LATIN MUSIC YOU'D SHARE

[Soandso]

"MIS DOS PEQUEÑAS" is from 2001 by bassist Orlando "Cachaito" López (1933-2009; pictured above) who at age 12 played in a Havana dance ensemble with guitarist Manuel Galban, clarinetist "Bigga" Morrison, Amadito Valdès on timbales, congas played by Miguel "Angá" Díaz, and on bongos Carlos Gonzalez.

 

[Soandso]

A clearly enunciated English language song about the bodega republic of the NewYork city area Latin Caribbean islanders' diaspora.

 

[Soandso]

Netherlands born drummer Lucas Van Merwijk (b.1961) has recorded lots of excellent Latin jazz. His band's name refers to the 1940s when some Be-Bop jazz musicians recorded with Cuban musical elements (discussed in earlier post) stylized as "Cubop." This selection "RANCANCAN" is a tribute to the original song titled "Ran Kan Kan" (by Tito Puente) and Venezuelan singer/strings player Yma América Martínez can be heard encouraging well respected bassist Andy Gonzalez (1951-2020) to cut loose.

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[Soandso]

The now classic BossaNova "Ela é Carioca" music was written in 1963 by Antônio Jobim and in 1967 tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine (1934-2000) recorded an instrumental version titled "SHE'S A CARIOCA". The lyrical flute parts are performed by Jerry Dodgion (1932-2023) on alto flute and Joe Farrell on another flute, Donald Byrd played trumpet, Ron Carter bass, Mickey Roker drums and Bucky Pizzarlli guitar.

 

[Soandso]

The "berimbao" in Brazil (pictured above) comes in 3 sizes and traces back to something similar in the greater Angolan region like the "lungunu" and "lukungo". The stick ("baqueta") strikes the single strung strand low down and by moving the open faced gourd relative to one's abdomen musical timbre is altered, while pitch is altered by means of touching a metal coin ("dobrao", not pictured) high up on the string. A Brazilian innovation dating to the 1850s is the tiny little woven basket rattle ("caxixi") worn on a stick striking hand's finger.

Pictured above is one of Brazil's most recorded "cuíca" (drum with reed inside) players Nelson "Neném Da Cuíca" França Guimarães. Here heard performing masterfully on the 1977 song titled TAMBORIM, CUÍCA, GANZÁ, BERIMBAO by the group Azimuth with it's founding members José Roberto Bertrami (1946-2012), Ivan Miguel Conti Maranhão (1946-2023) and José Alexandre Malheiros, Filho (b.1946).

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[billybaldwin]

A little piece of Brazilian history

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[Soandso]

Latin tinged live rendition of the familiar tune BANG BANG =

 

[Soandso]

Enric Madriguera (1902-1973), pictured above, was a publicly performing child violin prodigy from Barcelona, Catalan who by the late 1920s was part of Columbia Records' studio band N.Y.C.. The popularity that arose for Rumba in the U.S.A. was in part due to his 1930's-1940's orchestra's performances.

José "Joe Loco" Estevez, Jr. (1921-1988), pictured above, was a fabulous pianist in the Madriguera Orchestra and played on the instrumental song CARIOCA. This song was nominated for Best Original Song at the 7th Academy Awards having been in the 1933 RKO hit motion picture "Flying Down to Rio" when Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers for their first time ever dancing together on screen showcased CARIOCA.

 

[Soandso]

Tito Puente's terrific timbales take =

 

[Soandso]

7 string guitarist Raphael Baptista Rabello (1962-1995) with 400+ recordings released (1993) the perfectly enchanting SAMBA DO AVIÃO with Spanish guitarist Francisco Gustvo Gómez who is famously known as Paco de Luciá (1947-2014) just a few years before Rabello's death.

The song was written by Antônio Carlos Jobim whose own drummer for 15 years Paulo "Paulinho" Antonio Braga (b. 1942) pictured directly below plays on this record. Braga participated in 900+ studio recordings with such innovative style that he's reviewed as the father of modern Brazil drumming integrating jazz and samba influences. The Brazilian percussion instruments are played by Armando De Souza Marçal (b.1959) pictured 2nd below who learned enough from his percussionist father that by age 16 was playing for the (up-thread previously mentioned) G.R.E.S. Portela Samba School.

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

 

[dualazmak]

I believe "Bossa Nova", which is a kind of thin and refined stream in Brazilian music, has very unique position in huge "Latin Music" world.

Just for example, let me share really enjoyable and amazing recording quality album entitled "Casa" by "Ryuichi Sakamato and Morelenbaum2" on music by Antonio Carlos Jobim. This album has been so highly rewarded, and you can purchase in various formats as you find here in the Discogs site.

You can hear the entire album on YouTube, even though I feel the sound quality is not optimal;
I always use the track-1 "As Prarias Desertas" for check and tuning of my audio system and room acoustics (ref. here #596 on my project thread);

Furthermore, with your audio system, can you nicely hear and identify the charming birds outside of Jobim's house joining at 2:40 in this beautiful track? Even though I cannot remember where he wrote or spoke, Ryuichi Sakamoto once commented with his deep emotion that "When I carefully listen to Jobim's music, I always feel as if various charming birds are singing in his music. It was really our miracle experience, therefore, that the birds outside of Jobim's house wonderfully joined our recording of As Praias Desertas with Morelenbuam2."

 

[dualazmak]

Even though the guitar works by Agustin Barrios (Agustín Pío Barrios, Agustín Barrios Mangoré) have been usually categorized as "Classical Music", I cannot stop sharing his wonderful and sometimes melancholic music in this nice thread.

Here let me share just one piece of his great works. John Williams plays "Choro de saudade" by Barrios in CD album "From the Jungles of Paraguay: Guitar Works by Agustin Pio Barrios", 1995, CD SK 64396 Sony Classical;

If you too would love the guitar works by Barrios and interested in his life, the very nice book "Six Silver Moonbeams: The Life and Times of Agustin Barrios Mangore" by Richard D. Stover is highly recommended. You can find it here in Amazon US.