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Hola familia and friends, I hope everyone is well. Here is the track list for this week:
Willie Bobo "Shing-A-Ling Baby" (MGM)
Tito Puente "Oye Mi Guaguanco" (TVO)
Lord Cobra y los Hnos. Duncan "Love Letters" (Soundway)
Joe Bataan "Magic Rose" (Fania)
The Harvey Averne Dozen "You're No Good" (Atlantic)
George Guzman "Y No Sabia Bailar" (Fania)
Joe Cuba Sextette "Wabble-Cha" (Seeco)
Ray Barretto "Trompeta y Trombon" (WS Latino)
Pete Rodriguez y Su Conjunto "I Like It Like That" (Alegre)
Azuquita "California" (Vaya)
Download file here
Good stuff, no? Check out that third song in particular.... it comes off this AMAZING album, Panama! 2. You have to pick this up...you HAVE TO. It's an arepafunk requirement. It is available on vinyl, CD, and on iTunes. Here is the link to the store. Roberto Ernesto Gyemant does an excellent job on the liner notes. Seriously, on iTunes you can get this album for 10 bucks and you get 20 carefully selected songs with the digital booklet - all fire, I'm telling you - you won't want to skip a single track. That sounds like a steal to me.
Guess what?! Fania Records has some new releases scheduled in the next couple of months. First up... Tito Rodriguez, "A Man And His Music," out 11-3-2009. Check out this video.
til next time, Peace!
Ay caramba, I've fallen behind again! It looks like my education is getting in the way of your weekly arepafunk. To make it up, I've used some of the good stuff I've been "saving" to impress you.
Here is the play by play...
This week we have George Guzman opening it up with Diggin' Rice N' Beans. With all the food related lyrics in both ingles and spanish, I thought it was perfect to kick things off.
Yo vengo soltando chispas, yo vengo hechando candela... I love the catchy lyrics on Pete Rodriguez's track Soltando Chispas. Great dance tune.
After Joe Bataan's Muchacho Ordinario, you'll hear three boogaloo grooves by Ray Barretto, Larry Harlow, and Joe Panama. Great stuff!
Nat King Cole's Ay, Cosita Linda is a classic. If your looking for a new album to pick up, be sure to check out the Nat King Cole tribute album Re: Generations that came out earlier this year. Here's the link to the iTunes store.
A couple of weeks back I know some of you were really diggin' El Pito by Joe Cuba, so I included Bang! Bang! which has that same fun energy.
Next up is Willie Colon's The Hustler, the title track from his 1968 album. Look forward to some great solos.
And last but not least is a live song by the Fania All Stars at Yankee Stadium. Congo Bongo features Mongo Santamaria and Ray Barretto on the congas with Hector Lavoe and Cheo Feliciano on vocals. I only wish I coulda been there to see this!!!
Bueno, its back to studying for my final.
Peace!
RIP Ralph Mercado. Click Here for NY Times Obituary.
As I was looking over the records I had selected for this week's set, I thought about revising some selections in order to feature more songs that would pay tribute to a man that did so much to promote latin music around the world. It was at this moment that I realized that Ralph Mercado's influence on latin music is so widespread that I can play virtually any song in my vinyl collection and there's a good chance that the artist is somehow connected to Mercado. Finally, I went with my original selection. In this week's track list alone, there are six artists that Ralph Mercado represented at one point - Tito Puente, La Lupe, Ricardo Ray, Bobby Cruz, Ray Barretto, and Eddie Palmieri.
This week's selection highlights some boogaloo and soul. You don't want to miss the Fania All Stars' live version of Marvin Gaye's "If This World Were Mine," featuring Joe Bataan and La La.
Also, the song "If (We Had Peace Today)" comes off one of my favorite albums, Eddie Palmieri's Harlem River Drive. I highly recommend you take a listen to the entire record, it is truly great.
