Almost through the first half of another amazing year as both Celia Cruz would be 100 in October and Sonora Matancera finished turning 100 in 2024. You see homages and releases from all parts of the world and from the old record labels. Lots of vinyl re-issues of Celia’s music. Vinyl has become big with collectors and new fans to the world of Afro Cuban/Caribbean music that today is growing worldwide for 12” vinyl.
Believe it or not this growth comes from younger fans and even Bad Bunny has helped in directing new generations to our music!
Have you ever wondered where musicians get their inspiration from to create new classics for the future generations? Many look to classic standards, their roots, generational artists, or themes and concepts that in many cases were a desire the artist may have had for many years. Let’s look at Latin Jazz artists and the example of those who do ‘funky jazz’. They can get their inspirations from songs performed by some of the greatest Funk bands, of all-time, like the innovations of Sly & The Family Stone, James Brown, Mandrill, War, the Ohio Players, Bohannon, Kool & The Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire and so many more. Here is a list of Funk and R&B music that inspired so many and would make good Latin Jazz songs.
Bohannon ‘Stop and Go’, Barrabas ‘Woman’, Cymande ‘Bra’ The Temptations ‘Ball of Confusion’, The Chakachas ‘Jungle Fever’ Sly & The Family Stone ‘It’s a Family Affair’, Herbie Mann ‘Hijack’ Mandrill ‘Git It All’, The Beginning of The End ‘Funky Nassau’ The Ohio Players ‘Funky Worm’, The Jackson Five ‘I Am Love’ Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band ‘Scorpio’ Gil Scott-Heron ‘The Bottle’ (already done by Joe Bataan) The Isley Brothers ‘Who’s That Lady’, Issac Hayes ‘Theme of Shaft’ Kool & The Gang ‘Electric Frog’, Earth, Wind & Power ‘Power’ James Brown ‘Super Bad’, WAR ‘All Day Music’ B.T. Express ‘I Like It’, Fred Wesley & The JB’s ‘Doin’ It To Death’ New Birth ‘Got To Git a Knutt’, Lyn Collins ‘Think’
Lonnie Liston Smith ‘Expansion’, Jimmy Castor Bunch ‘It’s Just Begun’ These are just a few I remember and some incorporated Latin percussion making it easy to hear how they can be transformed into Latin Jazz by today’s artists. In the same way Jazz and funk have borrowed from each other as well as from the Latin world ‘Salseros’ can do the same. You see lots of younger artists today borrowing from Charlie & Eddie Palmieri, Conjunto Libre, Ray Barretto, Tito Puente, Machito y sus Afro Cubanos, Sonora Ponceña, Elio Reve y su Charangon, Johnny Pacheco, Roberto Roena y su Apollo Sound, Bobby Valentin, Orquesta Harlow, Richie Ray & Bobby Cruz, Cheo Feliciano, Celia Cruz and many of the stars from the 60’s and 70’s. Besides the giants there is so much music that can be explored. Creative arrangements, inspiring hook lines, instrumentations, harmonies, melodies yet to be produced.
With all that said we have some interesting full length LP releases and EP’s (short releases with 4-6 tracks) you want to know about.
This celebration by Julito Alvarado, who has been in music for almost 55 years, is for his 40 years as a pro that began with Tommy Olivencia. His version of “A Night In Tunisia” has a superb performance by Julito, Pedro Ruiz and Humberto Ramirez on the solos plus a ‘Trumpet Soli’ with all three at the same time. One of my favorites is the closer ‘1ro De Julio” that was written during the pandemic for his wife.
Patois Records, owned & produced by trombonist great Wayne Wallace, just released one of the years best compilations “Salsa En La Bahia, Vol.3-Renegade Queens” produced by Rita Hargrove who also spearheads the film documentary due in October looking at the women who have been making music for the past 50 years in the Bay Area and their mostly untold story. It starts with a big band number by the Renegade Queens, with vocalist Christelle Durandy “We Were Born to Drum”. Rita was my guest on my radio show on WorldSalsaRadio.com ‘Jazzeando En El Valle’ recently talking about all these amazing ladies who are ‘las bravas’ that are the trailblazers in the Bay Area and I’m sure there will be more to come. I also truly enjoyed the Latin Jazz track by the Renegade Queens “La Mensajera” that features the remarkable improvisations by veterans Jean Fineberg on tenor saxophone, Sandi Poindexter on violin and trumpeter Marina Garza that led the 1990’s all woman band Orquesta D’ Soul. One of the earliest pieces on this compilation was from the end of the 1980’s The Blazing Redheads (That had no redheads) and their hit “Cosmo”. The compilation includes music from Bobi Cespedes, Kat Parra, Xiomara Torres, Sandy Cressman and her daughter Natalie Cressman, and Mary Fettig.
