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

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!