MAGNIFICO BOOGALOO (Vampisoul VAMPI303)
Munster Records' latest unearthing from the vaults at MAG in Peru consists of a various artist double-album compilation of the boogaloo sounds of Peru in the 1960s. In New York, the stripped-down urgency of the Joe Cuba sextet was an important shift in the music as suddenly an embargo on Cuba meant less music from that beleaguered island was getting out. Joe Cuba's "Bang Bang" and "El Pito" were global Latin hits (the latter is covered here), but other Peruvian acts like Los Kintos and Melcochita got into the groove with originals and derivates of the tropical sound of New York, which fused soul and funk in the Latin idiom. Joe Bataan felt that the labels killed off boogaloo in North America because they had a roster of older generation musicians they needed to promote, but boogaloo grew in the South American market as salsa and its offshoots began to make inroads. Now-familiar MAG artists like Coco Lagos, Ñico Estrada and Tito Chicoma take the sound and twist it to incorporate Guajiras, a cover of "Pata Pata" or even a "Soul Limbo"! There's also a tired "Guantanamera." Coco Lagos y sus Orates give us a kicking "Tumba Coco," that is heavy on the percussion. Los Kintos' "Bam Bam" is overmiked with a strident electric guitar leading the line on four very familiar chords. (I think they took them from Lovin Spoonful's 1966 "Summer in the City." I also hear Shocking Blue in Laghonia's "Bahia o New Juggler Sound.") After a forgettable Gershwin "Summertime" called "Heriberto Boogaloo" by Pancho Acosta (also of Los Kintos), we get to the slamming "Peruvian Boogaloo" by Melcochita and Karamanduka. Their other entry, "Peruvian Guajira" also lifts the roof. Other gems include "Lindo caballito" by Nilo Espinosa. Overall the more straight-ahead salsa tracks appeal to me more than the novelty remakes, but there's a lot of nuggets here and enough to go around.
MARTIN LOPEZ Y SUS ESTRELLAS
COCINANDO (Vampisoul VAMPI 305)
This album kicks off with a circus-like whirling zippy organ and jungle noises, and it seemed like a pop hit from a bygone era that might be best forgotten. But then on track two, "Sonero," my ears perk up, as we get into a good old slapping salsa vamp, with piano montuno and horns riding timbales, congas and cowbells as a strong coro warms us up. This is the real deal! It's another reissue from Peru's MAG label which has now become the new hunting ground for Munster Records and Vampisoul after they served us up a full shelf of Discos Fuentes from Colombia. The album is titled "Cooking" in Spanish. It's a stew with guaracha and cumbia simmering to the top. The singer Pedro López, who also wrote the songs, was a police lieutenant, so changed his stage name to Martín López for these recordings, made between 1969 and 1971. In the studio he was joined by MAG's top session musicians, including the legendary Melcochita on coro (or second voice). The percussionists are veteran timbalero Niko Estrada and tumbador Coco Lagos, whom we have met before, thanks to this stellar reissue series. At a guess I'd say it's Alfredo Linares on piano. There's stand-up bass and guitar, alternating with electrified tres which picks the lead on "Mi razón de vivir," a sweet bolero, that slides into a rave-up reminiscent of Arsenio Rodríguez. While the label's PR singles out three tunes as hits, I feel some of the other tracks are better. My favorite is "Mi ritmo te llama," which I would class as a descarga. It has brilliant block chords on piano and a crashing dissonance with percussion breaking in after about a minute, then it goes into a wild extended jam. This is one they should have done for ten minutes more, and probably did in concert. The last track, also designated a hit, is a chicha called "No me dejas." It's quite bubbly with guitar and marimba over a complex rhythmic base. The guitar lead does stretch out into unexpected places and this one was another undoubted dancefloor sensation.
