CD Reviews... 10/22/2011

La Que Manda Soy Yo!

Favorite Tracks: 3,4,7,9,11

Pelusa Y La Banda Caramba

Escuela De Salsa

Favorite Tracks: 1,2, 4-10

I love offering my opinion on almost any and everything.   Though I don't offer my opinion without invitation, I am the guy you hate because there's almost nothing I don't have an opinion on.   The sad part is that, more often than not, I'm right... or wrong.   It all depends on whether you agree with me or not.   I give you this self-absorbed monologue because on occasion I flip flop based on the availability of new facts, if only politicians could say the same, as I’m about to flip flop on "La Que Manda Soy Yo" by budding vocalist Sol.  

With one session prominently featuring an all-trombone brass section and another featuring trumpets, trombones, and the late Nestor Sanchez on coro, clearly La Que Manda Soy Yo is the work of two records pieced together.   Nevertheless this is without a doubt a hard hitting salsa dance record that musically speaking could be one of Ernie Acevedo's better finds / productions.   It could be said that he has stricken gold by finishing this record for Sol, a beautiful young lady with a mesmerizing voice and an ability to sing in spite of her “newyorican” accent and R&B delivery on virtually every song.   Because of all that, there's no reason why this record can’t successfully reach the shores of Europe and South America.   Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru remain bastions of glory to many of our musical heroes.   In some cases these are places where hits by Barretto, Roena, and Betancourt are discovered with much fanfare as if they're new - just ask The LeBron Brothers, they are salsa deities in many of those places.   Mr. Acevedo should certainly be aware of that fact, for he continues to raid the musical coffers of Sonora Ponceña, Johnny Pacheco, and others with impunity.   This, and the fact that Spanish grammar continues to be a problem, is what has prompted me to essentially measure my praise for this production.   Still, if simply dancing is your thing, this record has all the trimmings to get you to do that.   With eleven tracks, there are enough musical nuggets that may appeal to a wide audience; including the ever so coveted American English speaking audience.   "Impossible", a killer tune arranged by Rene Leyva, is by far the best tune in the record and should serve as great template to follow.   As for Sol, though she is not and should not even be prepped to be a so-called sonera, the girl can sing and has a workable sense of timing.   As she gains more experience, she should be able to carve out a nifty spot for herself in the female salsa realm if she desires; or as long as the industry continues to ignore Choco Orta.  

This record is a modern mixture and homage to every popular salsa song done since the seventies and, if it wasn’t for what colombian salseros label as golpe, hierro, the credits, or my understanding of who Pelusa is and what he's done in the music, I wouldn’t be able to tell or label this band as Colombian, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or Venezuelan.   And why would I want to label this?   Good music is good music, and this clear cut approach taken by Pelusa is worthy of admiration.   Pelusa y La Banda Caramba are simply doing music that's unlike anything done locally in NYC by Ocho y Mas, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, or any other cover band… Frankie Vazquez comes to mind.   This is not a tribute recording, much less a cover band, for Pelusa simply manages to do original material with hints, I repeat hints, that may or may not be subtle reminders of tunes we all know – or at least should know.   Amongst the many melodic anchors cleverly used in Pelusa’s record are Jose Alberto’s “Tu Novio, Tu Amante”, Pete “el conde” Rodriguez’ “Catalina La O,” and other easily identified riffs, melodies, and harmonies previously utilized by Eddie Palmieri, Papo Lucca, Sergio George, Cuto Soto, Ramon Sanchez, and Jose Lugo; there's even a Luis “perico” Ortiz’ styled coro making an appearance.   Now, I want be careful here and not mislead you.   This record is not about original tunes done to old arrangements or vice versa.   This record is everything we’ve come to expect from salsa colombiana and considering Pelusa has worked with every successful band over there, his sound may or may not be that different from say Grupo Niche, Grupo Gale, or any other solo offspring from those bands; thus the weirdly aggrandizing undefined open ended title “Escuela De Salsa” perhaps?   In the end, by running the musical spectrum of so called salsa gorda and salsa romantica, the son montuno and straight ahead salsa, Pelusa y La Orquesta Caramba teaches us that there is no bigger musical tent in music than salsa.