The Whole Music Experience

World/Latin Grupo Cha Cha   This is the Life Independent Mixed Latin music bands have caught my attention in recent years, including Seattle’s Picoso (with women horn players) and now, Grupo Cha Cha from Chicago which performs flute-centered Caribbean and Brazilian dance music.   This is the Life opens with Charlie Otwell’s Peruchin which ripples with passion.   Flutist Lise Gilly (band leader) radiates on this track, with tight Afro-Latin percussion, salsa-piano (Darwin Noguera), and the other musicians creating luscious grooves.   Anyone who fancies Latin music will gravitate towards this independent release and why not support independent musicians? The title track recalls Cal Tjader and Havana Flute Summit which falls in neatly into Latin jazz with Victor Garcia soloing on trumpet and Adrian Ruiz on electric piano (organ).   The musicians shift rhythmically three quarters of the way with the flute taking the lead.   On Que Te P...

World Best of Buena Vista (An homage to Buena Vista Social Club) Arc Music In 1999 when I sat with my film colleagues and a film festival audience to watch Wim Wender’s documentary Buena Vista Social Club , I fell in love with Cuban son.   Coming from a background of youthful rock music, I felt in awe as I watched the octogenarian musicians that comprised Buena Vista Social Club perform sweet songs with total abandonment.   I realized that it takes multiple generations to preserve and perform music.   Since that time, several of the Buena Vistas died, including Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer, and Rùben Gonzalez.   However, the spirit of Cuban son and Buena Vista Social Club is alive and well, as it appears on Best of Buena Vista. This CD features Pio Leyva, Juan De Marcos (musician responsible for the formation of Buena Vista Social Club), Puntilitta   Licea, Ruby Calzado, Maracaibo Oriental, Josè Artemio Castañeda, Raul Planas an...

World Hijos De Agüeybaná Agua del Sol Tumi Music So often we turn to Cuban music when exploring music of the Caribbean and don’t get me wrong, Cuban music possesses splendid qualities, combining the best of Afro-Latin and Spanish music traditions.   Even the Puerto Ricans in New York City turned towards Cuban music when they launched salsa music.   However, now that I’m listening to a traditional recording of Puerto Rican music called bomba by the group Hijos de Agüeybaná ( Agua del Sol ), I can’t understand why these delicious Afro-Latin dance rhythms haven’t enjoyed the same popularity as Cuban son, even if these rhythms along with Puerto Rican plena and Dominican merengue appear in salsa alongside the Afro-Cuban beats.  To think that my grandmother might have danced to bomba when she was a child growing up in Puerto Rico, warms my heart. With the call and response vocals, especially on the titular track, I bet there are listeners who would co...

Picoso (Mad Latin Flavor) Mas Picao Independent release (Seattle) Any band that gets a park full of picnickers and music fans dancing during the opening of their first song deserves a shout out.   Seattle-based Afro-Latin band Picoso, which translates to “mad Latin flavor”, brought their punchy horns, Afro-poly rhythms, and rousing vocals to Boulevard Park in Bellingham, Washington, and the dancers went mad with their own Latin flavor.   Described as “urban” and “very street,” ( Seattle Sound Magazine ) Picoso mixes salsa, son, reggaeton and other Caribbean genres on their CD Mas Picao .   This recording features Samantha Boshnack on trumpet, but live, a woman trombone player joined her, filling out the band’s horn section.   I only mention this because I’ve never seen women horn players in an Afro-Cuban band prior to this event.   Puerto Rican bandleader/percussionist/vocalist Alfonso Gonzalez sings with gusto so I could see why...

Stevie Wonder Innervisions Motown/Universal (1973) Ah, Stevie, how did I forget you for so many years? I grew up with Stevie Wonder music surrounding me.   Then when I was in college, I took a dance class and our final performance featured Sir Duke .   However, after I discovered alternative rock, I stopped listening to soul music, and poor Mr. Wonder was relegated to the back closets of my mind.   That was until a few months ago when I heard Sir Duke playing the background at the food coop.   Stevie was back and just in time, since now I decided to include a chapter on soul music for my book-in-progress, Whole Music . Oh, I’m enjoying this. When Stevie released Innervisions in 1973 I was in grade school, but I heard the gritty socio-commentary Living for the City , the catchy Don’t You Worry “Bout a Thing , and the funky Higher Ground on a pop radio station.   However, at the time I did not recognize Wonder’s musical genius.  ...