canción de Hamaca"—not just the chorus, like on "Slo Mo" from The Underdog/El Subestimado; half the song is in English. One song with Don Omar, one song with Kany García. I'm only 1/3 of the way through it right now, but I like it. It's not quite as weird as El Abayarde Contra-Ataca, but it's definitely wide-ranging, stylistically.

Cool. Will look for it. He keeps touring periodically, but I haven't seen him live in years.

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin-notas/6319476/tego-calderon-new-album-el-que-sabe-sabe

Plus he's been in some of the Fast and Furious movies and made his own music videos according to this article

he was supposed to be in the park for a free show last year but he fucked up his leg
http://www.latingossip.com/tego-calderon/tego-calderon-seriously-damages-knees-in-fall.html

Yeah, he and Don Omar have been a really good comedy team in at least two of the Fast & Furious movies. I've put in a request for an interview (specifying that it would be in English) but haven't heard anything back yet.

Never heard of the below singer, but thought I'd pass this on

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin-notas/6458543/celina-gonzalez-dead-85-cuban-country-queen

excerpt:

Cuban Country Queen Celina Gonzalez Dead at 85

By Judy Cantor-Navas | February 05, 2015 10:18 AM EST
Cuban Country Queen Celina Gonzalez Dead at 85

"She was the greatest Cuban voice that U.S. audiences never got to hear," said Qbadisc founder and Cuban music historian Ned Sublette after hearing the news of her death.

Celina Gonzalez, the singer known as Cuban music's country queen, has died. Gonzalez passed away in Havana yesterday (Feb. 4), according to a statement from the Cuban Music Institute. The Latin Grammy-nominated artist was 85 years old.

The powerfully-voiced Gonzalez rose to popularity with her husband, guitarist Reutilio Domínguez. Together they were dedicated to the preservation of guajira music, the Spanish-influenced acoustic Cuban country genre whose poetic lyrics are inspired by rural life. Gonzalez also brought an Afro-Cuban sound to her music, She is probably best known for her song "Santa Barbara" (Also called "Que Viva Chango"), a tribute to the popular Afro-Cuban warrior god of fire and patron of percussion, whose Catholic alter-ego is St. Barbara. The song was later recorded by Celia Cruz.

Gonzalez's version was featured on Que Viva Chango!, a 1993 compilation of music by the artist on the New York label Qbadisc, which brought some attention in the U.S. to the singer, who lived in Cuba her whole life.

Victor Manuelle's Que Suenen los Tambores is joyful stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dP-mkN6QiE

admirably nutty "music overcomes all of life's sadness" video too

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Feb. 16, 2015

Narrowing the 90 Miles
How U.S.-Cuba relations may play out for musicians

By LARRY BLUMENFELD

In late December, 10 days after Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro announced a path toward normalized relations between the U.S. and Cuba, the dressing-room conversation at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s nightclub, mirrored many on the subject: hope mixed with wait-and-see skepticism.
Drummer Dafnis Prieto, one of four Cuban-born musicians now living in the U.S. in an all-star group billed as “Nuevo Jazz Latino All-Stars,” said, “A truer relationship between the two countries is what many people, especially artists like us, have been longing for. But as artists, we’ve never had power in these decisions.”

Saxophonist Yosvany Terry, once Mr. Prieto’s conservatory classmate and bandmate in Havana, said, “The ideas are exciting, but we don’t yet know how this will be implemented. The devil is in the details.”

Those details are only beginning to take shape. The first steps of an earnest if tentative dance began on Jan. 21, when the U.S. and Cuba opened their highest-level diplomatic talks in nearly 40 years, in Havana. Thus began a process, as President Obama described in his Dec. 17 address, “to move beyond a rigid policy that is rooted in events that took place before most of us were born.”

Renewed political ties hold special promise for the relations between jazz musicians from the U.S. and their Cuban counterparts, which are rooted in even earlier events. In the audience at Dizzy’s that December night was percussionist Candido Camero, a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master. He first arrived in New York from Cuba in 1946, just as trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie (after whom the Jazz at Lincoln Center club is named), along with Cuban musicians such as trumpeter Mario Bauzá, percussionist Chano Pozo and singer-bandleader Frank “Machito” Grillo began blending Cuban and American music in novel ways. These musicians created a new, popular and profoundly influential musical style but also furthered a bond that pianist Jelly Roll Morton recognized as essential to jazz’s origins—one never broken, yet hindered by a half-century of often-forbidding impediments.

