February 22 - Show #74

Theme: Chin chon chow – Louie Ramírez

Song-Artist-Album-Label

Chan chan – Compay Segundo – Buena Vista Social Club – Nonesuch/World Circuit

Candela – Ibrahim Ferrer, vocals; Faustino Oramas, composer – Buena Vista Social Club – Nonesuch/World Circuit

Alto Songo – Afro Cuban All Stars – Afro Cuban All Stars – Nonesuch/Warner

Patricia – Ry Cooder & Manuel Galbán – Mambo Sinuendo – Perro Verde/ Nonesuch/World
Circuit

Carmen cubana – Klazz Brothers & Cuba Percussion – Classic Meets Cuba – Sony Classical

A un perro flaco – Juan Perro – Raíces al Viento – BMG/Ariola

Manteca – Dizzy Gillespie and Chano Pozo – Afro – Verve

Cubop city – Mario Bauzá & Howard McGhee and His Afro-Cubpoppers – Compilation The
Original Mambo Kings – Verve

Peter Gunn Mambo – Jack Costanzo & His Orchestra – Ultra Lounge-Mambo Fever – Capitol Records

El cumbanchero – Don Swan & His Orchestra – Ultra Lounge-Mambo Fever – Capitol Records

Way down yonder in New Orleans Mambo – Van Alexander & His Orchestra – Ultra Lounge-Mambo Fever – Capitol Records

Mambo #504 – Fredy Omar con su Banda – Desde Nueva Orleáns – Louisiana Red Hot Records

If I only had a brain – Kermit Ruffins – Happy Talk – Basin Street Records

If I only had a brain – Peter MacDonough – The Wizard of Oz-A Latin Jazz Suite for Soprano Saxophone – Self-produced: www.petermacdonough.com

Aikawarazusa – Hiroshi Takano – Sushi 3003 - A Spectacular Collection of Japanese Clubpop – Bungalow/Rough Trade Records

Kiss – Chiharu Iwamoto – Sushi 3003 - A Spectacular Collection of Japanese Clubpop – Bungalow/Rough Trade Records

Cannabis – Cornelius – Sushi 3003 - A Spectacular Collection of Japanese Clubpop –
Bungalow/Rough Trade Records

Samba de minha namoradinho – Calin with Fantastic Plastic Machine – Sushi 3003 - A Spectacular Collection of Japanese Clubpop – Bungalow/Rough Trade Records

Boy from Ipanema – Jumbo – Sushi 3003 - A Spectacular Collection of Japanese Clubpop – Bungalow/Rough Trade Records


Highlights of the show:

Latin Soul opened today with a modern classic in Cuban traditional music, and ended with a supermodern compilation from Japan. Despite distant geographically and stylistically, both share the spirit of this very program Latin Soul, bringing an approach to different ways to understand the whole generality of Latin music and its relationship to other genres.




Buena Vista Social Club came to light in 1997 and it has ever since the reference to traditional Cuban music since it came to the world attention the faded away style of “son”, which is pretty much a steady mellow and acoustic rhythm accompanying stories of love and whereabouts of peasants in the turn and beginning of the XIXth-XXth centuries. Back in the nineties, “Western” musicians dug dip in the archives and the living musical history in the island and found out those beautiful sounds, maybe some overlooked for the shine of the Cubop or Afro-Cuban jazz, or mambo, or the hype of funk/traditional in the latest years of XXth century. But, the “old trova” was still there, and guys like Santiago Auserón from Spain (from whom Latin Soul aired a tune tonight), or the musical archeologist Ry Cooder. Buena Vista Social Club is a production from the later, Ry Cooder, who took these tunes almost from forgotten and put them back in the music map again. Off this album, more new and individuals albums were released relaunching the careers of Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer, Omara Portuondo, Elíades Ochoa, Rubén González, or ‘Cachaíto’ López, who was one of the new breed in the group. Musically, all the songs are good and this album is worth while stopping what you do and just pay attention to its music and relax, or keep doing what you were doing, in a better mood, though.




“Sushi 3003 – A Spectacular Collection of Japanese Clubpop” is not really a Latin or Brazilian album at all. Compiled by Olaf Maikopf and released in 1996 by Rough Trade Records and distributed by Bungalow in Germany, it is a collection of pop tunes that are trying to promote Japanese electro-pop bands in Europe. Among all those, the avid sounds explorer may find that some of them show young Japanese musicians keen on Brazilian bossa and samba. You may find entertaining these electro/naïve pop reviews with a bossa tinge among other purely electro pop, like the tune by Pizzicato Five or Les 5-4-3-2-1; but especial attention is dedicated to artists approaching Brazilian/pop crossover such as Chiharu Iwamoto, Mari, Calin with Fantastic Plastic Machine, Cornelius; or Jumbo, who actually brings ‘The boy from Ipanema’. Japan pop is fun and bossa nova-like as well, and we’re ready for it!