Speaking of women trumpeter Rachel Terrien Latin Jazz Project is back with “Mi Hogar II” has some amazing names on her CD that include bassist John Benitez, pianists Manuel Valera & Andy Rubal (making a name for himself these past few years), bassist Roberto Riveron, sax Ivan Renta, congueros Keisel Jimenez & Carlos Maldonado, Okan (Elizabeth Rodriguez & Magdelys Savigne), and trombonist Rafi Malkiel. Just listen to them on “Soucy”, “Mambo Chucho Influenciado”, “Beauty Free” and “Sueños De Cambio”.
Poncho Sanchez & His Latin Jazz Band recorded live on June 11, 2023 a CD that now everyone can enjoy on CD or vinyl titled “Live at The Belly Up Tavern” in San Diego (Solana Beach) produced by Poncho, Francisco Torres and Poncho’s manager Ivory Daniel that also plays a mean shekere. I caught the band at the Catalina Jazz Club, on Sunset Boulevard in LA, and they were amazing mixing old favorites with material from the new release.
The hot tracks are “Llegue”, “Ponchos’ Beat”, “A Bientot”, “Sabor Sabor’, “Night Dream”, “Poncho In The One Ways” (dedicated to the city of Norwalk where he was raised) and the standards “Guachi Guara (Soul Sauce)” and “Batiri Cha Cha”.
Alex ‘Apolo’ Ayala is a fantastic bassist that has been performing with many of today’s giants in the Latin Jazz world and his new CD “Afro Puerto Rican Jazz” is a testament to his talent. His ventures with Bomba & Plena remind me of Papo Vazquez and William Cepeda and their ventures. His band, The Bambula Project, features drummer Fernando Garcia, saxophonist Andrew Gould and percussionist Victor Pablo Garcia. You’ll enjoy Sonora Ponceña’s “Bomba Carambomba”, “Rio Piedras”, “3D Plena” and “Bomba Pa’ Ana Luisa”.
Trombonist William Cepeda has become one of the best exponents of Bomba y Plena in Latin jazz that takes another direction on “The Sound Of Puerto Rico Jazz” where he creates Aguinaldo Jibaro (El Jibaro Feliz), Holande (The Next Step) as well as rarely heard rhythms such as Danza, Vals, Cuembe, and 12/8 Yuba. This goes back to what I said at the beginning of this piece about incorporating roots. When it comes to fusion Cepeda is a master.
Guaco celebrates 50 years of their unique music with a recording they call “Julio Rivera: Guaco 50”. Julio was a percussionist for many years in the band who died too early and was a huge loss for the band. The CD had 23 tracks, not all Salsa, and one of the biggest surprises was my favorite track “Cinco Rosas”. You’ll also enjoy “Entonces Pa’ Cuando” with Marcial Isturiz & Arturo Sandoval, “Soy Como Soy” and Sonora Ponceña’s “Huracan”.
La Sonora De Diego Gale released a live recording with the vocalists Marcial Isturiz and Yoamys Jerez and some stunning salsa treasures for dancers: “Acelera Baby”, “Repica El Quinto”, “Todos Pa’ La Rumba”, “La Salsa Del Barrio”, “Traigo La Salsa” and “Baila Mi Ritmo”. Gale has been producing and creating great music for many decades now and this recording is one of his best ‘Salsa Dura’.
Staying in Colombia Grupo Niche recorded recently their hits as ‘Niche Sinfonico’ and now “Clasicos 1.0” are old hits with new vocalists. That’s actually a good idea to endear fans to the new vocalists doing the old jams. Celebrating 45 years with a Legacy Tour and the hits everyone knows “Busca Por Dentro’, “Gotas De Lluvia”, “La Canoa Ranchaa”, “Una Aventura” and more. The promotional single that the band used to launch this project is “Robando Sueños”.
Norbert Velez has become an iconic figure in the Salsa world that is being done today and his famous ‘Desde La Loma’ series is an incredible innovation . Staying close to that concept has generated a new CD “Yo a Su Estilo” with special guests Tito Nieves, Luis Enrique, Victor Manuelle, Cucco Peña, Maelo Ruiz, Nino Segarra and the lead single “El Que Quiere Busca” with guest Luis ‘Perico’ Ortiz.
