Latin Music reads for the weekend
Posted on 05. Sep, 2009 by Hector Aviles in Latino Music
I want to share with you some links to the most interesting Latin music reads I’ve found within the last couple of weeks. There are some interesting articles as well as some good CD recommendations for your Latin music library. Some of these are in English and some in Spanish.
Since the great Cuban singer Benny Moré’s 90th birthday anniversary was this past August 24th, there were several blogs and shows focused on one of the most influential Latin music artists of our time. Benny Moré’s improvisational style and the way he attacked “soneos” greatly influenced how generations of Salsa artists approach Salsa and boleros since the 1960’s .
I’ll lead with a great 2-hour program of a “Tribute to Benny Moré” on the program “Con Sabor” which airs on KPFA 94.1 (a radio station in the San Francisco Bay Area). The program (in English) had plenty of Benny Moré music to go with highlights of Benny Moré’s life and career. Listening to Benny Moré, you can tell that many of those we call “old-school” salsa artists learned a few things from Benny. IMPORTANT NOTE: KPFA will only keep the archive of this program for 2 weeks, and since it aired last Sunday, you just have 1 week left to listen to it. The link is HERE.
In case you missed it, I wrote a blog on Benny More called “Benny Moré; Cuba’s King of Rhythm and Improvisation“, where I highlight some aspects of his life and influence in today’s Salsa. You can link to the article HERE.
Also, the great Peruvian Salsa blogger Eduardo Livia wrote the piece “Nuestro Recuerdo a Benny More” (Spanish), which includes a video documentary of approximately 15 minutes, on the life of Benny More for his blog Radio El Salsero. The link is HERE.
While you’re at it, I also found interesting a couple of other blogs on Radio El Salsero (Spanish). There is a blog about “Los Albinos de la Salsa; Cano Estremera y Nestor Sanchez”, which provides interesting facts and opinions about both of these great salsa singers. HERE is the link to that blog.
The other blog is regarding legendary Panamanian trumpet great Vitín Paz, on “Victor Paz; La Mejor Primera Trompeta del Mundo”. Victor Paz has a new CD, and Eduardo took the opportunity to reflect on the career of the quiet but great trumpet player, who has a stellar résumé under his belt. The link to that blog post is HERE.
Palmieri Grammy Awarded "The Sun of Latin Music"
I’ll share with you one of my favorite Victor Paz trumpet solos. The audio clip below contains a piece of the Eddie Palmieri song “Nada de Ti”, included in the Grammy Award winning album “The Sun of Latin Music”, in which singer Lalo Rodriguez made his debut into the Salsa world while still a teenager. Victor Paz delivers an electrifing solo, hitting high notes with great cadence. You can listen to the clip below:
In The Latin Jazz Corner, Chip Boaz has recently written a couple of reviews of very talented up and coming Latin Jazz pianists, which I recommend you check them if you are looking for adding something new to your CD library. As a musician and educator, Chip Boaz writes some very detailed reviews, exploring every element of the recording.
Samuel Quinto Trio "Salsa N Jazz"
He reviews the latest recording of Samuel Quinto, titled “Salsa’ N Jazz”, which after reading Chip’s review, I added to my list of CDs to buy. You can read the “Salsa N Jazz” review HERE. This seems a recording well balance with different rhythms and well executed by Quito’s led trio.
The other review is of Nicaraguan pianist Darwin Noguera’s recording “The Gardener”. Noguera recorded “The Gardener” with a Quintet, and Chip included a video of Darwin with a Trio performing “Señor del Pozo” in the review, which you can read HERE.
Last but not least, there’s a review of Johnny Conga’s “Breaking Skin” CD, written by Raul da Gama for Latin Jazz Net. The Seattle-based conguero has
Johnny Conga
been around the musical scene for a while and his recording received great reviews by Raul. The review includes a couple of streaming audio songs of the recording for you to sample. When I see that a recording includes one of my favorite bass players in Latin music in Eddie “Guagua” Rivera (who’s played with Gato Barbierri, Larry Harlow, Luis “Perico” Ortiz, Batacumbele, Giovanni Hidalgo, etc.) then you know the recording is in solid footing. You can read the review HERE.
Enjoy the weekend!
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