"...what turns me off is the percussion..."!!??
I can't decide whether you're for real or not but regardless, your post was most amusing. I'm reluctant to say this to anyone because I'm so very pro-Latin Jazz, but perhaps this genre isn't for you.
"...bongos doing a "how fast and loud can you play" segment, dominates a particular song. but it doesn't happen all that often (thank goodness!)..."
This statement pushes so many of my buttons that I think it's best if I just leave it alone. You're in Miami, I suggest you go to a concert or two, it might help you along your musical journey, good luck! |
If you like some 'vintage' Latin jazz get Stan Getz's "The Girl from Ipanema - The Bossa Nova Years" a 4CD set put out by Verve. this will transport you back a few years to the time when this music was extremely popular. |
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Herbie Mann in Newport era.New Mann at Newport and Standing Ovation are Great !!JD |
Pianist Bebo Valdés (Chucho's father) recorded an album a few years ago with the flamenco singer Diego "el Cigala", called "Lágrimas negras" . . . I cannot recommend it highly enough. Incredible subtlety of expression in a medium that is still fundamentally Latin, and no bongos. |
Dizzy Gillespie just twitched in his grave. Chazro's right. Ritmo caliente is the heart and soul of Latin Jazz. You might be better off with another idiom. 8?} |
I like Latin Jazz and LOVE percussion!
How can you enjoy Latin Jazz without percussion?
Tito Puente, Paquito D'Divera,Herbie Mann among my favorites. Have a lot of respect for Mr. Puente (a Juliard graduate). IO enjoy some of the Pancho Sanchez works but not all. |
Latin Jazz is wonderful!
Here are a few personal favorites:
Buena Vista Social Club, Eponymous
Afro-Cuban All Stars, "A Toda Cuba Le Gusta"
Chano Dominguez, "Hecho a Mano"
Marisa Monte/Carlinos Brown/Arnaldo Antunes, "Tribalistas"
Maria Rita, "Samba Meu"
Pablo Moura, "Pixinguinha"
Velha Guarda Da Portela, "Tudo Azul"
A great online resource for Brazilian Jazz and world music is http://www.slipcue.com. The site is run by a DJ who has interesting and wide ranging musical taste.
Enjoy! |
Yo Fool!
Percussion, drums* and foot stomping, are the very foundations of Latin and Jazz.
Check the Buena Vista Social Club (ignore the stupid slide guitar whining in the background) and another excellent CD is Introducing Ruben Gonzalez.
If you don't like these stick with Yanni.
*timbalas, bongos, congas, hollowed out tree trunks, cans, sticks, bones,bells, skulls,etc. |
Any body heard of spanish harlem orchestra?heard a tune on the radio coming home from work...they were jammin!!! |
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well, i thank (some of y'all) for the suggestions. funny though, i never said i didn't like LATIN PERCUSSION- otoh i think it's great, indispensable, especially the incredible variety of different sounds you hear on these recordings.
what i DID suggest is that when (specifically) bongo players start playing too long and too loud, it sounds like they are showing off rather than playing music and trying to integrate their sound with the rest of the group. this does not happen alot AS I BELIEVE I SAID ALREADY, but it was one of the reasons it took me a long time to learn to appreciate ALL of the nuances and complexities that this musical genre possesses.
so to those of you who are limited in reading comprehension skills, i would suggest that you not find offense in statements no one made. i'm trying to learn as much as i can about new and different types of music, and not seeking out those with nothing constructive to offer. |
!!??.....Did somebody wake up on the wrong side of their cowbell this morning!?;)
Before questioning my reading abilities, since a number of posters agreed with what I wrote, you may want to check out your writing abilities. Not only does your 1st post imply that you simply don't get it, your 2nd post CONFIRMS it!!
"...it took me a long time to learn to appreciate ALL of the nuances and complexities that this musical genre possesses."
I'm not going to question how much time you've spent learning it ALL, just that you MAY want to spend a little more time brushing up on what you've learned.
I gave you a constructive suggestion before, Latin Jazz is a music best experienced live. Here's some more, you've been given a few good recommendations, you oughtta check them out. If you do a search here you'll find other threads and lastly, go to Latinjazzcorner.com, click on the best of 2007, a more stirling list of recs doesn't exist (although I warn you, there's definetely some bongo solos on these amazing records;)
Nip at me and I'll nip back, tone down the arrogance! |
French fries, FWIW I find very little wrong with you stating your preferences in Latin jazz, any jazz, pop or classical! We all have them. I'm not entranced by long showy congo drums solo's either (but I've got some African drumming that just lights my fire). Nor am, I entranced by either Miles Davis, or for the most part trumpet as a principle jazz instrument. I prefex sax or piano, so what! Its only important to folks who think they have a conner on intelligence, information, or 'good' tastes. 'Latin Jazz' covers a lot of ground as a quick read of the term in Wikipedia will reveal to any curious enuf to pursue it.
Chazro, your very first post set the tone - now you have taken the second bite. You should (also) consider toning down the arrogance.
This forum should be a place to come and discuss music in a constructive way. Do you disagree? IMHO :-(
BTW, speaking of Latin jazz pianists, this one is Cuban, for someone up to some really laid back Mexican romantic music by a jazz group should hear Charlie Haden's Land of the Sun with Gonzalo Rubalcaba on Verve. Late nite stuff! If it wasn't so goood it would put you to sleep.
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I swear I posted a response to this thread a few days ago but I don't see it now.
You should try Tito Puente's Night Beat, some old Chico O'Farrill, Bebo Valdess Big Band album El Manisero (wonderful!), and for better sound quality, The Latin Train by Arturo Sandoval.