SONORA NELSON FERREYRA
GUARACHEROS (Vampisoul VAMPI 299)
A decade ago there was a big vogue for the Chicha music of Peru, which took Colombian cumbias and adapted them to a particularly Andean pentatonic scale which was originally played on harp, but adapted to keyboards, synths, or multiple guitars playing in unison. Also in the 60s, Peruvians with transistor radios dug American rock and roll, so surf music and psychedelic rock also featured in their home-grown sounds. But another generation of Peruvians was fond of Cuban salsa: for them the indispensable resource was the Discos MAG label which recorded touring artists (Mon Rivera, Alfredito Valdez, Jr) as well as locals who could deliver a full dance floor with popular covers and originals. Vampisoul has been unearthing the lost gems of this label's catalogue, and have given us singer/bassist Melcochita, percussionist Coco Lagos and pianist Alfredo Linares who emerged from total obscurity to become one of my (& possibly your) favorite Latin pianists! This outing is focused on guarachas which often were repurposed as cumbias, to feed the fad. Nelson Ferreyra's band began with a couple of covers from Cuba's Gloria Manancera but soon were touring central America as ambassadors of tropical music. They also sold well in Venezuela. They are big and brash with singer Kiko Hernández riding atop the ten-piece band. No other personnel are listed but I think Nelson was percussionist: I hear coro, a lady singer, piano, bajo, two trumpets, timbales and congas.
MITA Y SU MONTE ADENTRO
ARECIBO (Vampisoul 220)
Now the MAG back catalogue is being reinvestigated by VampiSoul, we are the beneficiaries. The MAG label from Peru is, or was, one of the really great hard-hitting salsa operations: their discs start in full flight and don't let up. The working hypothesis is: Studio time is precious, so come prepared — so we are hearing consistently high quality music from this reissue series. After a bunch of re-releases from Al Valdez, who was for years on the "notable sidemen" list (until we heard his early MAG albums recorded in Lima), we are getting to some other stellar artists on their roster, such as Coco Lago and Alfredo Linares. Mita is the latest to be dusted off: he plays tres, a Cuban 6-stringed instrument with a pleasant harsh metallic sound. He wrote a bunch of descargas and covered hits by Joe Cuba, Cortijo and others. When big name acts, like Celia Cruz or Sonora Ponceña, came to Lima they asked for him to be on the bill. However he never left home or recorded another album, lettering this one 1969 album be his signature statement. It is really fine and he is exceptional throughout. Among all the jams, the B Side kicks off with a workout called "Linda Peruana" which is based on an Arsenio Rodriguez composition, with a few quotes from "Holiday for Strings" and "Tres Lindas Cubanas" by Antonio Romeu. "Descarga en botella y guiro" really does take it down to basic percussion, with the tres flaming out on "Monte Adentro," which was a hit for Arsenio Rodriguez in 1948. This awesome track is where Mito took the name of his band and this is the highest standard they are aiming for. There are hairpin turns, breakneck changes and a real sense of a flaming hot band caught in the studio after a wild night warming up on the bandstand.
MAG: 14 MAGNIFICOS BAILABLES (Vampisoul 260)
Peru's now-celebrated MAG label brought a tropical Latin vibe to the loudspeakers of Lima and beyond in their heyday. After several reissues, Vampisoul's parent company Distrolux has acquired the entire back catalogue of the label and this album showcases a plethora of dance hits from their golden age of the 60s and 70s. The names are mostly new to me. Wild bongos and electric guitar set the stage with a "Cumbia con guitarra" from Los Avileños. It bounces along in like mode with catchy 3-minutes ditties. Silvestre Montez, with "El Diablo," provides a great percussion break on timbales that would still excite dancers today (though at 2'41 you might have to play it twice). Chicha style guitar floats through the disc, and strikes home on Poppy y su Pirañas' catchy "Guayaba." Los Kintos, who had a recently reissue on Vampi also, turn in a horn-driven guaracha number called "Tin Marin." The great pianist Alfredito Valdez Jr gives us "Aprieta (Oye Como Va)," which was included on his essential album Gozando! that I reviewed last year, so no need for me to go over it, but this is a gem if you don't have the whole album. He started out as pianist in Arsenio's band in New York and made his first solo recordings for MAG in Lima in 1965. Ñico Estrada y Su Sonora pour fuel on the fire with a smoking "La Malanga," a pure descarga. It quits at 3'08 and you are already drained (if you've been attempting to move to it). The last cut is "Machupicchu" by Melcochita and Karamanduka. This rare reissue (originally on an LP called MAG All Stars Vol II) is another crucial track. Here they boastfully shout out to "Beny More — Peruviano!" (Melcochita) and "Eddie Palmieri — Peruano!" (Rafael la Nino) and also credit Melcochita for playing the bass. This great closer is not on the Acabo con Lima album which I reviewed last month, and thankfully does not fade out at 3 minutes but runs twice that length. Full steam ahead.
