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

It's a very produced record. Not in the sense that it sounds of-the-moment; it's got a classic '60s vibe (strings, heavily reverbed guitars, etc.), with very few concessions to the 21st Century.

Still need to get to that. On my list

Finally gave Lafourcade a quick listen. I like it too, and like Venegas it has that timeless Latin-American indie-pop feel that they both can do so well. Trying to figure out why they do it more impresively than many folks singing in English---better craft, better melodies...

Ned S*blette's back in Cuba for the first time in a while

A quick music diary . . .

Saturday: Pedro Luis Ferrer
Sunday: Emilio Morales y Los Nuevo Amigos at La Zorra y El Cuervo
Monday: Harold López-Nussa
Tuesday: a triple play: the peña (regularly scheduled gig) of Pancho Amat at the Museo Nacional de la Música; Havana d'Primera at Casa de la Música Miramar; Aldo López-Gavilán
Wednesday: Roberto Carcassés y Interactivo at Bertolt Brecht
Thursday: Pupy Y Los Que Son, Son at Casa de la Música Galeano . . .
Tonight: Van Van at the Capri . . .
Tomorrow: Reguetón .

Ned is back from Cuba and preparing an article for Billboard. He is also checking out Cuban music that is not Latin jazz. A recent Sublette email mentions the Enrique Iglesias video for "Bailando" that was filmed in Havana (and is worth watching; it also has a huge # of Youtube views) and a number of other videos. I haven't checked 'em all out yet.

Still haven't

Haven't heard the new Omar Sosa album either....been listening to Giberto Gil, Dom la Nena, Richard Bishop, afropop, Danny Gatton, D'angelo, Kendrick lamar and more though

This is a quick, quarterly reminder that all available tracks mentioned on this thread (and a few album selections) are being posted as updated to a thread-specific Spotify playlist that I'm maintaining. I just did a quick sweep prior to posting this message and updated as of today with everything that's been added on Spotify since it was first mentioned.

That playlist is currently a bit more than two hours of music and is clickable below. Give it a spin and subscribe if you want to listen along through the year.

Rolling Latin/Afrolatin 2015 Thread Spotify Playlist

This is very good, but it takes its time heating up. By the son of Puerto Rican bandleader Don Perignon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDSC183Mk9Q

The rest of the album is worth a listen as well, though that's the standout for me.

Ivy Queen has put out four albums, all entitled Vendetta (some of us are just less forgiving than others), in four different genres, which could probably be melted down to one solid EP. I like these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fljU5MccE9Y

Salsa lite, the way reggaetoneros do it, but kind of nice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lLmhkw56h8

(Some back story for that first video: apparently she is pissed off about the way she was treated by music business types while she was pregnant.)

I like the Ivy Queen. Also like this El paso de la Bailerina - Alexander Abreu & Havana D' Primera - Original Version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIOihbD-CFY#t=44

That's one Ned Sublette linked to. Here's another: La Charanga Habanera y David Calzado "LA PEGADERA" - (Official Video) Salsa Cubana 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-IvwWdBzPo

Three of Cuba's great young pianists: Aldo López-Gavilán, Jorge Luis Pacheco Campos (who plays with his quartet at Dizzy's April 23), and Harold López-Nussa---says Ned

Writer Ned Sublette who was just in Cuba likes these three Cuban jazz pianists. They have been at the Kennedy Center in DC and their shows were video-streamed and archived

http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M6251&type=A

Pacheco and Gavilan live at the Kennedy Center

http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M6040

Lopez-Nussa trio at the Kennedy Center

The jazz concert videos are long btw.

at the risk of spamming the board, here's a list of pertinent shows scheduled for this season at NYC's SummerStage:

