Latinohoosier

At the Record Bar, Making Movies frontman Enrique Javier Chi shares a complaint with the audience. “My waitress last night was totally racist — ‘Are you black or Spanish?’ ” he says, aping her.

Kansas City Music – Blending rock-and-roll guitar, salsa rhythms and Spanish-English lyrics

The calypsonian of old combined the bawdy wit of a lovelorn English bard with the improvisatory praise instincts of an African griot. For me, the concept was driven home when my father took me to Trinidad as a 10-year-old, and I watched a roadside calypsonian whip up a rhyming verse comparing Dad to John F. Kennedy, whom he remotely resembled.

Calypso Fantasies: Beyond Island Shores : NPR Music

The “Father of Boogaloo,” Joe Cuba, passed away on Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 4 p.m. at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. He was the most popular exponent of the boogaloo, a fused Latino and R&B rhythm that exploded onto the American top 40s charts during the turbulent 1960s & ‘70s. Hits such as “Bang Bang,” “Push Push,” “El Pito,” “Ariñañara,” and “Sock It To Me Baby,” rocked the hit parades establishing Joe Cuba and his Sextet as the definitive sound of Latin New York during the ‘60s & ‘70s. The Joe Cuba Sextet’s unusual instrumentation featured vibraphones replacing the traditional brass sound. His music was at the forefront of the Nuyroican movement of New York where the children of Puerto Rican emigrants, America’s last citizens, took music, culture, arts and politics into their own hands.

Joe Cuba: The Father of New York Boogaloo has Passed – World Music Central

By Enrique Rivera
Listen Now

All Things Considered, September 3, 2008 – Reggaeton is the biggest-selling genre of Latin music. Its blend of hip-hop, reggae and Latin rhythms has been criticized as simplistic, violent and misogynistic. But the Puerto Rican artist and others use the form to celebrate “blackness,” something rarely heard in Latin America.

We have lost yet another legend, one of the towering figures in this music. Israel López Cachao died Saturday, March 22, 2008, in Coral Gables, Florida. He leaves behind a legacy few can touch. Not only was he literally part of the beginnings of modern Cuban dance music, he played a huge role in its ongoing creation. First, he and his brother Orestes López helped modernize the danzón while playing with Arcaño y Sus Maravillas, and then may well have created another genre, the mambo, through the use of syncopated tumbaos which later were adapted by pianist Dámaso Pérez Prado and applied to a jazz band format. Cachao then went on to record his legendary jam sessions with illustrious figures such as Aristedes Soto (Tata Güines), Alejandro “El Negro” Vivar, Guillermo Barreto and Rogelio “Yeyito” Iglesias, among others. After leaving Cuba as an exile in 1962, he joined the band of another legend, Tito Rodríguez, and accompanied a host of other legends, later recording a number of solo descarga albums in the 1970s. The 1980s saw him in relative obscurity, playing with local bands in Miami, until a famous admirer, actor Andy García, directed a documentary about his life, Como su ritmo no hay dos, which also included a special concert in his honor. Cachao continued to record in the 1990s, right up until 2004 with Ahora sí, his last album, consistently producing superb danzones (his passion) and rousing descargas which always were characterized not only by turbocharged playing, but also exquisitely tasteful phrasing. Indeed, his recordings could be considered musical guidebooks for all aspiring bass players and other instrumentalists who play Latin music.

Interview: Israel “Cachao” López;

Tags: Cachao, interview, descarga

A musical piece combining a classical orchestra and a Cuban pop band had its world premiere with the Minnesota Orchestra this November. Ricardo Lorenz, a Venezuelan-born classically trained composer, teamed with Jorge Gomez of the group Tiempo Libre to write a piece they describe as a sound travelogue. “Rumba Sinfonica” will be performed again in Detroit and at the Ravinia Festival.

NPR Music: ‘Rumba Sinfonica’ a Classical-Pop ‘Travelogue’

Tags: Rumba, Sinfonica, Lorenz, Gomez

n the Midwest, the Latino hip-hop sound is still scarce. But in Wichita, the music is finding not only a fan base but also acceptance among races and ethnicities, say those in the radio and music business here.

Kansas.com | 09/09/2007 | Latino hip-hop hits a note

technorati tags:latino, hip-hop

Johann Sebastian Bach, Woody Guthrie and Led Zeppelin walk into a Mexican restaurant in Chicago. If you know a joke that starts like that, save it for later. This is about a new CD, and there’s no punch line. Except that it’s dang good.

Sones de Mexico Are Not Joking Around – Spinner.com – Free MP3s, Interviews, Music News, Live Performances, Songs and Videos

As I climbed into my boyfriend’s car, I heard the familiar rhythmic pounding of a Reggaeton radio station eminating from his speakers. Born and raised in the Midwest, he had little contact with Latino culture prior to moving to Los Angeles for school. However with spending hours on the road commuting to school in a car that lacks a CD player, he has come to find new radio stations to entertain him while on the road. A white, middle-class, suburban, USC graduate and future doctor – he seems one of the least likely candidates to be a fan of the Puerto Rican and Cuban movement.

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Two million copies of “Bagels and Bongos” were sold in 1959 when it was released. The website of the record label, Reboot Stereophonic, features a videotaped interview of Irving Fields. It also has a picture of the album’s original cover art, which is fantastic.

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Conseguí el himno perfecto para Latinohoosier. Se llama Good Ol’ Sally Goodin’:

[tags]Latin Grazz, Jazz, Blue Grass[/tags]

Antes de que José Feliciano cantara su interpretación del “The Star-Spangled Banner”, era un tema poco hablado. ¿Cual es la diferencia entre “Nuestro Himno”, “We Are The World”, la versión de Jimi Hendrix, o cualquier otra?