Since the U.S. embargo of Cuba began, the ability of Cuban and U.S. musicians to travel back and forth has shifted with political winds. The late 1970s saw a brief but notable loosening of tensions. By 1985, a hard line restricted cultural exchange. In the late 1990s, even as the Helms-Burton Act tightened many sanctions against the Cuban government, some doors opened, particularly for artists, through an official U.S. effort to encourage “people-to-people exchange.” Trumpeter Roy Hargrove’s Grammy award-winning 1997 album, “Habana,” featuring stellar Cuban musicians such as pianist Chucho Valdés, was one reflection of vibrant cross-cultural collaborations at the Havana International Jazz Festival, then under the musical direction of Mr. Valdés.

The unexpected commercial success of the 1997 album, “Buena Vista Social Club”—produced by American guitarist Ry Cooder, recorded at Havana’s Egrem studio, and showcasing a collective of musicians then mostly unknown to U.S. listeners—generated a fresh U.S. wave of popular fascination with Cuban music. Still, the 1998 Carnegie Hall concert captured in Wim Wender’s Oscar-nominated documentary about that recording would have been impossible to produce by 2004, owing to harsh U.S. travel restrictions regarding Cuba. Singer Ibrahim Ferrer, a Buena Vista member, could not accept his 2004 Grammy award for a subsequent album onstage; he was denied a visa to attend the ceremony. In fact, following a memorable December 2003 engagement by Mr. Valdés at Manhattan’s Village Vanguard, no other musician living in Cuba played in the U.S. until 2009, when the Obama administration began loosening travel restrictions.

The present shift in policy is more formal and holds more lasting promise. Already, rule changes should bring more American musicians and listeners in direct contact with Cuba. As of Jan. 16, U.S. citizens can travel to Cuba for one of a dozen approved purposes (including public performances) without prior written license from the U.S. Treasury Department, a time-consuming process that has intimidated promoters, producers and American travelers. Out-and-out tourism will not be permitted, but visitors from the U.S. will be allowed to spend more, use credit cards, and even bring home up to $100 in Cuban cigars.

The removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, as is currently under review, would presumably end the State Department security checks and visa denials that have led to last-minute cancellations of U.S. tours by Cuban groups. Though President Obama’s call for an end to the embargo is unlikely to gain congressional support, a less broad easing of commercial restrictions might permit American presenters to pay fees to Cuban artists, who are now allowed only per diem and travel reimbursements. Such changes might enable longer artistic residencies and collaboration on a grander scale, perhaps even an orchestra or institution based in both the U.S. and Cuba.

The past and present of American jazz and Cuban music intertwine in obvious ways. New York’s current jazz scene cannot be adequately described without highlighting the contributions of Messrs. Prieto and Terry, the sudden ubiquity of percussionists Román Díaz and Pedrito Martinez, and the innovations of some half-dozen other Cuban musicians, all now living in the U.S.

Likewise, musicians from the U.S. have long marked the Cuban scene. When I interviewed Mr. Valdés in his Havana home in 2010, one wall of his study was dotted with photos of storied Cuban musicians, including his father, the pianist Bebo Valdés, who died in 2013, and who played with American stars like Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan during his decadelong tenure as pianist and arranger at Havana’s famed Tropicana nightclub. “Cuban music and American jazz, that’s what we lived and breathed in my house,” Chucho told me. “I learned to play Jelly Roll Morton by listening to my father play.”

Some fear, reasonably, that an influx of tourism from the U.S. to Cuba may encourage the packaged nostalgia that often accompanies increased commercialism. Yet a freer exchange between musicians from both countries could rekindle energy akin to what Chucho Valdés grew up around.

And it may foster something yet deeper.