FREE SHOWS featuring (in alphabetical order) BABY DO BRASIL, CANO ESTREMERA, CESÁRIA ÉVORA ORCHESTRA, COMPASS, DIEGO GARCIA, FELIX HERNANDEZ RHYTHM REVUE, GERARDO CONTINO Y LOS HABENEROS, HELADO NEGRO, ISMAEL MIRANDA, JORGE DREXLER, JOSE PEÑA SUAZO, JUDY TORRES, MAYRA ANDRADE, MISTER G, NAÇĀO ZUMBI, NATION BEAT, NO TE VA GUSTAR, OQUES GRASSES, OUR LATIN THING, SYSTEMA SOLAR, TITO NIEVES, TKA, TONY TOUCH, VICENTICO, XIMENA SARIÑANA, and many more
***
• Wednesday June 24 - Crotona Park, BX - 7pm - Judy Torres + Tony Touch
• Sunday June 28 - Central Park - 3pm - Catalan Sounds On Tour with Oques Grasses + La Iaia + Silvia Perez Cruz + DJ Guillamino
• Tuesday July 7 - St. Mary’s Park, BX - 7pm - LAMC presents Our Latin Thing + DJ Afro
• Wednesday July 8 - Central Park - 6pm - LAMC presents Systema Solar + Compass + Helado Negro
• Wednesday July 8 – St. Mary’s Park, BX – 7pm – Ismael Miranda
• Thursday July 9 - St. Mary’s Park, BX - 7pm - Cano Estremera
• Saturday July 11 - Central Park - 3pm - LAMC presents Vicentico + Ximena Sariñana + No Te Va Gustar
• Sunday July 12 - Central Park - 3pm - Cesária Évora Orchestra + Mayra Andrade + Dino D'Santiago
• Sunday July 12 - St. Mary’s Park, BX - 4pm - Mister G + Soul Street Dance + DJ ASHO
• Sunday July 12 - St. Mary’s Park, BX - 7pm - Gerardo Contino y Los Habeneros + Film Screening: Celia - The Queen (2008)
• Sunday July 19 - Central Park - 7pm - Jorge Drexler + Diego Garcia + Danay Suarez
• Saturday July 25 - Highbridge Park, MN - 7pm - Jose Peña Suazo y La Banda Gorda
• Saturday August 1 - Clove Lakes Park, SI - 7pm - TKA + Tony Touch
• Sunday August 2 - Central Park - 3pm - Brasil Summerfest with Nação Zumbi + Nation Beat’s Carnival Caravan with Cha Wa + DJ Vinil Pompéia
• Sunday August 2 - Clove Lakes Park, SI - 7pm - The Felix Hernandez Rhythm Revue + Film Screening: Get On Up (2014)
• Tuesday August 4 - East River Park, MN - 7pm - Tito Nieves
• Sunday August 9 - East River Park, MN - 7pm - The Felix Hernandez Rhythm Revue + Film Screening: Our Latin Thing (1972)
• Saturday August 15 - Central Park - 7pm - Brazilian Film Festival of NY featuring Baby Do Brasil + Film Screening: Samba & Jazz (2014)

http://www.hffny.com/2015/we-the-music-3/

April 9 to 17th Havana Film Fest NYC

Wish I could make it up there for some of the music ones including:

BLUECHACHA

Ernesto Daranas | Cuba | 2012 | Documentary | 35min

Promotional documentary featuring the last album of the famous Cuban guitarist, composer and director Manuel Galbán, founder of the famous quartet Los Zafiros. Before his death at age 80, Galbán managed to finish his latest project, a delightful album titled “Bluechacha” that he recorded in collaboration with his daughter, the composer Magda Rosa Galbán, who handled musical production and arrangements along with her husband, musician Juan Antonio Leyva

My take on movie Ciudad Delirio that's showing at Filmfest DC

A doctor from Spain named Javier (Julián Villagrán) goes to Cali, Colombia for a medical conference and meets a salsa dance instructor, a single mother named Angie (Carolina Ramírez). She struggles to afford costumes for her working-class dance company, the Cali Stars, who are determined to win a competition. The plot of Ciudad Delirio is formulaic, and positioning the doctor as a stiff, nice white guy who can’t dance and Angie’s ex (her child’s father) as an irresponsible, flashy black dancer doesn’t help. But if you’re a sucker for corny romance tales, the drum-and-horn pulse of classic salsa, and Latin choreography glitzed up with Vegas-style sequins and spectacle, you might be able to overlook director and co-screenwriter Chus Gutiérrez’s reliance on stereotypes and clichés.

Sat. April 18, 9:15 p.m.; Wed. April 22, 6:30 p.m., AMC Mazza Gallerie

The International Bachata Day Music & Dance Festival May 28, 2015 - June 1st, 2015 in Republica Dominicana

Even if I liked bachata more, not sure I can make it.

