Afro-Latino
a collection of world music
on Putumayo
Records
CD Review by
Jacira Castro
This CD is a compilation of Afro-Latin
music from around the world. If you thought Son, Salsa and Rumba
were limited to Cuba or Latin America, think again! I first listened
to this CD about 6 months ago, through headphones, while taking a break
from a particularly stressful Java programming class, and was immediately
transported to another world. I haven’t stopped listening to it
since! This is one of those 6 lucky CDs that ride around with
me in my car, to listen to when the radio stations start playing merengues
AD NAUSEUM!
1. Me vuelvo Guajiro by Tam-Tam
2000 (Senegal/Cape Verde)
This track starts with a mesmerizing, soothingly
simple guitar and tumbadora followed by a melody parodied on the synthesized
keyboard and vocals from the heart. Then the piano comes in and plays games
with the melody, caressing the rhythms.
Me estoy volviendo Guajiro
Y me llaman Isidro
Al escuchar este son
Este son tan bonito
No lo bailo pero lo canto
porque yo lo siento al fondo de mi alma como si fuera un hijo
yo lo quiero y lo admiro, por eso yo canto esta canción tan llena de amor.
Siento, siento, yo siento tanta alegría al cantar este son.
2. Mambo Yo Yo by Ricardo
Lemvo & Makina Loca (Congo/Calif.)
This song is one of my favorite songs to dance
to. I may not understand the Lingala and Kikongo languages but the intermixed
Spanish and the music itself speaks directly to the inherent rhythm in my
feet, making it impossible to sit still (as with all of Ricardo Lemvo’s
music)! This is really a great song to dance rueda with because it has a
marked rhythm and is fast enough to be fun but not too fast that the
intermediate rueda dancers can’t keep up.
3. Yay
Boy by Africando (Senegal)
This is the original version in
Senegalese, not the Spanish interpretation by Melcochita (which I also like).
You can hear this song being played in most of the Salsotecas in Miami!
Be sure to listen for the seductive saxophone by the late Chombo Silva on
tenor sax.
4. El Son Te Llama by
Orchestre Baobab de Dakar (Senegal)
This particular version of "El Son te
Llama" was recorded in 1982 in Dakar, Senegal and unfortunately
it is not available anymore… it is out of print. This is a real
jewel, sung part in Spanish, part in a dialectical version of Portuguese
and part in Wolof and Mandinka (tribal languages of Senegal).
This is the kind of son you want to dance to in a candle-lit living
room with the one you love in your arms… if you do, you will feel the
authentic tribal instruments pounding in unison with your heartbeat
and you will sway as one under the Baobab tree, dancing the night away!
5. Galo
Negro by Sam Mangwana (Congo/Angola)
This song starts with a lilting guitar and a
distinctly brazilian flavor... surely due to the Portuguese and African
influence. The rhythms are a mix of samba, African rhythms and the son of the
Oriente of Cuba. Even if you don’t speak Portuguese, the guitar on
this track will seduce you.
6. Vivo
en el Monte by Papi Oviedo (Cuba)
When I first heard the “tres” on this track,
I thought Arsenio Rodríguez was back from the grave to serenade me!
Papi Oviedo is a master ‘tresero’!
7. Mujer
Mágica by Julián Ávalos and Afro-Andes (Peru/NY)
Julián Ávalos is from Northern Peru, but this
music is straight out of Cuba, with some English lyrics thrown in to capture
the NY audiences in his current surroundings. His band plays in subways
in NY, but it won’t be long before they’ll end up at the Copa! I’ve
never been a fan of “Spanglish” but this song makes it work.
8. Mueve
la cintura mulata by Cuarteto Oriente (Cuba)
This collection would not have been complete
without some authentic Cuban Cuarteto music. This is straight out of the
Oriente of Cuba, with the Tres leading the way, followed by a beautiful
guitar, bongó, claves and maracas. The theme of a beautiful mulata
woman is an ever-present one in Cuban music, but the simplicity of the
harmonies mixed with the masterful rendition of the instruments makes this
track stand out as exemplary.
9. Adama
Coly by 4 Etoiles (Congo)
This track may be out of the Congo, but it feels
strongly like a Son Montuno to my ears, in spite of the lyrics in Soukous.
(There is an introduction in Spanish that says they are the Cuatro Estrellas.)
It has a more sophisticated feel to it with the violins and the background
singers’ interjecting a “coro” between verses.
10. Kolonial
by Ruy Mingas (Angola)
Believe it or not, Ruy Mingas isn’t just
another musician, this guy is now the Minister of Culture in Angola and
continues to record and perform! Sit back
and let the drums on this track soothe your urban soul.
11. Me
dieron la clave by Vieja Trova Santiaguera (Cuba)
This song starts out with the tres and guitar,
but plays extensively with double entendres... The singer is telling a story
about his woman who had told him she would be at her aunt’s house, but
someone told him that they had seen her the night before at a party…
Me dieron la clave, y no la del son, (muchacha!)
anoche te vieron en un vacilón...
Anoche te vieron en casa de Ramón
Anoche te vieron cogiendo jamón
Anoche te vieron sin el camisón
Anoche te vieron metiéndole al ron
Anoche te vieron... Vaya que apretón!
Anoche te vieron ... Se acabó el carbón
Anoche te vieron al pie del jamón
Anoche te vieron al pie del cañón
12. Aideu by Conjunto Céspedes
(Cuba/SF-Bay Area)
This is a chant, an “a capella” prayer to
the Orishas of the Yoruba people, sung in dialect. These are the roots, the
beginning of the Afro-Cuban musical collaboration, and sadly the last track on
this CD. If you are lucky enough to live in the San Francisco Bay Area,
you are certainly familiar with this entire musical family and the
contributions they have made to the carrying on of the traditional music. My
suggestion: Set your CD player to “continual play” so it just starts
this marvelous collection over again!
--Jacira Castro
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