Pianist and bandleader Arturo O’Farrill learned of the current diplomatic breakthrough while in Havana, where he recorded an album combining his Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra with Cuban musicians, titled “The Conversation Continued.” Mr. O’Farrill, who was born in Mexico and raised on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, is the son of the Cuban composer, arranger and bandleader Chico O’Farrill. Arturo’s immersion in Cuban music began with a personal search for identity but now reflects a broader aesthetic mission that he sees as enabled by renewed relations.

“Now we can begin in earnest to have a healthy relationship in which Afro-Cuban music is not so exoticized,” Mr. O’Farrill said, “one in which we look at each other as inheritors of a common legacy, and as true partners.”

It remains to be seen whether diplomatic relations will, as President Obama announced, “begin a new chapter among the nations of the Americas.” But the policy changes already in motion may help turn such a page for the best jazz musicians of this hemisphere.

Mr. Blumenfeld writes about jazz for the Journal. He also blogs at blogs.artinfo.com/blunotes.

* * *

I am kinda interested in the above, but recognize what an insular little Cuban and NYC Latin-Jazz world he is referring too. No mention of timba or rap, or how this impacts other parts of the Latin Caribbean and Americas, but Blumenfeld is a jazz critic so maybe its wrong of me to expect more, and he only has so much space.

This show sold out the Garden

Puerto Rican reggaeton duo Plan B will headline The Best Latino Urbano concert at Madison Square Garden. Appearances by Daddy Yankee, J Alvarez, Arcangel, Tony Dize, Alexis y Fido, and Dominican artists El Mayor, Secreto and El Alfa have also been announced for the Feb. 6 all-ages show.

But Subl*tte's excited about the Latin-jazzers coming to the 92nd St Y in NYC (plus his upcoming trip to Cuba)

http://brianlynchjazz.com/2015/02/latin-on-lex-a-latin-jazz-festival-in-nyc-with-bl-at-the-helm/

Latin on Lex: A Latin Jazz Festival at the 92nd Street Y
Brian Lynch, artistic director

Wow, a 2015 version of the Buena Vista Social Club is touring the US this summer with Pedrito Martinez' group opening. Coming in late August to Wolf Trap Farm Park outside DC

Eugenia Leon's name does not turn up in the ilx search engine. Trying to get a grasp on the music of this Mexican singer--sometimes she sounds operatic, her roots are in nueva cancion folk I read, she's done a bossa album, sounds cabaret theatric jazzy too

I listened to Spotify and checked out some Youtubes. Her bossa album is ok, and she's done various other styles. Mostly diva-esque slow tempos although the bossa album is a bit more bubbly.

x-post- those Brian Lynch hosted 92 St Y gigs in NY include E. Palmieri on March 12th and the younger Cubans on the 13th

Yosvany Terry, alto sax & shekere
 Gregory Tardy – tenor sax
, Manuel Valera – piano,
 Pedrito Martinez – percussion
, Hans Glawischnig, bass, 
Obed Calvaire – drums

 And Brian Lynch, host and trumpet

At the end of the Los Tigres del Norte song a banner was held up onstage that said in Spanish "don't vote for racists"

Natalia Lafourcade won I think 3 awards, and did a nice performance too.

She did "Hasta la Raiz" which won song of the year. Nice pop

http://www.billboard.com/articles/events/latin-awards/6770030/latin-grammys-2015-winners-list

Some other winners

BEST SALSA ALBUM
Son De Panamá - Rubén Blades Con Roberto Delgado & Orquesta -- WINNER
Jukebox Primera Edición - Luis Enrique
Que Suenen Los Tambores - Víctor Manuelle
Son 45 - Ismael Miranda
Estaciones - Rey Ruiz

BEST CUMBIA/VALLENATO ALBUM
Por Siempre - Américo
Sencillamente - Jorge Celedón & Gustavo García -- WINNER
Sigo Invicto - Silvestre Dangond & Lucas Dangond
Al Son De Mi Corazón - Gusi
El Camino De Mi Existencia - Ivan Villazón y Saúl Lallemand

BEST CONTEMPORARY TROPICAL ALBUM
Buen Camino - Lucas Arnau
Lloviendo Estrellas - Leslie Grace
Presente Continuo - Guaco
Todo Tiene Su Hora - Juan Luis Guerra 4.40 -- WINNER
Johnny Sky - Johnny Sky