Speaking of bachata, Romeo Santos is on the cover of Billboard

“With a high-profile cameo in 'Furious 7' and co-signs from Usher and Drake, the bachata star may finally be crossing over -- but strictly on his own terms… Romeo Santos has more #1 chart hits than any other Latin Music artist this decade… ‘Propuesta Indecente’ is one of the biggest songs in Latin music for most of the last two years. The track has spent a record-setting 89 weeks in the top five of Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart… he is the leading finalist at the Billboard Latin Music Awards with 21 nods in 16 categories, a record in the show’s 26-year history… with a sound rooted in the swagger of contemporary R&B and hip-hop, Santos has revolutionized Bachata …it’s now both a Pan-Latin and global style -- something you can hear from the Dominican Republic to Colombia to Italy -- largely due to Santos. ..on Formula Vol. 2, he stuck to Spanish, and let his guest stars cross over to the bachata side. ‘Odio,’ his single with Drake, became the highest Billboard Hot 100 debut for a Spanish-language track in the chart’s history”

He was impressive and charismatic when I saw him live years back as the lead singer of Aventura. But I have never been wowed by the albums

Never seen him headline, but he came out as a guest when I saw Wisin & Yandel at Madison Square Garden and the minute he stepped onstage, the screaming doubled in volume and went up an octave. It was crazy. Nothing's ever gonna make me like bachata, though.

I want to hear this---

On air this week is “Music in a Changing Cuba.” Veteran Hip Deep producer Ned Sublette drops by our studio in Brooklyn to share music and stories from his recent trip to Cuba for a reporting trip for Billboard magazine. Reggaeton has become the youth music of choice in Havana but timba big bands still command loyal followings. We’ll hear hot sets of both. Plus Ned talks about what is changing in Cuba and what is not changing.

http://www.afropop.org/22599/music-in-a-changing-cuba/

What’s up in Havana besides tourism? Ned Sublette, who recently
traveled to Cuba for Billboard magazine, talks with Sean Barlow about
the present moment in the fast-changing music capital. Timba from
Havana D’Primera, jazz/son by Pancho and Daniel Amat, and
a mastermix of reguetón by Chacal y Yakarta, El Micha, and others.

Reggaeton lives!

EL ZOL 107.9

PRESENTA:

SABADO 23 DE MAYO

"LATIN EXPLOSION 2015"

YANDEL / ALEXIS Y FIDO / ANDY ANDY /
IVY QUEEN /J. ALVAREZ / ZION & LENNOX

DE LA GHETTO / KHRIZ & ANGEL / JOWELL & RANDY /

MESSIAH / JORY BOY / EL CHEVO / SAHARA

at the 10,000 seat Patriot Center Arena

Not sure where to post this, but def Latin, jazz feel applied to crooning, results vintage cool:
The Rough Guide To Tango Legends: Carlos Gardel
Release Date: 25 May2015
Cat No: RGNET1329CD
Barcode: 605633132922
Format: CD & Digital Download

Carlos Gardel’s style and charisma set him apart from all other singers and musicians of his time. This definitive collection of 27 lovingly remastered classic tracks shows why he remains the undisputed ‘King Of Tango’.

There’s something about Gardel that sets him apart from all other artists and musicians, and which keeps him safe and sure in his position as undisputed number one tango legend. But no one quite knows what it is.

Born in Toulouse in 1890, Charles Romuald Gardes and his beloved mother, Berthe, sailed to South America in early 1893. They were just two of many thousands of economic migrants trying their luck in Buenos Aires. Berthe made a living as a laundress in the Abasto district. Her son – renamed Carlos Gardel to fit in – sang at private parties, and then strummed and sang in a folk duo with José Razzano. In 1912 he recorded 15 folk songs as a soloist.

But the key years were between 1917, when Gardel released his tango debut, ‘Mi Noche Triste’ and launched a genre known as ‘tango cancion’, and 1935, when he died tragically in an aeroplane accident in Medellin, Colombia, aged just 44. In this period he released more than 750 songs – many of which he penned the music for – visited Europe and the USA, and made eleven feature films, all vehicles for his toothsome smile and his tremulous baritone. He collaborated closely with some brilliant lyricists, most notably Alfredo Le Pera, with whom he would write magisterial tango songs such as ‘El Dia Que Me Quieras’, ‘Por Una Cabeza’ and ‘Volver’.

The back catalogue is as uneven as it is extensive. Some of the original songs sound small, tinny and fragile, as if played by miniature musicians at the bottom of a gramophone funnel. Others are smoother, slicker, with big orchestras bouncing along and Gardel’s voice revealed in all its range and richness.

This selection of tracks is definitive with that caveat in mind. While I have allowed in a few scratchy classics, I have often opted for cleaner tracks that demonstrate the power and presence of Gardel’s voice. What emerges is a multi-faceted talent, a tanguero who sounds sometimes like a romantic hero, sometimes like an old friend, or perhaps a relative, or a cheeky chappy of the barrio, but always a legend. The sequence is driven by mood rather than chronology and paints, I hope, a picture of Belle Époque Buenos Aires and of tango’s golden age, while telling the story of the meteoric rise of Carlos Gardel, ‘The Creole Thrush’, ‘The Magician’, ‘The Quiet Man’, the ‘Abasto Brunet’ and the eternal ‘King Of Tango’.

