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CD Reviews 
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Yolanda Duke & The Tito Puente Orchestra
Many Moods Favorite Tracks: 1,7,8 |
Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra Favorite Tracks: All |
No Te Equivoques Favorite Tracks: 1,2,4,7-10 |
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Titled “Many Moods”, Yolanda Duke & The Tito Puente Orchestra should have also included the following in underlined parenthesis below the title as the main mood generated by this record – Boring. Is hard to put into words what precisely rubs me the wrong way about this record. The fact is the tracks, in it of themselves, are not bad. As expected, the band carrying and promoting the Tito Puente brand performs excellently, but the song selection and, perhaps, the arrangements leave more to be desired. Is like there’s a musical mash up, thus confusion, between what Tito Puente would have done at The Birdland and what Tito Puente would have done at some old retirement home around Christmas time. Take for example “Blue Moon”, it begins as vintage Tito Puente guajira cha-cha-cha then it breaks into some big band jazz swing thing where, predictably, the sax breaks into solo. This track, as well as the entire record, gives me visions of old guys wearing tuxedos that are way too tight doing the rounds during the holidays behind a salvation army collection bucket.
With nine tracks, which are broken down in the sequence of a guajira-cha, big band swing jazz vocal, big band mambo, big band swing jazz vocal, bolero, another bolero (a six minute Mirta Silva Medley no less! Can you imagine?! ), a pretentious 5:30 big band mambo, with strings, that borders on comical thanks to a pointless strings and vocal intro that runs a minute and twenty four seconds; only to fade as its coda. A guajira-cha and a rumba-guaguanco round out the last two tracks of this bore-fest, which begs the question – who was the targeted audience? Old people in nursing homes?
Within the odd irony that this record is, there are some numbers worthy of a second listen only because, like I said, I’m a huge fan of the big band sound. But even so, there’s a certain level of corniness that makes me cringe no matter how hard I try to keep the material in context – one that’s aimed at the 1950.
There’s not much I could say either way about Yolanda Duke other than she can sing and, except for minor issues with her accent, has enough of a mature presence to front a band; sadly this is not the one. Tito Puente has been gone for eleven years and he left us great music to keep his memory alive, we should all go back and listen to it if only to strike the right mood.
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One of my best friends, percussionist Gerardo Flores, invites me to see this band play at The Brooklyn Bowl,, a fantastic place by the way, and as I get there I am floored by what I see; more so by what I hear. Playing in this huge establishment, a huge 11 piece salsa orchestra. Not since Tito Puente or Willie Rosario in the late 90’s have a I seen such a huge band play anywhere in Brooklyn. This band was incredible! With their loosely coordinated red shirts, skinny black ties, and fedora hats, this band is a sight to see. More importantly, with such a big sound, it is undoubtedly a band to hear. I couldn’t believe my ears, this band had a throbbing percussion anchored by one of the most pronounced sounding bass lines I’ve heard in a long time. The horn charts were simply not your average tired salsa charts that are thrown and pieced together, these were actually put together with great care and with the idea of truly complementing the song by letting the band swing.
This is the first time in a long time I’ve written this much without actually naming the band. This is because… Well… Because the name is secondary. Ok I’ll tell you – The orchestra is the Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra. This group of musicians, lead by percussionist and bandleader Gianni Mano who by the way wrote all the charts, are a serious entity with a serious entry into the salsa arena. Their self titled CD, Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra, is an aggressive New York salsa with a twist, the kind no one here (not the so called local salsa bands, and to some degree the Puerto Rican or other Latin bands) has heard since Machito circa 1976. But please, make no mistake about it, this is not an endorsement of curmudgeonry, this band does not sound old – Dear God no!
WSO is taking salsa in English, salsa in general, to a new level; one that is beyond the pretty R&B keyboard voicing and lyrics. With names like Peter Bjorn, Santigold, and Hank & Cupcakes to name a few, WSO’s brand of salsa in English comes from an environment that is alien to me and, perhaps, to most salsa connoisseurs. In the end no one cares. No one should care because the work here is way above and beyond anything anyone else is doing right now – and maybe ever.
Though I’ve lathered up this band and this record, to a level that’s equivalent to finding the cure for cancer, I must say it’s not exempt from flaws which may or may not be noticeable by the average dancer or listener who will enjoy this record for what it is, a great record. One - Because the songs are SO off the beaten path, musically and poetically speaking, they are difficult to understand, relate, and at times decipher. Through no fault of her own, Solange Prat, the vocalist is difficult to understand. The songs are just THAT OFF the beaten salsa path and THAT difficult to understand. It's gotta be a cultural thing. Two – if there was ever one stereotype about salsa music it would be standard 1,4,5 piano line which at times feels out of tune and out step.
Still, these are extremely minor nuisances noticeable by me and, I admit, in my later years I’ve heard all the salsa I’ll ever need to hear for a lifetime, meaning you shouldn’t care about any negatives written here, I’m just knit-picking. For Christ's Sake! Just look at this website, is stuck in the early 90s! And no I'm not upgrading it! The fact, however, is this group of musicians have done what I thought no one was going to get me to do since I last did it. That is, write a 630 words review and a shit load of old html hardcode. |
“No Te Equivoques” at times feels like a record that went through a thorough production process with lots of thought and care, at others it feels rushed and very amateurish particularly with regards to song selection, sound engineering, and vocal interpretation. One gets the impression there was a change in producers mid way through the process. The bells and the coros distortion, the cascara is way too bright and the bass also distortions, not to mention that Frankie at times is way too chatty. As if he earns some sort of street cred by name-dropping the names of characters and sights along 116th street while talking and stepping all over the mambo, the conga solo, and Herman Olivera. I get, however, what Frankie perhaps was going for: The so called salsero who goes out to nightclubs to practice a newly learned dance step or choreographed routine and doesn't care about the technicals of a production. Some of the worst materials in this record are, without a doubt, the ones he personalizes by yakking way too much and offering, as part of his astute observations, the suggestion to “dale vuelta… dale vueltaaaa” or names everyone in the room.
Though most of the song selection is good, some leave a lot to be desired. For example, can we get a more obscure song than “At This Moment In Time”? The arrangement is bland, not uncommon from guys whose sole idea of arranging is stitch some horn licks together and let the band do its thing with the mambo. Very typical of US NYC salsa, is all about the band and the swing but very little about the song. Is all about the idea of having a hit… a club hit at the very least. Who cares about songs when everyone dancing, assuming they are dancing to this record, is doing so because of the intoxicating nature that is salsa music.
This is where “No Te Equivoques” actually shines, should you focus on the positives, the arrangements are, for the most part, hard hitting dancer’s delight. Chino Nuñez does a bang-up job on percussion, particularly the timbales. Short of Nicky Marrero in his prime, Chino is my favorite timbalero. All in all - Frankie has in his hands a record that should keep his name bouncing around for some time. Whether is a month a year or more depends on people's tastes.
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