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

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

I have been dancing to and having fun watching Peruvian Amazonian cumbia band Los Wembler's de Iquitos for free at the Smithsonian Folklife Fest. They are also playing Brooklyn July 9th. Their guitarist incorporates surf-rock licks in their sound and they helped inspire chicha music and have been linked to that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqV7m1n-1Zc

Like that sound, thanks for the rec, doubt I can make it.

Fruko y sus Tesos are playing my town next Saturday night, July 11. It's at a club I can walk to from my house, and tickets are only $20. I am sorely tempted.

This is a quick, mid-year reminder that all available tracks mentioned on this thread (and a handful of album selections from each listed) are being posted as updated to the thread-specific Spotify playlist. I just did a top-to-bottom sweep prior to posting this message and have updated as of today with everything that's been added on Spotify since it was first mentioned.

41 tracks from all over the map

ILX's Rolling Latin / Afro-Latin 2015 Thread Spotify Playlist

Although his voice is very weathered at this point, Jose Alberto can still sing. Would prefer a different (non- conjunto style) accompaniment, but I guess we can't be too choosy at this point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfd3US84HmM

I haven't heard the entire album yet.

Saw Jose Alberto live a couple times many years back and he put on great shows both times. Will check that out

More salsa choque. This one has a guest spot by Nejo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6sPuZkLlHk

Not the best thing ever, but pretty much the only recent type of salsa that doesn't put me to sleep.

Not salsa, but same act as above:

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

Yes to ChocQuibtown. Below is an hour live performance video of Peruvian Amazonian cumbia and surf band Los Wembler's de Iquitos, whose final US gig (I think) on their current tour is tonight at Tropicalia in DC

http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M6387&type=A

RIP Joan Sebastian, dead at 64 (bone cancer).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YicJ12EUZz8&list=PLhcFW8IkJSPLpJ8ziFTJ38ydsub5rc1AQ

Cuba's Los Van Van, led by the late founder's son are on a tour now. Have liked them live in the past:

07th WASHINGTON DC – Howard Theatre
08th NEW YORK CITY – Lehman Center
09th CHICAGO – Thalia Hall
13th LOS ANGELES – Conga Room
14th SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco Jazz Center
16th LAS VEGAS – Sam’s Town Hotel
19th ALBUQUERQUE – National Hispanic Cultural Center Plaza Mayor
20th DENVER – City Hall
21st NEW YORK CITY – BB King’s
22nd SAN JUAN, PR – Centro de Convenciones
28th ORLANDO – Majestic Convention center
29th MIAMI – James L Night Center

I was away and missed Los Van Van's gig near me.

Chico O"Farrill just was in Cuba again:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/22/arts/music/cuba-the-conversation-continues-and-live-in-cuba-expand-a-musical-dialogue.html?ribbon-ad-idx=24&rref=arts/music&module=Ribbon&version=origin®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Music&pgtype=article

Surely you mean his son, Arturo.

Ha, of course.

Speaking of Cubans, the current version of Buena Vista Social Club is on tour and the Pedrito Martinez Group is opening.

Author Ned Sublette is doing tours of Cuba starting soon. Twice a year I think

This YouTube channel is pretty great. A lot of amazing album covers.

http://www.youtube.com/user/carlosgulfo/videos

http://www.billboard.com/charts/latin-songs

Put here to remind me to check out some pop

Will do the above shortly, as I was checking out a live review of ArcAngel and De la Ghetto, reggaetoners who still/used to make the charts.

But Saturday night I instead saw NYC based Cuban percussionist/singer Pedrito Martinez and his combo do a half-hour opening set for Buena Vista Social Club(4 oldtimers plus 9 newer folks of various ages) out at Wolf Trap Park. Very enjoyable all around.

The 2015 edition of Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band is at the Blue Note in NYC this week. Brother Andy G is just there on certain nights. Tain Watts is drumming