ALFREDO LINARES Y SU SONORA
EL PITO (Vampisoul VAMPI 248)
I recognized the opening riff of this album right away, thinking at first it was "Low Rider" by War (1975), but then I remembered "I'll never go back to Georgia" (and with good reason too) & when I hit YouTube the first thing that came up was Joe Cuba's version of "El Pito"! (1966; the riff also came from "Manteca" by Dizzie Gillespie.) We go from boogaloo to Ernesto Lecuona's zarzuela with "Maria la O" with a Cuban flautist, Alberto Castillo: the song was a hit for Larry Harlow's orchestra the year before, on the album Heavy Smokin'. But there's no stopping the driving salsa which returns on "El Tiburon." While these are covers what makes them engaging is the tight arrangement and the masterful piano by Alfredo Linares, Peruvian bandleader, whom I had never heard of until Vampisoul started reissuing his albums. He backed Coco Lago on a great album of Descargas (Vampisoul 246) that I raved about. Apparently he was rediscovered by Quantic and suddenly everyone wants his back catalog. (This album is available on Discogs – there is one copy at $3000! – but hey, shipping is free) It is one of the rarities of Disques MAG from Lima who had a solid studio band backing singers Melcochita and Tito Fuentes. Things slow down for a Spanish "Strangers in the Night" (a hit for Sinatra in 1966 as this album was recorded), which is eminently skippable, but then we are back to full steam ahead for a track called "Descarga," which sounds like it was a spontaneous live take, after listening to Eddie Palmieri – there are also influences of Ricardo Ray. In his long career, starting in the 60s, Linares also played in Venezuela and Colombia where he made lots of fans. (Hence, you will find my reviews of two of his later albums in the Colombia part 2 section.) This is a great rediscovered album. A search of bandcamp shows a different mix called The MAG Years came out as 3 x 45s at Christmas 2020 and soon sold out, but you can still listen to it there.
KARAMANDUKA Y MELCOCHITA
ACABO CON LIMA, HUYO PA NUEVA YORK (Vampisoul VAMPI262)
Another rarity dug out of the crates by Vampisoul in their ongoing series of great lost Latin music. This album, originally titled EXTRA Volume 2, is a boogaloo gem from 1969 and features some top Peruvian salseros in the studio (MAG studios in Lima), including pianist Otto de Rojas and percussionist Coco Lagos (whose great album Descargas was also reissued recently by Vampisoul). The title translates as "Done with Lima, I'm off to New York," as they set themselves down, mentally, in Brooklyn and the Bronx where young Puerto Ricans were reimagining Latin music, turning away from the big bands of Machito and Tito Rodriguez and thinking more Sly & the Family Stone and Isaac Hayes. Percussion is to the fore with some fierce conga playing and timbales (Ray Barretto's Hard Hands came out the year before). Melcochita is exceptional here. Someone smarter than me will have to make the connection to African masked voices from the Ivory Coast in soneros with gravelly delivery. After a solidly Latin A-side, they kick off side two with a 12-bar blues jam, called "Booga Jazz," with scat lyrics: it's a throw-away number with a serious drum solo. "Vuela mi Descarga" nods to the Alegre All-Stars' series of early 60s albums with studio chatter before they get down: in that case to the piano of Charlie Palmieri and timbales of Kako. Here they are talking about "Mary Jane" and ask Coco to kick it off. The otherwise unknown singer Karamanduka is dressed as Mexican movie character Cantinflas on the cover, but for me the main attraction is the great vocalist Peruvian sonero, Melcochita, and their gravelly voices blend well. The album ends with a fierce drum solo that would defy dancers trying to keep up, but I suppose that's for the deejay to decide in the heat of the moment.