Wow - thanks for the tip. My wife's been obsessed with tango recently; will definitely be buying this.

You might also like Rana Santacruz's Por Ahi, out May 5. The opener,"El Chaputin," is minor key swing, influenced by the old Latin-klezmer connection; the second track, "Cumbia de la Serpiente," is a charming-disarming serenade; "Noces de Lluna" is an expansive, intimate waltz, "La Plaza de la Flora" makes me want to prowl the dance floor (or the plaza) with a rose in my teeth; others flow in and out of each other's momentum and atmospheres more seamlessly, but still changing things up sufficiently: Santacruz's subtle tenor voice, with violin and acoustic bass, are the constants; banjo, accordion, horns and drums show up pretty often. Bliss-inducing, but never blissed out. Is this love or just infatuation? Don't know yet, but it went better than most first listens
http://www.npr.org/2015/04/26/401968597/first-listen-rana-santacruz-por-ah#playlist

"*Noches* de Lluna," that is.

This guy! Gotta get something by him:
http://www.npr.org/2015/05/07/404945711/violinist-federico-britos-returns-to-the-hot-club

interesting.

For those in New York:

http://gcmusic.commons.gc.cuny.edu/events/conference-congo-cuba-in-new-york/
Congo-Cuba in New York: Palo Mayombe Music, Dance & Religion

Discussion
May 11, 2015, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Skylight Room 9100

Join leading scholars, priests, and performers of Afro-Cuban Congo culture for enlightening presentations and discussions exploring the ways music, dance, religion, and philosophy influence how a people conceive of themselves, negotiate relationships with each other, and their history. Participants will elaborate the ways practitioners surface notions of warfare, identity, and power through drum and music practice. What theoretical organizing frameworks surface through the music, dance, and religious practice and what are their relationships to Congo, to Cuba, and to other Congo-influenced practices such as Petwo in Haiti? What is unique to Palo Mayombe and how does this impact current knowledge in Caribbean Studies, African Diaspora Studies, Ethnomusicology, and Cultural Studies?

Scholars will each identify and elaborate on the analytical lenses they employ in their scholarly and cultural organizing work with Afro-Cuban palo mayombe music and dance, updating the field on their recent findings and the implications this has for themes covered in Ethnomusicology, Cultural Anthropology, and History. Presentations and panel discussions will be followed by an interactive discussion with the audience.

Schedule

12-12:10pm Welcome- Manuela Arciniegas, Ryan Mann-Hamilton, CUNY Graduate Center PhD Candidates in Music and Anthropology
12:10-12:20 Introduction- Spirituality and Culture in the Diaspora- C. Daniel Dawson, Columbia University
12:20-12:30 Connections to Caribbean Music Studies- Dr. Peter Manuel, Music Department, John Jay College, CUNY
12:30-1:15 A Visit to Mbanza Kongo- Ned Sublette, Historian, Musicologist, Composer, and Producer
1:15 1:45 Spirituality and Religion Through The Mambo - Alex LaSalle, High Priest, Singer
1:45-2:45 The Congo Drum Hidden Language- John Amira & Co., Musician and Educator of Palo, Haitian Petwo, and Bata
2:45-3:15 Embodying Warfare: W(rite) and Dance of Cuban Congos- Yesenia Fernandez Selier, Performer, Researcher, PhD Candidate/NYU
3:15-4 Audience Question and Answer, Discussion

The day of activities will be followed by the Live at 365 Concert: Roman Diaz and Afro Cuban Music Ensemble on May 11, 2015 @7pm in the Elebash Recital Hall at the CUNY Graduate Center with a Pre-concert talk taking place @6:15pm. http://www.liveat365.org/concert08.php

Cosponsored by the Advanced Research Collaborative, the Music Department at the Graduate Center and the Dominican Studies Group.

NYC-based Cuban drummer Dafnis Prieto has a new Latin Jazz effort out, and the NY Times and a freelance jazz critic on NPR like it and him

http://www.npr.org/2015/05/06/404657875/cuban-drummer-dafnis-prietos-crisp-rhythms-are-good-for-jazz

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/arts/music/review-triangles-and-circles-an-album-from-the-dafnis-prieto-sextet.html?_r=0

This is from last year. Elio Villafranca, live from the Steinway & Sons factory floor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4PAYWL3Sco
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxknykDTWPk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwDoXRI64S8

etc.