BEST TRADITIONAL TROPICAL ALBUM
#SiguedeModa - Checo Acosta
Tributo A Los Compadres No Quiero Llanto - José Alberto "El Canario" & Septeto Santiaguero -- WINNER
Homenaje A Tito Rodríguez - Rafael "Pollo" Brito
El Alma Del Son – Tributo A Matamoros - Alain Pérez
Locos Por El Son - Sonlokos

BEST TROPICAL FUSION ALBUM
Radio Universo - Chino y Nacho
El Mismo - ChocQuibTown -- WINNER
Esa Morena - Daiquiri
The King Is Back - Juan Magan
El Día Que Vuelva - Jorge Villamizar

BEST TROPICAL SONG
"Agua Bendita" - Andrés Castro & Víctor Manuelle, songwriters (Víctor Manuelle)
"Cómo Duele El Silencio" - Edgar Barrera, Efraín Dávila, Guianko Gómez & Leslie Grace, songwriters (Leslie Grace)
"Tú Tienes Razón (Bachata)" - Gusi, songwriter (Gusi)
"Tus Besos" - Juan Luis Guerra, songwriter (Juan Luis Guerra 4.40) -- WINNER
"Ya Comenzó" - Alex Cuba, Luis Enrique & Fernando Osorio, songwriters (Luis Enrique)

ChocQuibTown are great; nice to see them win.
I fucking hate Juan Luis Guerra.

ChocQuibTown performed too.

I think you and Rudiph and maybe others hate Juan Luis Guerra and I forget why? I saw him live once and was entertained by his merengue and more rhythms. Is it because he became a born-again Christian? My Spanish is so poor that I have no idea if that is what he is singing about. Curious to hear your reasons. Although I might decided to just show up on metal and free jazz threads and announce my hatred for such musicians.

I had no idea he was a Christian. I hate him because I don't like the sound of his voice, and I find his music to be very NPR/"world-music-is-good-for-you," over and above my well-documented loathing for merengue and bachata in general.

Ok....His audience remains Spanish speakers only btw, I don't see any evidence he has reached NPR types for what its worth.

The voice that grated on me was that of the singer of Bomba Estereo. Her group was doing a special performance with guest Will Smith.

See, her (and them) I like. Not the song with Will Smith, though. I like this one (their first, or at least breakthrough, single):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZXlgNMDK3E

Here's what Ned Subl*tte likes:

Applause for José Alberto "El Canario" (New York) and Septeto Santiaguero (Cuba), whose Tributo a Los Compadres: No Quiero Llanto won and very much deserved the Latin Grammy for traditional tropical. It's a knockout. A fabulous production, a distinguished repertoire, a shining example of international collaboration with Cuba, the best new son record I've heard in years, a very specific statement of a particular musical connection between Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and somehow, as traditional as the style is, it's a contemporary moment. Good for dancing, too. OMG, with Oscar d'León. Ismael Miranda. Andy Montañez. Tiburón Morales. The Conga de Los Hoyos, no less. Eliades Ochoa. Lots more. Pure joy. It's on Spotify, if you have that.

Listening to the above one now...So good so far

As we move to the end of the year, I'd like to drop a quick note to encourage any readers / lurkers / ilxors to post their favorite spanish language tracks from this year to the thread so that I can hoover them into the ongoing spotify playlist. Last chance for any accessible stragglers that may not already be in the lexicon.

Thanks.

I need to listen to that El Canario and Santiaguero one again.

Not my thing. I didn't get through it once.

Cuban folkloric

I prefer the Jose Alberto of Tipica 73's "Baila Que Baila" or RMMish stuff like "A la hora que me llamen voy" or "Quiero Salsa" (which might be SONY but still RMMIsh).

Not that anyone who has gone salsa dancing a little in the last 15 years hasn't heard "Quiero Salsa" a billion times already, but I am afraid I am still a sucker for it.

new Meridian Brothers record:

https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/sounds-in-context-meridian-brothers/

It's a project dedicated to the organ. I was inspired by the ambient Hammond organists in Latin America, a style that developed in parallel to easy listening music genres in 60’s & 70’s. Organists from Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panamá and Brazil developed a remarkable style performing with backing bands that played traditional instruments, with the organ as the central instrument – in some cases achieving really beautiful results. A sub-genre of organ cumbia was created also. This music is still played at some of the "sonideros" parties in Mexico and is very popular in Ecuador.

