The year 2020 is in the books and it was a year no one will forget! On the positive side the year also had some great music produced that many will not forget. There was great music by Little Johnny Rivero, Spanish Harlem Orchestra & Rigo y su Obra Maestra doing Latin Jazz, Noah Bless’ debut, Orquesta Aragon’s 8oth Anniversary, Los Van Van 50th Anniversay and the 40th for Grupo Niche & Luisito Ayala & the Puerto Rican Power, La Excelencia, Sociedad 76, Leonardo Garcia, NY Joe, Eddie Montalvo, Edwin Perez, Conrad Herwig, Chispa y sus Complices, Celeste, Tromboranga, Jose Rizo’s Mongorama, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Eliu De Jesus, Josean Rivera, Raices Jazz Orchestra, Cabanijazz Project, CSAN-II (Celestino Sanchez). Lengaia Salsa Brava, Marco Bermudez, Doug Beavers, Dafnis Prieto, Yellow House Orchestra, Maelo y su Klan, Key Elements, Nic N’ Taya, Izis La Enfermera De La Salsa, Van Lester, Orquesta Lucena, Grupo Gale and hundreds of singles and EP’s (3-5 song recordings).
We start with the Panamanian band Orquesta Yare that was created in 2001 by pianist/arranger Luis Thomas along with vocalist Alex Dolphy, conguero Johnny Vergara and Ernesto Howe that made its recording debut in 2006. In 2014 they recorded “Sonaron Los Tambores” that has also been the track fans have loved because of the lyrics that tell the story of slaves traveling across the waters to another life with their drums in hand.
While I did not believe the band could surpass their previous release they certainly accomplished that with a slew of hits that include: “No Se Muera Na”, “Fulanito”, “Que Es Lo Que Esta Pasando”, “Son Pa’ Los Que Son”, “Guaguanco Pa’ Bailadores”, ‘Entre El Amor y Los Celos” and the awesome instrumental “Goza Mi Rumba”. Many of these tracks have been played at my shows at Alma Del Barrio, the ‘Gran Daddy’ of college radio shows in the USA (going into its 48th year), and WorldSalsaRdio.com.
Bassist/Composer/Arranger Yoel Soto & the Latin All Stars Meeting Orchestra that was formed in 2011 in Athens, Greece for the purpose of backing visiting acts like Ray De La Paz, Alfredo De La Fe, Jimmy Bosch, Frankie Vazquez, Mercado Negro, Frankie Morales and Herman Olivera.
Their new CD “Night In L’ Habana” includes Marco Bermudez, trumpeter Carlos Perez from Havana D’ Primera, saxophonist Leandro Saint-Hill from Omar Sosa, and Merdcado Negro members Rodrigo Rodriguez & Amik Guerra.
If you love Cuban music you’ll to add to your playlist “Ella Es”, “Tumbao”, “Solo En Sueño” and my favorite track “Pa La Mulata” with the three divas Odalis Palma, Rosanna Mailan and Arlyn Del Carmen Gonzalez.
Here’s a recording I never would have never dreamt of yet it was a surprising production by Toño Moreno y su Big Band “Homenaje a La Sonora Ponceña En Danzon”. That;s right…Sonora Ponceña songs done in DANZON!
Mexican trombonist Toño Moreno has put this big band four trombones/four saxophones together and selected the songs “Yare”, “Yambeque”. “Caprichosa”, Arsenio Rodriguez’ “Fuego En El 23”, Adalberto Alvarez’ “La Rumba Soy Yo? And the closer “Timbalero”.
While I am not a fan of Danzon this CD impressed me and I will show case it on radio.
From Barcelona, Spain comes the debut of Candela Y Los Demas and their debut “Pa’Lante” that starts the party with the Cha Cha Cha “Pa’Lante Voy Yo”. Candela was formed by percussionist Alex Ventura, who has recorded on four CD’s by the Barcelona Big Latin Band, with musicians from Spain, Cuba, France, England and Venezuela.
My favorite track is “Mi Descarga” with the solo improvisations of Marion Candela on conga and David Obon on bongo.
A unique CD that combines Afro- Cuban Rhythms (Bolero, Son, Danzon) with Philippine traditional folkloric music (Kundiman, Harara, Rondalla and Danza) is a true gem in discovery of what happens when ‘Cuba Meets the Philippines’. Chris Trinidad y Cancion Tagolog, from the San Francisco Bay Area, introduces us to this wonderful world of music. Just check out “Alin Mang Lahi” (Any People), “Joscelynang Balinang” (Jocelyn Fro Baliwag), “Sampaguita” (The Flower of Manila), “Iyokalian Pa Man” (Yours Forever), “Taal” (The Isle of Enchantment), and “O Llan {(My Star).
I want to thank the artists who appeared on my radio shows at World Salsa Radio to talk about their new CD’s and historical books: John Santos, Mario Ortiz Jr, Richie Ray, Tony Lujan, Julian Silva (La Excelencia), Noah Bless, Papo Vazquez, Christian Tumalan (Pacific Mambo Orchestra) recording engineer Jon Fausty, Latin Jazz pianist Cesar Orozco, Doug Beavers, author/musician Ben Lapidus (NY and The International Sound of Latin Music 1940-1990) with upcoming interviews with Marco Bermudez, Chris Washburne, Edwin Perez, Jose Rizo (Mongorama) and Tito Puente Jr.