“Today, it is common to hear our National Anthem performed in a stylized fashion. Some renditions are clearly better than others, still sparking some criticism. You will, however, notice that it is very acceptable, indeed admirable, to deliver an intensely personal interpretation of The National Anthem. ”

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[Star-Mangled Banner]

Mexican pop diva Gloria Trevi, Puerto Rican reggaeton star Don Omar and other Latino artists have recorded a bilingual version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in a show of support for migrants in the United States.

[Read]

Otro menos de Buena Vista, esta vez Pío Leyva. Recuerdo hace unos años Pio Leiva y Barbarito Torres estaban cantando en un festival al aire libre unas de mis canciones favoritas “Corazon de Chivo” del disco Havana Cafe.

Donde el coro dice:

Yo no como corazón de chivo, camará
Porque el chivo me indigesta el buche

Una gringa que estaba a mi lado, se voltea y me dice: “This is a love song, right? Because he is saying something about his heart broken”. No tuve mas remedio que decirle, “you are right!”

Adiós Pío

Espero que no sea muy tarde para que disfruten con esta canción. [Listen] to Latin Lover. Y no se olviden de Juan Valdez: [Listen]

Listen with AjaxTunes

Rompiendo con la tendencia impuesta por Ricky Martin a fines de la década de 1990, que suponía que para tener éxito real en Estados Unidos los artistas hispanos debían cantar en el idioma de Shakespeare, el intérprete colombiano Juanes jamás lo ha hecho y no lo necesita.

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Panama brings Central American culture to Oakland through music..

Juan Valdez y su mula Conchita fueron elegidos como el icono de publicidad de mayor penetración y crédito en el mundo. El pais.com dice: “Juan Esteban Orduz, gerente de la Federación Nacional de Cafeteros en Estados Unidos, dijo que la mención significa un mayor posicionamiento de la marca en el mundo, además de la free press que vendrá con éste reconocimiento.” Tambien en univision.com, Gabriel Silva, gerente general de la Federación Nacional de Cafeteros dice:”Este triunfo es un reconocimiento muy importante porque confirma que Juan Valdez ® es un verdadero icono, un símbolo de autenticidad del mejor café.” Yo no me quiero imaginar cuantos paquetes tienen la etiqueta del pobre Juan y Conchita viene de Brazil o Vietnam.

Aquí les dejo una cancioncita para celebrar (Grupo Meander ®© 1988)

Aunque aprecio lo que hizo Ry Cooder por revitalizar la música cubana recientemente, admito que todavía odio su guitarra en el álbum de Buena Vista Social Club. En mi opinión, NO CUADRA! El documental en si, también me parece muy flojo y en muchas partes el libreto no se presta. El éxito del documental tiene que ver con la música y con el hecho de que esta clase de talento se consigue en cualquier parte de Latinoamérica. Por lo menos Cooder, es lo suficiente modesto para no estar en el medio del escenario.

Ahora que me desahogué, déjenme recomendarles su ultimo proyecto. Es una colección de música de “East L.A.” que gira en torno de una historia tan teatral que no parece cierta. Se trata de una área llamada Chavez Ravine donde vivían mas que todo inmigrantes mexicanos (lo mas seguro sus familias habían vivido ahí toda su vida) y el cual se convirtió en una área de juego de política y poder.

Lea articulo completo en MotherJones.org

Si no han oído todavía la música de Pedro Luis Ferrer, se la recomiendo altamente. La música en si va al grano y es muy bien tocada por su grupo, los mensajes son picosos, y además las melodías son pegajosas. Pero parece que al Comandante no le gusta algunas de las letras y mandó a censurarlas a todas por las estaciones del Estado. ¿Es que hay otras estaciones en Cuba que no sean del Estado? Bueno chico…Aquí una entrevista para la revista Mother Jones.

Por favor Julio, la próxima vez que se aparezca Amanda con la camarita, enséñale a bailar chico!

About Julio and Lupita in the New York subway.

El primero que consiga donde comprar este DVD en este lado del charco (y en formato NTSC), Avisen!
elmilagrodecandeal.com

Cuando Bebo Valdés llega a la favela en El milagro de Candeal, a través de sus ojos y de sus oídos vemos la vida y escuchamos la música de una comunidad que ha luchado y lucha por su dignidad. Lejos quedaron aquellos primeros timbales comprados por Carlinhos Brown. Hoy, Candeal es una célula activa de creatividad y agitación musical. La relación de centros educativos, músicos, grupos y auditorios que hoy se reúnen en Candeal puede llegar a ser exhaustiva. Por El milagro de Candeal pasan la Escuela Profesional de Música Pracatum, donde se forman músicos de todas las edades; Timbalada, el primer grupo formado en Candeal por Carlinhos Brown, con 200 tambores sonando a la vez; Hip Hop Roots, una mezcla de violines y percusiones con espíritu de vanguardia; Lactomia, un grupo formado por músicos adolescentes; Os Zarabes, banda de formación variable entre 120 y 220 músicos; Candombless Beat, que mezcla ritmos, rezos y cantos ancestrales con sofisticados arreglos de percusión; Candyall Ghetto Square, un auditorio de conciertos que también se utiliza como local de ensayo; La Banda del Camarote Andante, una Big Band de calle de 40 músicos, con 20 percusionistas y 20 metales; el estudio de grabación Ilha dos Sapos, donde han grabado Tribalistas, Manolo García, Marisa Monte, Caetano Veloso; Ta Rebocado, un proyecto urbanístico para arreglar las casas…