Then, go to New York and catch Arturo O'Farrill's Latin Jazz Orchestra on a Sunday night at Birdland. Amazing! If you can see that band and not like Latin Jazz then I can't help you. |
French Frie
Just messing with you, man.
check out Tito Puente- El Rey! |
Yes El Rey! I have that old fantastic LP. Got to go and spin it now... |
i would suggest that this discussion belongs to anyone who loves american jazz in all of its virtually countless forms, and then turns a corner one day and really starts to dig something that, at first listen, seems to sound mainly like dance music. i've always liked calypso, reggae, socca (sp?) that my friends from trinidad, jamaica, and the bahamas have introduced me to, but the salsa/mambo stuff didn't hook me until fairly recently. now i'm putting the bill evans and milt jackson cd's aside for a bit while i explore this new material, and i'm really getting into it. so much so that i wanted to get as much feedback as possible about the who's who in this music. once the names of some of the records
are out there i can integrate them alphabetically between j. coltrane, joni mitchell, hank mobley, planxty, and bob wills. so thanks again, and i'm glad to see many others here that listen to latin jazz as well as mainstream jazz and classical music. (and folk, and rock, metal, electronica...) |
Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys- AHHH!!! |
So, i would like to know more about the different forms of latin jazz, and i came across some terminology that i don't understand. perhaps someone here can explain and elaborate on these spanish descriptions:
1.danzon 2.guajira 3.descargas 4.salsa 5.mambo
I'm sure there are many other forms especially as it relates to different countries, i.e.columbia, puerto rico, etc.
i don't always know what exactly i'm listening to, but it gets really good, just like the stuff i'm more familiar with from n.orleans, st.louis, chicago, l.a., n.y. (oh, and texas of course...) |
If you like jammin latin jazz..Look at a well recorded compilation disc called Mo Horizons by some mo horizons.
This cd gets my feet tappin no doubt. |
I love it! I have to admit, I do get a turned off by the, for lack of a better description; call and response shouting chants of band members that can't really sing. Perhaps it's something beyond my cultural sensibilites? |
All the different types of music that are called Jazz have their counterparts in Latin Jazz. Small acoustic combos, Fusion, Big Band, Smooth, Avant-Garde, you name it and I can easily find a Latin Jazz artist that's playing it. The fact is Latin Jazz is going through one of it's most fruitful periods these last few years. A very large quantity of truly exceptional music has been released, it's a fantastic time to be a Latin Jazz fan, I say this having been one for over 40 years! In particular, I think an area that Latin Jazz has been out-working 'Standard' (for lack of a better word) Jazz is in Big Band recordings. Man, the last year or so have seen recording after recording released and many of them have been exceptional. I just rec'd 'Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra - Song For Chico' yesterday. What can I say, it's killa!!
Hey Mr. French Fries, I'd like to send you a compilation of some of the stuff I've been listening to recently. I wasn't sure if you were sincere at 1st but it seems that you are so I'm offering a small gift that I think you'll enjoy. PM me if you're interested. |
A short while ago I saw the Arturo O'Farrill band, Wow, their daring, full bore, take no prisoners, risk taking performance was so refreshing in these days of the often typical homoginized, unimaginitive, rehashed, predictable crap. Even classic tunes were fresh and alive. While they were willing to take on challanges, they also avoided the unprepaired, unprofessional, practice doodling that sometimes takes place in some jazz venues. Bravo! |
Hmm...I;m not sure I would call things like danzon, guajira, salsa, and mambo "Latin Jazz". The danzon, salsa, and mambo are dances. The guajira is an early form of Cuban folks song with traditionally improvised verses (guajiro=redneck in Cuban slang). A descarga is a jam session with lots of improv, so that would very likely qualify as jazz. Salsa is not TRULY Cuban...it really came our of NYC and Puerto Rico, although a lot if Cuban musicians in exile were of course part of it (e.g., Celia Cruz). Other traditional formal Cuban music forma are the guaganco (not a dance, percussion heavy, and NOT jazz)and the cha cha cha (a dance). For me, true Cuban jazz is more recent - starting with a group called Irakere - whihc is where Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo Sandoval and of course Chucho Valdes came from. Other poprular Latin dance music types are the merengue (Domican Republic), the cumbia (Colombia), and the samba (Brazil). All cool in their own way..but not necessarily jazz. Other Cuban performers to explore in addition to Chucho/Bebo valdes are Albita (first two CD's after defecting to the US) and early Celia Cruz (the stuff in her twenties, before she left Cuba). Arturo Sandoval had a great CD featuring Tito Puente on tow tracks (I think its called Hothouse Flowers). For more traditional Cuban stuff, try Orquesta Aragon (the top Cuban "big band" for years). For salsa, Willy Chirino and Ruben Blades had some great stuff in the 70's/80's. The weirdest one would be a Japanese group called Orquesta de La Luz who play nothing but latin music (and sing in Spanish) - they are actually pretty decent. Gloria Estefan's Spanish CD's are pretty good too. And hey..if you want some Latin flavor in a contemporary group, I think Pink Martini is pretty brilliant - albeit they mix genres a lot (yes - I am Latin - Cuban, in fact..:-)) |
there's some great information here- thanks!
the station of interest is WDNA.ORG - latin jazz from 8pm to midnite (EASTERN TIME) on the internet with playlists as well. i'm really getting into the music more and more all the time. |
Album:
Vortex by Eddie Palmieri
Songs of love by Humberto Ramirez
Anything recorded by these artist:
Ray Barreto
Cachao
Giovvani Hidalgo
Jimmy Bosch
For Salsa,The one and only:
Hector Lavoe The spanish Frank Sinatra!
John Lennon was a big fan of Hector Lavoe. |