(Haven't watched all of this myself.)

that dude is hella cool.

I don't think I posted this song to this thread last year. It's a decent salsa version of an early Shiina Ringo hit, by a band with a Japanese singer, out of Bogota, Colombia:

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

I wish she would soneo in Japanese but maybe she sings straight in general.

Original: http://nhacso.net/nghe-nhac/marunouchi-sadistic-marunouchi-sadistic.Vl1TUEZW.html

One of many Tokyo Jihen live performances:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDu88M_1ZM4

(Nagoya, come on!)

Cocoblue Salsa Band should have given it a harder arrangement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/18/arts/music/fire-and-ice-minnesotans-join-orquesta-aragon-in-havana.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-0&action=click&contentCollection=Music®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&configSection=article&isLoggedIn=true&pgtype=article

classical and charanga

All you Nueva Yorkers went to this, Si?

http://remezcla.com/events/visual-clave-50-years-latin-album-cover-design/

Missed the opening night, but the exhibit is still there for a bit.

>Featuring a multimedia presentation by Izzy Sanabria, graphic designer for many album covers on the Fania record label, as well as the founder of the groundbreaking magazine, Latin New York. Presentation starts at 6:30pm. DJ Turmix, DJ Andujar and DJ Bongohead will be playing classic Latin vinyl throughout the reception.

>The BMHC Laboratory in Crotona East is a 1,400 square foot performance, gallery, and retail space where Bronx artists can innovate and showcase their work, even before the permanent home to the BMHC opens in 2017. The Lab is a music incubator that hosts artists-in-residence, concerts, open mics, film screenings, galleries, arts retail, wellness events and roundtable discussions for musicians, artisans, and the community to enjoy. It is run by WHEDco (Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation).

Bronx and Brooklyn locations...

BMHC Lab | 1303 Louis Niné Boulevard, Bronx NY

Featuring slide lecture presentation by Izzy “Mr. Salsa” Sanabria and DJ Turmix, Andujar and Bongohead playing classic Latin vinyl

ABOUT VISUAL CLAVE:
Visual Clave documents the little known evolution of ‘Salsa Graphics’ and the expression of Latino/a identities through the prism of album cover art over half a century of music packaging and graphic design.

This exhibit explores the evolution of Latin music album cover art over the last 50 years, paying critical attention to issues of identity and aesthetics through depictions of Hispanic people and cultures, with an emphasis on historical context and the unsung graphic artists who helped present Latin music — and its attendant socio-cultural themes — to the world. Visual Clave’s premise is that the record jacket is not just an ephemeral mass-produced object to be relegated to the trash heap of a bygone era, but rather a unique 12 by 12 inch window onto a culture’s soul.

GALLERY HOURS:
June 5 - August 15
Monday – Tuesday – Thursday: 4:00 – 7:00 PM;
Saturday: 1:00 – 5:00 PM

**One show, two locations! Don't forget to check out the rest of the show at its Brooklyn location:
VISUAL CLAVE: BROOKLYN
PICTURE FARM GALLERY
338 Wythe Ave., Brooklyn NY

Sounds cool!

No, missed it so far, but would like to go. Will ask around.

Samuel Torres has a great band playing tonight in my neighborhood.

Gonna be in the NYC area in August I think, so maybe I will check it out then

I'm still about as uninterested in most contemporary Cuban music as ever, but you might enjoy this cover by Pupy y Los Que Son Son, which has produced more of my favorite timba than any other act out of Cuba (for what that's worth):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=666bx2rLgg8

It still doesn't do much for me, but I enjoy some Pupy-isms in it.

I hate what they do with the downbeat though (which has been de rigueur in timba for 15 years or more). To me it just totally deforms the beauty of the clave rhythmic framework.

And now, youtube, I did not mean puppy candela. Does that really make any more sense than Pupy candela?

Thanks for that. I am a fan of Pupy. I enjoyed he and his band live, and also what I have heard via recordings and video. Sacrilege I know, but I can largely deal with their timba downbeat

Saw La India sing freestyle and salsa live sometime between 2004 and 2008, she is back in the area down at the Palace tonight in a Virginia suburb of DC. Tempted to go again.

I'd like to see Pupy live. Here's another throwback-ish song from Pupy, this year:

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

He's definitely done far more interesting things than either of those songs.

Fabiano Do Nascimento - Dança do Tempo http://open.spotify.com/album/6PWdY8VAio3JPra3NJ3qq2

Brazilian? Will check him out. Wonder if he was written about here;

Brazilian Music