Papita Frita

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!

Jamón y Queso

A new look plus new music! Finally!

What's up mi gente... I know your starving for some arepafunk. Tranquilos... I got you.

First off - Caminito Serrano by Jaime Llano Gonzalez. Afrosound has a really dope version of this song too. This one reminds me of Chicha which is a cool, psychadelic cumbia sounding music from Peru. Check out Chicha Libre, a Brooklyn-based band thats got an awesome sound.

Mambo en España by Orquesta Riverside is one I have been saving for a special occasion. This is some good music that will never grow old. I know you'll love it.

I end the set with the Fania All Stars playing El Raton. In the liner notes there's a clip from the New York Post that sums up all the excitement from the night that this song(among others) was recorded live at Yankee Stadium. It's nuts.... Just to give you an idea of how crazy this show must have been... Mongo Santamaria, Tipica '73, and El Gran Combo warmed up the crowd....

En serio? For real? Arr ju kidin me? Just picture that, all those guys are opening up the show, then you got the Fania All Stars showing up with Manu Dibango and Jorge Santana. Holy chit, its no wonder 40,000 fans rushed the stage and the show had to end early.

Yankee Stadium, August 24th, 1973. Wow

Here's a video of El Raton being performed live in Zaire. Enjoy.

Alright, be good. Peace!

Arroz con Frijoles

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!

Platano Frito

Don't act surprised, I told you this week's set was gonna be fresh! BANANAS!

Willie Colon starts it up for us with the title track from his debut album "El Malo". This album also served as the debut for Hector Lavoe as the singer for the Willie Colon Band. Thank you Johnny Pacheco for linking these two up - what a legendary combo.

Some of you really liked Ray Barretto's "Right On" from my Chitos set from 2 weeks back, so I made sure to include "The Soul Drummers" this week - definitely a similar sound/feel. Muy groovy.

After that you got some Joe Cuba, more Lavoe, Bataan, Palmieri, Hermanos Lebron, and even some Niche. Eeaaaave Maria, que mas quieren?

Bueno mi people, enjoy the set and continue to spread the word about arepafunk.

Mucho thank you.