T’is the Season to Give… Music

December Playlist Highlights

Song

iTunes

Artist

Category

Origin

Un Loco Con Una Moto Pupy y Los Que Son Son Salsa Cuba
El Capitolio El Capitolio - Latino 46 - Salsa Bachata Merengue Reggaeton Azucar Negra Salsa Cuba
La Yuka Charanga Habanera Salsa Cuba
El Alboroto El Alboroto - Bailá Salsa Mauro Castillo Salsa Colombia
Ven A Mí Rumba Diego Gale Salsa Colombia
Salsa Pa’l Congreso Salsa Pa'l Congreso - Maria Chino Espinoza Salsa Costa Rica
Ayer Ayer - Ayer - Single Opalo Bachata Dominican Republic
Abrazame Amor Abrazame amor - Mi Regreso Luis Miguel Del Amargue Bachata Dominican Republic
Amaneció Amaneció - Amaneció H.O.M. Merengue Electronico Dominican Republic
Ayantame Ayantame (feat. El Potro Alvarez) - Ayantame (feat. El Potro Alvarez) - Single Ilegales Merengue Electronico Dominican Republic
Pata Pata Shikisha Cha-Cha-Cha South Africa

 

With Christmas just a few weeks away I thought I would use this blog entry to suggest a few CD’s that would make great presents for yourself or someone you know who is a lover of Latin music.

 

Album: Salsa – Un Homenaje a El Gran Combo

Artist: Various

Recommended dance tracks:

  • Ojos Chinos
  • Un Verano En Nueva York

Where to get it:

  • Digital: iTunes
  • CD: Descarga.com

El Gran Combo hardly needs an introduction being one of the biggest salsa bands of all time.  Their origins date back fifty years during which time they have released dozens of albums.  This album pays tribute to the legendary group and includes many of their most famous songs some performed by El Gran Combo themselves but many others performed by a range of talented artists including La India, Issac Delgado and Willie Colon.  If you are a fan of salsa you have probably heard many of these songs before but it’s always refreshing to hear a familiar song that has been given new life by another artist.

 

Album: ¿De Que Estamos Hablano?

Artist: Elio (Elito) Reve Jr y Su Charanga

Recommended dance tracks:

  • ¿De Que Estamos Hablando?
  • Ya Sé Cantar, Ya Sé Bailar

Where to get it:

  • Digital: CubaMusic.com
  • CD: Descarga.com

Elito Reve’s father was the late Elio Reve who started Orquesta Reve in 1956.  Over the years this band has included a whos’s who list of some of the top names in the Cuban music scene.  Musicians such as Chucho Valdés, Juan Formell (Los Van Van), Cesar Pedroso (Pupy y Los Que Son Son), and Juan Carlos Alfonso (Dan Den) have at one point or another been part of Orquesta Reve.  The band has been ground breaking since its inception and Elito has carried on that creativity after taking over the band in 1997.  This is their latest offering and makes a fantastic edition to any timba (salsa) collection.

 

Album: A Masterpiece Collection

Artist: Grupo Xtasys

Recommended dance tracks:

  • No Puedo Creer
  • Antes

Where to get it:

  • Digital: iTunes
  • CD: Amazon

Hailing from New York City, this group has been together since 2009.  I happened upon this, their first, CD a few months ago and was really impressed by the number of great songs on the album.  Their sound is fresh, urban and very dancable.

 

Questions, comments, requests? Send me an email or leave a comment.

