Cachao y Su Ritmo Caliente
Descargas – Cuban Jam Sessions (1957)
Originally released by Panart as “Descargas: Cuban Jam Sessions In Miniature”. Reissued by Vampi Soul (Spain) using this title and adding extra tracks in 2005
THIS CD PRESSING: EGREM (Cuba) 1996
1. Descarga Cubana
2. Goza Me Trompeta
3. Cogele el Golpe
4. Trombon Criollo
5. Malanga Amarilla
6. Pamparana
7. Oye Mi Tres Montuno
8. Controversia de Metales
9. A Gozar Timbero
10. Sorpresa en Flauta
11. Estudio en Trompeta
12. Guajeo de Saxos
These tracks are all massive, amazing, landmark recordings. Israel “Cachao” López pretty much singlehandedly invented the Cuban upright bass by transposing the tumbao rhythm to the instrument. This pre-Revolution recording session is not only amazing 33 minutes of music but also very important historically, as it is one of the earliest examples (maybe THE earliest example) of taking themes from Cuban popular and folk musics and using them as a springboard for out and out jazz improvisation, a technique that would have reverberations far outside the island itself. According to the stories, this record was recorded almost spontaneously in the wee hours of the early morning after the musicians had finished their night’s work playing in the popular clubs and casinos of the day. (One myth even says this album was recorded after-hours at the Tropicana club, which is ridiculous – crystal clear fidelity and wide dynamic range is proof this was recorded at an actual recording studio.)
I have not heard the VampiSoul pressing of this with the extra tracks, and it seems to be out of print. They are a cool enough label but I often find their mastering to be a bit on the loud side — plus, since I know of a few cases where they have been tied up in legal wrangling over royalties, I am doubtful about what master tapes they are using sometimes. This is not a slag against VampiSoul, really: they have made all kinds of extremely rare recordings available that I would otherwise have never heard (several of which have already been featured here). But they don’t give the same kind of TLC to their releases that other reissue labels (like Soundway or Analog Africa) give with their exceptional liner notes, photos, research, and generally great sound.
This pressing was mastered in Cuba in the mid-90s and sounds quite nice to my ears. It makes no real attempt at noise reduction so you get lots of warm tape hiss when things get quiet. Me likes.
password: vibes
Perdón, please, Cuban Jam Sessions (1959) or Cuban Jam Sessions (1957)??????????
Gracias, estupendo blog, beatifull blog
Awesome. Can't wait to hear this.
Really wanna hear this but password which is vibes all lower cased if i'm not mistaken isn't working so can't unzip file. any help would be much appreciated
cheers
thanks
Dear Flabbergast, I've been following you at Pedro's a few years ago, and I've been enjoying your great album presentations ever since, so I am very glad to have stumbled upon this blog. I have the Vampisoul pressing of this album. It's quite solid Cuban Jazz spiced up with lots of bonus tracks (my favorite being "Pamparrana"). I agree that Vampisoul reissues appear a bit louder than average. Keep up the good work, I look forward to listening to more selected gems from your excellent record collection.
Maybe I'm missing something but the password scenario for this one has me stumped – can't open it. Am I the only one? MamboPete
Mambo Pete, I think you are the only one> so far nobody has complained about it. Keep trying, no punctuation, all lowercase–
vibes
Excelent!!!! Thanks. What is the password?
the password is: vibes
Great blog! Can you perhaps reupload this, as the link is dead? (and the site as well…)
hola alguien podria compartir este disco?
podemos intercambiar musica…
soy juan de chile
hola soy juan de chile, alguien puede compartir este disco o intercambiarlo por otro? o saben de otro link o pagina donde este?
felicidades por la pagina, a difundir la salsa a todo el mundo….
salsaludos
Password is incorrect