Starting from some of these records, I decided to investigate this style, using the timbre of the organ, but developing the style further and turning it into a kind of "impossible organ" music – a kind of un-easy listening. I used the same background instrumentation as was used in some of the tunes I was inspired by: double bass pizzicato, jazz-like drums and the organ (using software and hardware synthesizers). Occasionally, I also used drum machines and other electronic sounds. Because it's very difficult to play it on the organ alone, I used the sequencing capabilities of Ableton Live and Max for Live in order to achieve this "impossible" sound I wanted.

xps

amanecer is prob my AOY, every track on that one is a TUNE

so far only seen it on the RS year-end, at #50

Alright, maybe I will give Bomba Estereo another shot...

Aventura, with Romeo Santos, to reunite for NYC shows in February. These tickets are gonna go fast.

Oh yeah.

http://www.npr.org/2015/12/01/457388574/latitudes-our-favorite-global-music-right-now

NPR's global and classical person went to Cuba...She saw the funky Havana musical collective Interactivo and talks about them and others including Ibeyi . Plus she went to the Egram label studio and offices

That Meridian Brothers records is str8 fire, TYVM crüt. Pairs up nicely with the Rionegro debut's vibe.

I like some Meridian Brothers tracks (using cumbia and champeta rhythms), but not others. Was not a fan of Salvadora Robot album cuts that relied too much on animal sounds, Zappa-esque humor, and lounge keyboard grooves influenced by Esquivel.

Ned Subll*te's been emailing about Puerto Rico's financial issues. He posted a forthcoming American Prospect website article--

Puerto Rico’s citizens have moved out. “More people have left Puerto Rico over last two years than all of the 1980s and 1990s,” says LeCompte of Jubilee USA. Austerity measures hurt the poor much more than the nouveau riche. And this suffering creates a vicious cycle: Puerto Rican out-migration erodes the tax base and causes a severe talent drain, increasing desperation. “A doctor a day has left the island,” says Torres-Ríos. “I was at an emergency room, someone said ‘I’ve been waiting 13 hours.’ There’s no staff to handle it.”

NPR's poll of 147 jazz critics also asks them if they so choose, to do a separate list of Latin jazz albums. This year's results

LATIN

1. Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, Cuba: The Conversation Continues (Motema). 41 votes

2. Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet, 10 (Zoho). 7

3. Dafnis Prieto Sextet, Triangles and Circles (Dafnison Music). 5

4. Samuel Torres Group, Forced Displacement (Zoho). 4

I vote in that poll, but I admit I didn't vote for a Latin jazz title. Didn't hear enough to offer an honest choice.

I listened to a bit of the O'Farrill and the Prieto releases listed, and was not wowed by either. They're ok

From J Shep's contribution to the Slate critics roundtable on the year in music 2015

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_music_club/features/2015/music_club_2015/kendrick_lamar_s_to_pimp_a_butterfly_captured_2015_better_than_any_other.html

Major Lazer’s reverse-crossover from the mainstream into the Latin charts was one of the year’s most interesting developments, precisely because it remains so difficult for Spanish-language artists to break into the American mainstream. Balvin was ubiquitous this year on the Latin charts, but outside of Latin publications we heard barely a peep about Dale, Pitbull’s latest Spanish-language album and arguably one of his best, or of Natalia Lafourcade’s typically gorgeous Hasta la Raíz, whose title track won not only Song of the Year but Record of the Year at the Latin Grammys.

I'm wrapping this playlist for the year. It has been updated with a few new adds (Arturo O'Farrill, Grupo Fantasma, CocoBlue, Ivy Queen) and includes every track mentioned on thread that is available via Spotify's US catalogue as of EOY 2015. If I missed something or if a track comes available sometime in the future, bump here to let me know and I'll add.

Rolling Latin and Afro-Latin 2015 Thread Spotify Playlist

Cool, thanks

Forks, we are just gonna keep using this thread I think, because there are not usually enough postings. But you can go ahead and just change the year for a new Spotify playlist if you have the time. I appreciate your efforts on this...

