New Takes on Classics Swing
Artists from Los Angeles to Rio delight listeners.
By Mark Holston

Hats off to the Cuban composer, pianist, vocalist, and bandleader known as La Palabra. After decades of toiling as a sideman in salsa groups from New York to Miami and Los Angeles, he’s on his own with a magnificent salsa orchestra that bears his name and one of the year’s top tropical music releases, Breakthrough (Tornillo Records). Although known for his pioneering work in the salsa romántica movement, and a four-year association with Stevie Wonder’s production company, La Palabra of today is firmly rooted in the salsa dura sound of the seventies-vintage, hard-swinging, Afro-Cuban dance music with delightful jazz touches.

CubanJam.Com,” with its mambo-tempo rhythm, percussion breaks, and horn solos, recalls the era perfectly. Not all is nostalgic, however. One work boasts rapper Remy Martin in English and Spanish tracks. For fun, there’s a tasty remake, salsa style, of the old hit “La bikina.”

Another big sound, but one with an even larger range and more nostalgic flavor, is Mi Gran Sueño by Peter Vega and Mayagüez Big Band. The Puerto Rican ensemble boasts 22 members and summons up images of ritzy ballrooms and the golden, dynamic sonorities of orchestras fronted by such legends as Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez and Machito. Vega, a trumpet-playing music professor, leads the group through exquisitely performed versions of such classics as “Cachita” (by Rafael Hernández), “Perdón” (by Pedro Flores), and a medley of Puente hits. A quartet of vocalists includes Geraldo Otero, an exceptional balladeer; and the fetching Ingrid Rivera’s reading of “Qué sabes tú” is an album highlight. (The self-produced album is available from Vega at petermus@coqui.net.)

For nearly half a century, since the advent of the bossa nova in the late fifties, the Brazilian beat has been hard to resist. Several new releases announce that the music tide from Rio is rising once again. Sure to get most of the attention is classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma, whose flirtation with Brazilian sounds is tellingly titled Obrigado Brazil on Sony Classical. Ma is joined by a stellar group of Brazilian cohorts, including wispy-voiced singer Rosa Passos, on a program that mixes popular and classical works. Ma’s lustrous cello is a perfect partner for these entrancing creations.

Afro-Brazilian vocalist Rosalia De Souza has crafted one of the year’s most arresting albums of any genre, the rhythmically seductive Garota Moderna (Avatar Records). De Souza and her Italian combo have found the perfect
formula for updating a classic style. Their measured use of electronic beats enhances the subtle flavors of the vintage bossa style, creating a sound that’s at once contemporary and charmingly retro. For those who want to sample a snippet of De Souza’s sound before seeking out her album, a track is featured on the latest sampler from the Putumayo label, Brazilian Groove. Electronica and funk-flavored works by such artists as Zuco 103, Max De Castro, and Carlinhos Brown are spotlighted.