CD Reviews.
Puerto Rican Power
Men In Salsa
(c) 1999 J&N Records
Distributed by: Sony Discos
RATING: ****1/2
If you think that Puerto Rican Power's best days were with Tito Rojas, think again. This is Puerto Rican Power best production ever! Nothing that Tito Rojas has done with or without this group is better that this record. Men In Salsa is closest thing to an almost perfect salsa production. All the tracks here aggressively swing! In some songs there are mambo driven bass lines and trombone guajeos that create moņas of incredible swing! It's a listener's feast and a dancer's delight! The production values which are headed by Jose M. Lugo, Ray Peņa, Jon Fausty, & Luisito Ayala, are superb. Many productions nowadays have incredible musical merits, but also have crappy songs. Not the case here with Puerto Rican Power! The songs are ingeniously catchy and full of content! They are romantic enough for those who love romance, and street wise enough for the hard core salsero. Puerto Rican Power is perfectly positioned to be the band to emulate in the months to come. Providing, of course, that you want to be a man in salsa.
Sonido Isleņo
El Asunto
(c) 1999 Tresero Productions
Distributed by: Tresero Productions
RATING: ***
I always wondered, "Gee, why must every group of tropical Afro Latin music have a horn section?" We have heard the all trumpet and all trombone thing right? Why not just have all flutes? Why not just have all saxophones? Why not just have all strings? Ahhhh, enter Sonido Isleņo. Conga, bongo, and timbales accompanying a bass guitar and a guitar. These guys perform some of the most soothing melodies, on top of some of the coolest rhythms - Guajiras & Montunos. Now that's refreshing! Sonido Isleņo also does guaguancos, pilones, changuis, seis chorreaos, and bombas that are just of the hook. For the bolero they recruit a trumpet. Their production & musical quality is just unbelievable. It's as good, and if not better than some of the productions done by today's most popular artists, from some of the biggest labels in the industry. Sonido Isleņo is made up of many guys that played their respective instruments for different sessions. However the driving force of behind their sound are: Francisco Javier Cotto, Gerardo Flores, Benjamin Lapidus, Felix Sanabria, Tony Rosa and Renato Omar Thoms as an invited guest. I remember the days when I dreaded listening to people's independent productions. Today, I can hardly wait to listen to them!
Luis "Perico" Ortiz & Milly Quezada
No Te Puedo Tener
(c) 1981 Algar Records
Distributed by: Back Then It Was 700 Tenth Ave. NYC Records
RATING: ****1/2
The year was 1981 and the closing of the salsa era of the 70's, along with the count down to the merengue explosion that was about to begin, was eminent. It was also a year that found Luis "Perico" Ortiz as the premier producer of the time, and Milly, Jocelyn & Los Vecinos as the top merengue band. I don't know how this happened but Milly ended up doing a salsa record under guidance of Luis "Perico" Ortiz. The result was an unbelievable hit record through out Central Latin America, mainly Panama. There have been many female vocalist of salsa, and outside of the all time favorites like Graciela, La Lupe, and Celia Cruz, few have managed to have any kind of longevity. Sadly in terms of salsa, this is the unjust reality that Milly Quezada suffered. Unjust because this record is a gem! Perico did some of his best arranging here! The trumpets really sound like trumpets here! Perico style. Milly Quezada, who like I said before is, typically known as a merengue singer; does an awesome job with salsa. Her soneos are boastful and full of challenge. In my opinion - La India, Brenda K. Starr, and to some degree Deddie Romero who is the best out this bunch, can't even hold a candle to Milly. Soneos are one thing, singing is another. And Milly does both with incredible grace and skill. Here are the vital statistics of this production: Luis "Perico" Ortiz, Ray Feliciano, and Hector Zarzuela on trumpets and flugel horn (yeap! Flugel horns and guess who on flute). Lewis Kahn, Sam Burdis, Luis Lopez, and Johnny Gonzalez on trombones. William Rodriguez & Sonny Bravo on piano, Enrique Breton on bass, Freddy Sanchez on conga, Jimmy Delgado on timbales (doing his best Nicky Marrero impression), Johnny Kenton on bongos, Santiago Ceron on minor percussion, Kevin Zambrana does a little thing with some brazilian percussion. Arrangements by Marty Sheller, Sonny Bravo, Jorge Millet, and Luis "Perico" Ortiz, should make this rare classic collaboration between two giants of the 80's like Milly Quezada and Luis "Perico" Ortiz worth your time.
RATING SYSTEM:
***** EXCELLENT (Must Have!)
**** GREAT (Very Impressive!)
*** GOOD (Safe Investment)
** AVERAGE (Not a Priority)
* POOR (Don't Waste Your Money)
ŠNestor A. Louis ALL REVIEWS ARE SOLELY THE OPINIONS OF THE AUTHOR.