Eddie Palmieri – Unfinished Masterpiece Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz | FLAC | 300 dpi scans | Salsa, Latin Jazz 1975 Coco Records CLP 120 Titling an album “Unfinished Masterpiece” sort of confirms my suspicious… Eddie Palmieri – Unfinished Masterpiece (1975) (Coco Records CLP 120)
Willie Colon with Hector Lavoe & Yomo Toro – Asalto Navideño Vol.II
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz | FLAC | Art scans | Folk, Holiday, Salsa
2023 Craft Recordings || Orig.rel. 1973 Fania
I wanted to get this post up before the holiday season passed, and I just *barely* made it — Jan. 6 is the end of the Xmas season in Latin America, with the holiday of Three Kings Day / Feast of the Epiphany closing things out. If you don’t know Willie Colon and the late, great Hector Lavoe, this may not be the place to start. Not because it isn’t good, but it’s not typical of the lean, street-wise salsa sound they helped craft in the formative period of the genre during the late 60s through the 70s.
Willie Colon – Asalto Navideño Vol. II (1973) (50th Anniversary Fania – Craft 2023)
Johnny Pacheco – Pacheco At The N.Y. World’s Fair
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz | FLAC | 300 dpi | Latin, Salsa
1964 Fania LP-326 || Mono gold label
Because everything sucks right now except my record collection. Nothing provocative, depressing, nor spooky (this being Halloween and all) but rather uplifting and invigorating. This is great early work from Maestro Pacheco, released within the first year of Fania Records’ life as a company that would cast a long shadow in the decades to come. It features a lead vocal (on most tracks) from Pete Rodriguez before his breakout hit “I Like It Like That”. A couple of tracks feature the Cuban singer Ramon ‘Monguito’ Sardiñas in that role. The rest of the personnel is not noted anywhere I can find, feel free to leave a comment if you happen to know who played on this.
Johnny Pacheco – Pacheco At The NYC World’s Fair (1964 Fania)
Joe Bataan – Gypsy Woman
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz |Latin, Boogaloo, Soul
2022 Craft Recordings CR00552|| Original release – Fania 1967
So it’s another holiday weekend in the land of my birth. Actually, the holiday is Tuesday, July 4th, Independence Day, but in spite of the insidious Protestant Work Ethic, many Americans will make like Brazilians and turn it into an extended 4-day weekend. I’m not big on celebrating it myself, at least not until we all get free ( and someday we’ll be free). My city does have a pretty decent fireworks viewable from the riverfront within biking distance of my house, though, so I may catch a little buzz and watch the explosions in the sky.Joe Bataan – Gypsy Woman (1967) (2022 Fania / Craft Recordings)
Tito Puente – Mucho Puente
Vinyl transfer in 24-bit/192 kHz || Latin, Salsa
1957 RCA Victor || This pressing 1986 Venezuela RCA 102-02019 || Mono
An interesting late 50’s record from Tito Puente, this may not be the best record to inaugurate what (I hope) will be a small series of posts I will do here to commemorate centenary of the great timbalero, bandleader, and icon of Latin music. Lemme tell you why:Tito Puente – Mucho Puente (1957) (1986 Venezuela)
The Joe Cuba Sextet – Bustin’ Out
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/192 kHz | mp3 320 kbs & FLAC | Web scans | Latin, Salsa, Soul
1972 Tico Records CLP-1300 || Venezuelan Pressing, Bob Ludwig laquer
Is “Put-Da-Din” the Latin American equivalent of “Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus”? Well, probably not, but maybe it could be. The big take-away here is that this is one of the best records Joe Cuba ever made, and I think it was the last to be credited to his Sextet. The track “Can You Feel It?” also has an amazing soul vocal on it and a well thought-out dialog between the spoken narration, with romantic rememberances of “el barrio” that would make Lin-Manuel Miranda blush, immediately followed by the thoughts of somehow who “feels it, in a different way”. Brilliant stuff. And like always, no horns here, so that may help draw the reed- or brass-averse into this genre.