LOS KINTOS (Vampisoul VAMPI261LP)
History may be written by the victors but those left by the wayside often have more interesting stories to tell. The only Peruvian music we knew in the 60s and 70s was the folky pipes of Pan stuff promoted by Paul Simon on "El Condor Pasa," and suddenly appearing in every market street corner worldwide. It was actually written in 1913 as pastiche Andean folk music. Those shrill Pan pipes quickly became tiresome, because they were ubiquitous, but then we heard the electric cumbia or "Chicha," incorporating surf and psychedelic rock, from bands like Los Destellos, as also Afro-Peruvian bands like Pepe Vasquez and Novalima took center stage. Finally major figures like Susana Baca and Alfredo Linares emerged to stake a place on the world stage. The latter was master of salsa, boogaloo and Latin Jazz, not incompatible genres, and led many sessions at MAG studios in Lima. And of course there were other currents including a vast influx of rock and roll and pop forms from other parts of the Americas. Los Kintos' 1970 album comprised a repertoire of Cuban rhythms as a response to the trends of the moment: boogaloo on one hand and electric cumbia on the other, while acknowledging them. For instance the first track, "Idioma criolla," has the tropical cumbia beat with wiry lead guitar down pat. Vocalist Kiko Fuentes leads the band through descargas, guarachas, and diverse covers from Trio Matamoros to Richie Ray. Guitarist Pancho Acosta also brings his energy from Compay Quinto into the MAG studio. The band's name reflected his roots, now modernized, and the electric guitar is not out of place on the Cuban rhythms. It is in his stepping to the fore, and playing rock guitar rather than the more subdued backing comp of traditional Cuban guitar that energizes this set. The trumpet takes the lead on "Pancho Guzmán" with bustling timbales and congas. On "Descarga Kinto" Acosta plays a jazz lead pushing the band to exert themselves. It must have seemed a novel approach to Latin music at the time but has stood the test of time.
COCO LAGO Y SUS ORATES
DESCARGAS (Vampisoul 246)
Tell me if I have said this before: A classic album, forgotten for years, has been restored to our ears thanks to the great folks at Vampisoul. Well, here's another crate-digger special and it is so good I don't mind there's a vibraphone on it. Believe me, it has to be pretty special for me to get past the sound of the vibes. I love balafon, and also gamelan music, but normally I draw the line at vibes. Coco Lago is a tumba player from Peru and led an exciting session in Lima in 1967, captured here. The repertoire is some familiar dance favorites including "Mamblues" by Cal Tjader and two tracks originally penned by the "father of Boogaloo," Joe Cuba: "Brava Pachanga" and "El Hueso." Discogs has him as Coco Lagos (with an "s") under many (7) different guises, one of which says he is Luis Lagos Zegarra, a Peruvian percussionist. "La Juventud a Go Go" grabbed my attention because it's the opening riff of "Africa Mokili Mobimba" which, of course, is "Madre Rumba" by Celia Cruz and La Sonora Matancera, whose albums were reissued in Peru on the Mag label. Apart from the vibraphone, which occasionally sounds like sound effects from a 60s sci-fi movie, there is a lot of percussion (guiro, timbales, congas, bongo) as well as standard salsa instrumentation, piano (the great Alfredo Linares), bass, trumpet, and alto sax (Mario Escobar). They cut loose on tracks like "Guajireate," which is of course a guajira. There's also guaguanco ("El Hueso"), mambo, guaracha ("Busco una chiquita" with quotes from "El Manicero"), a pachanga, and loads of descargas, which means to throw down, download, discharge, or even "flush" under some circumstances! In other words, anything goes: but leave it here.
MANZANITA Y SU CONJUNTO
TRUJILLO PERU 1971-4 (Analog Africa AADE013)
The Peruvian Afro-criolla style, which arose to challenge the dominant Cuban-tinged big band music of the fifties, evolved to add rock guitar as new British and American waves swept the world in the 1960s. The mestizo sound which also included cumbia from the Atlantic was well established by the late '60s when a repressive government under military control wanted to kick out these alien sounds and insisted on promoting the folkloric huayno rhythms of the Andes. Famously Carlos Santana was stopped at the airport in 1971 when he flew in for a gig and was prevented from performing. Thus the electric guitar-driven hybrid sounds of rock and cumbia flourished underground in bands like Los Destellos and Juaneco y su Combo. Manzanita (born Berardo Hernández) wanted to challenge the supremacy of those bands (though Los Destellos had trap drums and more guitars for a fuller sound). Manzanita's backing line-up of small electric suitcase organ, electric bass and percussion kept the focus on the solo guitarist. He could riff ferociously with some fast plectrum shaking tricks on the briefest of three-minute pop ditties (like "Manzaneando" or "Mi Pueblito"). The rest of the line-up were not slack, however: the four percussionists, on bongos, congas, guiro and timbales were steeped in Cuban styles. Manzanita gave Los Destellos a run for their money, with innumerable instrumental hits, assembled here from several albums and 45s, before vanishing into the Lima slums in the late 70s. He attempted a comeback in 1982, but times had changed. The songs were listed as guaracha or cumbia on the albums, but nowadays we know them as psychedelic cumbia as this style has been celebrated for the last decade in compilations from VampiSoul, Barbès and the Peruvian Infopesa label. Those compilations feature some of his hits, none of which are duplicated on this new LP, showing the depth of his repertoire.
