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Various Artist **
Los Cocorocos
(CMG/Motown)
Favorite Tracks: 1, 7, 9 (3/13) |
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Conjunto Clasico ****
Si Ella Estuviera
(Machete)
Favorite Tracks: ALL (10/10) |
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8 Y Mas **
Juega Billar
(Q&A Records)
Favorite Tracks: 2, maybe 8? |
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I
got a hold of this "Cocorocos" CD through a good friend of
mines. It features some of today's most popular reggaeton
artists paired up with some salsa's elite. Though the
production reeks of blatant pandering to an audience that is totally
indifferent to salsa, due to reasons that are not all invalid; it does
have a few - just a few - pearly nuggets worthy of an
audience. There's the obvious track that features Gilberto
Santa Rosa & Don Omar. There's also a terrific Tito
Nieves, Pedro Brull, & John Erick track. In between
maybe one other decent track there's a surprisingly terrific track by
Junior Gonzalez & "Plaza" which makes this record barely
tolerable. And that's being kind, for this record is an
obvious and probably misplaced attempt at getting dollars from
rebellious youngsters and forty year old dudes that think is hip to
dress like teenage gansta- rappers. Both with a misplaced
sense of entitlement and a strange insight of talent and
taste. Of course there's the other end of this spectrum
that pretty much tries to provide CPR to the stale careers of some of
the participants. Some might refer to Los Cocorocos as the
cultivation... The merge of an audience... A
new audience. To quote Lou Navarro, President/CEO for CMG, We want to take Latin music and boost it by injecting new elements that will make it more appealing to a broader market.
I call it a bunch of hype from: A) industry folks looking
to sound benevolent while making a buck. B) Washed up
artists. And C) perpetrators seeking some sort of name
recognition. This record is not a salsa record, is not a
reggaeton record. It is for the most part, a silly and sad
half baked mess of a mix of both, lame salsa remakes and blabbering
"reggaeton" gibberish.
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After not seeing Clasico live for more
than ten years, I was more than pleased to witness the fact that they
still sound so good after more than 25 years. Raymond
Castro has done a superb job through the years. It is
evident that he's kept the essence of what makes Conjunto Clasico the
absolute best conjunto in Latin music intact. This time
around, Ray Castro & Ramon Rodriguez employ Hector Luis as their
new vocalist, and at a first listen, one can't help but to notice how
his voice resembles that of Johnny Rivera. To Hector's
credit, he sounds bit more of a natural at the conjunto thing than
Johnny ever did. I don't mean to knock Johnny, since I know
he's done the conjunto thing way before joining Clasico with Grupo
Facinacion. But there, Johnny was almost an equal to the
rest of the members, as opposed to when he joined Clasico, where he had
to fill the spot vacated by Tito Nieves. Anyway, this
Hector Luis character seems to do a more than adequate job with
Clasico. In fact, in this record Clasico opts to re-record
"Señora Ley" and Hector Luis kind of makes it his own.
Eventhough he uses some of Tito's adlibs, Hector Luis sort of makes you
disregard that it was Tito Nieves who made that song
popular. The overall Conjunto Clasico record is one that is
very much rooted in the basics that make them the premier group that
they are. The brassy trumpets who's melodies and harmonies
are synchronized almost to perfection are a thing of
beauty. The duo of Ray & Ramon make the best coro we've
all come to expect from Clasico. All that layered on top of
the driving repartee between the bass, the piano, the conga, the bell,
the guiro and the maracas; that has made Conjunto Clasico a group that
can never be duplicated.
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I
love Frankie Vazquez's vocal ability on anything he
records. Even on those poetic musical jewels that were the
Jimmy Bosch records. He is one of the most underrated
vocalist of this generation. Sadly I guess, he and others
like him can't afford to be selective with the type of proyects they
choose to do. Similarly, I respect immensely the talents of
Bobby Allende and Marc Quiñonez, their work and track record, one that
covers more than 20 years, is undoubtedly stellar and is worthy of
admiration. Ricky Gonzalez and Angel Fernandez are two of
the most sought after arrangers and producers in NYC, and with good
reason. Both are graduates from the musical school of the
late Ray Barretto and have become strong pillars of this generation's
budding salsa fans. This is why, for the life of me, I
don't understand their distinct infatuation with re-recording the songs
of yesterday. Songs that many of us still
remember. I got endless theories as to why that
is. Regardless of what I think, they must be making money
if after six years they're still re-recording this type of music, but
I'll leave it at that for an upcoming op-piece. if you're
under forty you must remember the following songs, Machito's Mi Ritmo Llego featuring Lalo Rodriguez. Bobby Rodriguez' Siete Mujeres, Willie Colon's & Hector Lavoe's Pa'Colombia Entera, Willie Colon's & Ruben Blades' La Maleta & Plantacion Adentro, Ray Barretto's La Pelota, Pacheco's Esa Prieta, Hector Lavoe's Vamos a Reir un Poco, Celia Cruz' Toro Mata...
YOU MUST REMEMBER THEM! But if you don't, I just gave you
the entire playlist for 8 y Mas. To their credit I'll say
this, the musicianship is on point. They got me to actually
like some songs. Songs that I never cared for originally,
and as such, a new generation of listeners might actually like their
work just like how I liked Gilberto Santa Rosas' tribute to Tito
Rodriguez.
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