Meanwhile, just saw this review in the Washington Post of the 2016 DC appearance of band Chicano Batman

My question--
Is multi-culti Los Angeles band Chicano Batman really better than mainstream Latin pop, or just different from it?

The band members, whose families hail from different parts of Latin America, have been playing together since 2008. It’s no surprise that a parade of multicultural rhythms filled their childhood homes. They’ve said in interviews that there was some Carlos Santana, some Cream, some pop-rock ballads from Los Angeles Negros. Chicano Batman’s namesake debut, as well as its most recent album, “Cycles of Existential Rhyme,” draws from all of these influences and pick up where their parents’ generation left off.

Onstage, these guys are as weird and idiosyncratic as their songs (in a good way). Martinez is a tangle of hair and energy as he alternates between flopping over his keyboard and bending over his guitar. The band members are rock stars when it comes to jamming out on groovier songs, but they keep it cool and relaxed for tracks such as the mopey, ­cantina-style “Itotiani.”

At one point, Martinez took a step back and gave the mic to bassist Eduardo Arenas, who provided lead vocals on “La Manzanita.” The song is everything good about cumbia: bouncy, buoyant and a little rickety.

Add the magical touch of Chicano Batman’s whining guitars, and it elicits the feeling you get when you spin around on the dance floor until the figures around you blur. With a sound like that, it could very well be that these four unassuming heroes can save the world from the monotony of mainstream Latin pop.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/chicano-batman-wins-over-crowds-with-unique-psychedelic-sound/2016/01/03/505f514e-b23f-11e5-8abc-d09392edc612_story.html

ILM's Rolling Latin & Afro-Latin Thread 2016 Spotify Playlist
^ will start updating around February

Someone needs to start new thread.

RIP Chocolate

One last thing: there was I guess a huge reggaeton song by Nicky Jam called "El Perdon" which was kind of a huge earworm for me despite my unfamiliarity with the genre. I'm really pussed at myself for nominating for the EOY thread, but I just learned the names of the song and the singer within the last 24 hours

Can I wish for more reggaeton itt? Trying to navigate the genre as something of a noob is quite hard.

Someone needs to start new thread.

RIP Chocolate

― Green Dolphin Street Hassle (James Redd and the Blecchs),

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/6835403/chocolate-armenteros-dies-trumpet

RIP

As for a new thread, my inclination was to just go with Rudy's suggestion that we just keep using this thread because there are not enough people here into Afro-Latin musics to justify doing new ones every year. But if a number of people choose to differ and outvote us, I guess we can.

As for reggaeton, some of us here were more into it years ago and then got bored with it. But now post-bachata it is back, with some slight changes-- more auto-tuned vocals, some bachata sappiness at times, plenty of Euro and Diplo club influences. Anyone who is into it, is of course free to chime in...

Can we keep the thread but modify the title slightly to "2015+" or something?

Sure, how do we get a mod to do that...?

Go to Mod Request Borad and ask, including link to this thread.

If it's causing confusion maybe there should be a distinct 2016 thread. (Sorry, starting to change my mind about that.) I personally don't feel like I am interested enough in current Afro-Latin music (at least the part of it I find out about) to try to keep a thread like this alive any more, but this thread did get a fair number of posts last year.

I haven't watched this, but Wayne Marshall seems good for reggaeton orientation. Maybe more academic than you're asking for.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLOXfSQ5Zao

But anyway, 240+ posts might be respectable enough to keep doing this as an annual thing.

IMHO, for the purposes of searching for information, unique threads is really the way to go. It's not a question of "not enough posts", it's for indexing reasons.

But whatever's clever

Chocolate was responsible for many great trumpet solos.

Thanks, _Rudipherous_! I definitely need something academic, but I also v much need some help sifting through the heap of wearying dross to find the nuggets of gold.

I'm also in favour of a new thread btw.

Mi gente: Vamanos pal hilo Rolling Afro-Latin Music 2016: Salsa, Bomba, Merengue,Reggaeton, Bachata, Latin-Jazz and more

Nice!