RANIL Y SU CONJUNTO TROPICAL (Analog Africa limited dance edition no 11)
One-man world music powerhouse Samy Ben Redjeb of Analog Africa has launched his latest (fortieth!) venture: a trip to the Amazonian jungles of Peru from whence bands like Los Wemblers & Juaneco sprang forth with their wiry psychedelic cumbia half a century ago. Another seemingly endless well of music bubbles forth with familiar instruments and sounds. Due to Covid-19 Samy was trapped in Peru but made the most of his captivity by promoting this album remotely with free downloads. However he also reported that Ranil (Raul Vasquez) died during the pandemic. The music is distinct from the 1980s Chicha sounds of Lima, which incorporated some of the Huayno folk music of the Andes and is less psychedelic guitar-oriented, but as Peruvian musicologist & film-maker Alan Brain says, "El que no tiene de Inga tiene de Mandinga" (The one who does not get it from Inga has it from Mandinga), meaning, no matter how you see it, we all have something from Africa. Then again it is not purely Afro-Peruvian as the North American rock influences are one of the elements that make it attractive to non-Spanish speakers. Ranil spent his youth in Iquitos where he heard carimbó music from nearby Brasil, as well as Colombian cumbia on transistor radio and the criollo waltzes his parents enjoyed. The melodies are catchy, of the "Ghost riders in the sky" type, as the percussion gallops along like cowboys in a spaghetti western. One track "Angel Terrenal" has acoustic guitar and is more folky and quite different from the rest of the album, as a momentary glimpse of another side of the band. Samy met with Ranil and licensed 14 3-minute tracks from his back-catalogue for this sparkling presentation.
PERU NEGRO
PERU NEGRO (Vampisoul VAMPI194)
Afro-Peruvian music came to notice outside South America when Susana Baca became a global star. Members of her original group broke off and several outstanding artists established the genre, but it had been well-known in Peru since the 1950s, although blacks were marginalized in society. Perú Negra was a dance troupe that incorporated musica criolla and African percussion to back their performances in Lima's theatres. In 1969 they swept the honors at a festival in Argentina. The backing music for that show, only released in Spain and Peru at the time, is found on this disc. Local folklore mixes with stories of slavery; the music has strong elements of flamenco over the original beat box, the cajón, and to complete the primitive percussion line-up a jawbone of an ass. There are affinities with Colombian bambuco and Afro-Cuban son. It's gentle and lyrical with the music supporting the story-telling singers. Yet they still manage to break it out for the dancers to strut their stuff. You'll notice "Zamba malato" under a different name.
CUMBIA BEAT VOLUME 3 (VampiSoul VAMPI187)
VampiSoul's latest reissue of tropical beats is Cumbia Volume 3: experimental guitar-driven tropical sounds from Peru, recorded in the mid-60s to mid-70s. The first volume came out in 2010 and featured now familiar names like Juaneco y su Combo, Los Wemblers de Iquitos, Los Destellos & Los Mirlos. Volume 2 followed in 2012, coming up to 1983, and now we have a third volume of action-packed cumbia presented on double LP. Some of the same bands are present, like Los Scorpios, though the not so familiar ones dominate this selection of 45 rpm rarities from more short-lived bands. It comes on the 50th anniversary of the release of "Manzanita" (a version of which is included here) considered the first Peruvian electro-cumbia. Three of the bands, recorded in 1965-7 offer up outstanding huaycumbias which blended cumbia with huayno, another local rhythm. In addition to elements of Colombian cumbia and Cuban guajira you can hear the psychedelic influence from the USA and UK on tracks such as Los Girasoles' rocking "Girasoleando." At the time it was very much underground music and escaped notice in the mainstream: now it sounds like an old friend.