Edgardo Cambon ‘El Sonero De Uruguay’ has been delighting fans with his music in the Bay Area for over three decades and while his music has been enjoyed mostly by domestically his popularity in places like Colombia it w3as the right time for his new CD, “For Export” on Latinbaum Records (where Edgardo partnered with Israel Tannenbaum), with new renditions of some of his best and new numbers. Edgardo, originally from Montevideo, Uruguay, started off with the single “Rueda Con Ritmo” that is one of 15 tracks on the CD. Edgardo plays a variety of genres that he includes in his performances like Salsa, Son, Bachata, Cumbia, Merengue and more. The swingers here are “Yo Vine a Bailar Salsa”, a fabulous version of “Cielito Lindo” (one of the big surprises), “Tumba, Timba y Trombon”, “Respeto Pa’ Los Mayores”, “Madre Rumba, Padre Son”, “El Flaco”, “Cuando Me Falta El Tambor”, and “20 Años De Sabor”.
Danilo Perez is another experimental pianist who is constantly stretching his talents and has played with David Sanchez, Tom Harrell, Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D’ Rivera, Michael Brecker, Wayne Shorter, Conrad Herwig and Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Band to name just a few. On his new CD “Lumen” he joins the Swedish band Bohuslan Big Band on a recording that is mostly Pan-American rhythms with Nordic big band sounds. Danilo composes the majority of the songs and his Panamanian roots stand out on “Lumen” and “Galactic Panama”.
Popular saxophonist Luis Disla has a new recording “Dislamotion (The Prophecy Vol.2)” that is a showcase for Disla’s sax doing Latin Jazz and Smooth Jazz with my favorites being “Libreville”, “Nancy’s Smile” and “Overjoyed”.
Here are another 50 tracks you should be listening to this May:
1-Vic Rodriguez Caribbean Salsa Praise- La Mezcla Del Caribe
2-Moncho Rivera- Timbero Inigualable
3-Mambo Palladium All Stars Ft. Leo Gruber- A Las Divas De La Salsa
4-La Dimension Latina- El Eco Del Tambo
5-Cadencia- Mi Bongo
6-Boricua Legends- Viene Arroyando
7-DJ Mirco, DJ Issam, Mauro Deej Ft. Roby Perez- Mi Changui
8-Edwin ‘El Calvito Reyes y Harold Montañez- Orqulloso De Ser Latino
9-LPT- Todos Nacimos Buenos
10-Ruben Blades & Roberto Delgado Orchestra- La Barricada
11-Christian Alicea- Hello, What’s Up
12-Joe Collado-Tender Love
13-Daniel Darcourt- Sin Verguenza
14-Los Hermanos Colon- Welcome Back
15-Marc Quiñones & Paoli Mejias- Acelera
16-Freddy Rodriguez & his Urban Charanga Project- I’ll Be Around
17-Edgardo Cambon- Yo Vine a Bailar La Salsa
18-Los Rumberos y Tony Succar- Si Te Animas
19-Roberto Ortiz y su Passion Band- Bailando Salsa En Puerto Rico
20-Orquesta La Palabra- La Palabra
21-Son De Mariara- Somos Alegria
22-Orquesta Lebron- Llegaron Los Negros
23-Felix O. Rodriguez & Eric Rosado- Asi Es Que Va El
24-Melina Almodovar- Baila Hollywood
25-Renegade Queens- We Were Born To Drums
26-Francis Ndoumbe- Entre La Flauta y El Violin
27-Norbert Ft. Luis ‘Perico’ Ortiz- El Que Quiere Busca
28-La Sonora De Diego Gale- Baila Mi Ritmo
29-Willito Otero- No Quiero, No Puedo
30-La Sonora Matancera Ft. Jose Alberto ‘El Canario’- El Tumbaito
31-Jota Ruiz y Kayvan Vega- Los Compadres
32-Tomas Martin Lopez Ft. Tito Allen- Ya No Veo Na
33-Mercadonegro- La Rumbera
34-Issac Delgado Ft. Alain Perez- Tu Pensabas
35-Gerson Zayas Ft. David Atanacio- Sabroson
36-Angel ‘Papote’ Alvarado y su Grupo Escencia- Mejor Camino Solo
37-Ruben Sierra & Manolo Lescano- Los Beisbolistas De La Salsa
38-Johnny Rivera- Se Me Fue La Mano
39-Roosevelt ‘El Presidente De La Salsa’- Te Mereces
40-Compota De Manana- El Calderon
41-Andy Rubal & Tania Pantoja- Contigo Viene La Felicidad
42-Juan Padin y su Salsa Gorda- El Revendon
43-Max Rosado- Killing Me Softly
44-Sbm-Cuando Tu Me Besas
45-Sergio Munera Ft. Marcial Isturiz- Cuando Te Vea
46-Luis Figueroa & Christian Alicea- Si Llamas
47-Yunier Enrique y Palo Salao- Vengo De Un Monte
48-Orquesta Failde Ft. Andy Montañez- Donde Estabas Tu
49-Renecito Avich Ft. Willy Chirino- Viva Celia
50-Robert Incelli- Capullito de Aleli