Cachao y su Ritmo Caliente – Cuban Jam Sessions In Miniature: Descargas
Vinyl transfer in 24-bit 192 khz |FLAC | Cover scans at 300 dpi
1961 Panart | Reissue 1983 Panart LP-2092 (Grey Label U.S. reissue)
Israel “Cachao” Lopez, the godfather of the tumbao acoustic bass style, lead this ensemble of absolutely top-flight players through a short portrait of a very special time in music history. For a variety of reasons, I did this vimyl transfer 3 or 4 times before I was satisfied with it.
This album is notable enough that it is part of the National Rec
ording Registry at the Library of Congress. It’s contribution fits that often overused term “seminal”, as it brought the feeling of the loose jamming that Afro-Cuban Latin jazz had on the stage but heretofore had only hinted at on records.
And, somehow, it does this with twelve compositions all clocking in under 5 minutes. The resequenced album from 1961 has all the songs that are credited compositions played first, followed by jams that were not credited to any one individual. If you like Cuban son montuno, and you aren’t familiar with this banger of a record, now is your chance. And if you only know Buena Vista Social Club, then here is your incentive to dig deeper.
The Egrem CD version (shared here many, many moons ago) is the same track sequence of the original 1957 Cuban release. The vinyl reissues beginning in 1961 had a different track sequence. The needledrop featured here is undated, but based on the runout etching and other information on the pressing practices of the Miami Tape company who issued it, it is likely from 1983.
You will also notice that the program material has been treated with noise reduction — not by me, heaven forbid! – but presumably by the Miami Tape mastering service (still in business, by the way). It doesn’t bother me nor is it especially noticeable except during some of the intro sections where there is just a piano or a trumpet, before the full band kicks in. The album has plenty of dynamic range and the instruments all have a ton of clarity and separation. There was as Craft Records reissue of the complete sessions that nobody seems happy with. I haven’t gone back to compare but I remember not being impressed with the sound. The aforementioned CD pressing on EGREM (Cuban state record label) in the 90’s that sounds like the master was several generations removed. The history of the Panart label, which was in full flower when the Revolution happened and the label owners left for the U.S., seems so complex that it will probably take an academic study of it to uncover what actually happened to the master tapes of their catalog, if there’s even any clear documentation out there. Please leave a comment if you know of any good articles or books that talk about Panart.
Tracklist
A1 – Trombon Criollo (03:06)
A2 – Controversia De Metales (03:11)
A3 – Estudio En Trompeta (02:17)
A4 – Guajeo De Saxos (02:19)
A5 – Oye Mi Tres Montuno (02:39)
A6 – Malanga Amarilla (03:17)
B1 – Cogele El Golpe (02:39)
B2 – Pamparana (02:34)
B3 – Descarga Cubana (03:01)
B4 – Goza Mi Trompeta (02:55)
B5 – A Gozar Timpero (02:57)
B6 – Sorpresa De Flauta (02:51)
LINEAGE:
Panart LP-2092 (Grey labels, probably 1983);
Pro-Ject RM-5SE with Audio Tecnica Signet TK7E cartridge;
AT-618 Disc Stabilizer weight;
Pro-Ject Tube Box S2 preamp with Philips NOS ECC83 tubes powered by Accu-box battery PSU;
Audioquest Black Mamba and Pangea Premier interconnect cables;
RME Babyface Pro interface;
Adobe Audition at 32-bit float 192khz; most clicks and pops removed manually in Audition; intros and some outros treated with Click Repair run in fully manual mode with output monitored in real time;
resampled, dithered, converted to FLAC using iZotope RX Advanced.
Tags done with Foobar 2000 and Tag and Rename.
Record cleaned on Music Hall WCS-3 machine with homebrew fluid.
Password: vibes