 

Hasta la próxima 

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Niche y Más

October Playlist

Song

iTunes

Artist

Category

Origin

Estoy Como Que Loco Estoy Como Que Loco - Estoy Como Que Loco - Single Timbalive Salsa USA
Thriller Tony Succar Salsa USA
Cali Pachanguero Cali Pachanguero - Sólo Hits: Grupo Niche Grupo Niche Salsa Colombia
Aprieta Aprieta - Aprieta - Single Grupo Niche Salsa Colombia
El Mas Rico Beso Orquesta Guayacan Salsa Colombia
Cada Día Que Pasa Cada Dia Que Pasa - V.I.P. Edition Orquesta Guayacan Salsa Colombia
Son De Cali Son de Cali Salsa Colombia
No Quiero Dormir Son de Cali Salsa Colombia
Lejos Lejos - Lejos - Single Toby Love Bachata Puerto Rico
Mi Colombianita Mi Colombianita - Mi Colombianita - Single Yunel Cruz Bachata USA
El Cachito El Cachito - La Formula Cubana! Kola Loka Merengue Electronico Cuba
Musica Kafu Banton Reggae en Español Panama
Pasarela Pasarela - Prestige Daddy Yankee Reggaeton Puerto Rico

 

Colombians are passionate about their salsa, both the music and the dance, so it should come as no surprise that Colombia is a hotbed of excellent, high energy salsa music and home to a large number of internationally renowned salsa groups.  It also should not be too surprising that the international capital of salsa, Cali, is found in Colombia.  One of the most well-known groups to call this city home is Grupo Niche.  This band set the stage for what defines Colombian salsa today and has spawned a number of spin-off groups and copycats.  If you are interested in getting into Colombian salsa Grupo Niche is definitely the place to start.

Grupo Niche

Founded in 1978 by the late Jairo Varela and Alexis Lozano Grupo Niche was originally based in Colombia’s capital, Bogota.  However, after a couple of albums and some limited success the group relocated to Cali in 1982.  The fortunes of the band definitely improved after the move and it was in 1984 that they released their most well-known song Cali Pachanguero.  The group’s success continued over the years as they set a trend for making well-orchestrated music that was infectious to listen to and excellent for dancing and with over 30 years of success behind them they have quite the collection of 40 some albums and compilations to prove it.  The band is still going today though they haven’t released any new material for a year or more.  The rate at which they have been producing music has slowed down in recent years and the fact that Varela passed away in August of this year will likely cause that trend to continue.  I have included a couple of their songs in this month’s play list; Cali Pachanguero and one of their more recent offerings, Aprieta.

Orquesta Guayacan

Alexis Lozano founded Grupo Niche with Jairo Varela and together they released the group’s first 4 albums.  However, the two had some differences on matters of business and music and Lozano left the group and went on to form Orquesta Guayacan in 1986.  Grupo Niche was becoming the dominant salsa band in Colombia at the time and it wasn’t until the early 90’s that Qrquesta Guayacan’s unique salsa sound started to give Grupo Niche a run for its money.  Like Grupo Niche, Orquesta Guayacan’s salsa is definitely Colombian but their sound has been described as ‘rootsier’ with more influence coming from Cuban guaguanco and montuno.  Almost as prolific as Grupo Niche the band has put out over 20 albums to date.  I have included a couple of their songs in this month’s play list.  One of their classic tracks, Cada Día Que Pasa from the album Sentimental De Punta a Punta (1991) and one from the recent release Bueno y Más (2009) called El Más Rico Beso.

Son de Cali

Another Grupo Niche spin-off was Son de Cali.  The band was founded in 2002 by Willy Gracia and Javier Vásquez who after having spent several years with Grupo Niche decided to break out on their own.  The musical creativity for the group came predominantly from Gracia who did much of the writing as well as some of the vocals.  Son de Cali released 4 albums over the 9 years they were together but it appears that as of 2011 both artists have gone their separate ways (though the Son de Cali web site is still up and running).  Gracia released a solo album called Sigo Presente at the end of 2011 and Vásquez released his own solo album, Aquí Estoy this year.  I have included a couple of Son de Cali’s songs in this month’s playlist; one from their first album Estilo Propio called Son De Cali and one off a more recent album Cambiando la Historia called No Quiero Dormir.

That’s it for this month.  Questions, comments, requests?  Send me an email

Hasta la próxima

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