Willie Colon - Asalto Navideno Deluxe Edition

Originally released as

Asalto Navideno (1972)
Asalto Navideno Vol 2 (1973)

Deluxe Edition released 2007 Fania / E-Musica

Recording Director: Johnny Pacheco

Available at Amazon, Descarga, etc

Disc 1
1. Introduccion (D.R.)
2. Canta A Borinquen (Flor Morales Ramos)
3. Potpourri Navideno (Public Domain)
- Estrellas De Oriente
- Noche De Paz
- La Virgen Maria
- La Tierra Mia
4. Traigo La Salsa (Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe)
5. Aires De Navidad (Roberto Garcia)
6. La Murga (Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe)
7. Esta Navidad (Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe)
8. Vive Tu Vida Contento (Flor Morales Ramos)

Disc 2
1. Pescao (Potpourri Sambao) (D.R.)
- Si Se Quema El Monte (Etelvina Maldonado)
- Coje El Pandero (D.R.)
- Pescao (Samba) (D.R.)
2. Recomendacion (Hector Lavoe)
3. La Banda (Willie Colon)
4. Dona Santos (Roberto Garcia)
5. Cantemos (Roberto Garcia)
6. Pa' Los Pueblos (Johnny Pacheco, Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe)
7. Arbolito (Jose Barros)
8. Tranquilidad (Johnny Pacheco, Willie Colon)

This album combines two Christmas albums by Willie Colon and featuring Hector Lavoe and Yomo Toro. As far as the content and sound quality, these should be identical to Fania / E-Musica's 2006 remastered versions of Asalto Navideno and Asalto Navideno Volume 2. Production errors led to a confusing listing of songs - two different medleys in each album has components of the medleys listed as individual songs whereas there is no subdivision in the CDs themselves. The best known songs from each are La Murga (which made salsanewyork.com list) and La Banda.

Musicians

Disc 1 (Asalto Navideno)

Willie Colon / Trombone, Leader
Yomo Toro / Cuatro
William "Sweet" Campbell / Trombone
Milton Cardona / Conga, Percussion
Jose Mangual Jr / Bongos, Percussion
Johnny Pacheco / Percussion
Professor Joe Torres / Piano
Louie "Timbalito" Romero / Timbales
Santi "Choflomo" Gonzalez / Bass
Roberto Garcia / Cuatro
Miguel "El Tunel" Matos / "band boy", Minor Percussion
Willie Colon, Johnny Pacheco, Justo Betancourt / Chorus
Hector Lavoe / Lead Vocals

Disc 2 (Asalto Navideno Volume 2)

Willie Colon / Trombone, Leader
Yomo Toro / Cuatro
Milton Cardona / Conga, Percussion
Jose Mangual Jr / Bongos, Percussion
Johnny Pacheco / Percussion
Louie "Timbalito" Romero / Percussion
Professor Joe Torres / Piano
Santi "Choflomo" Gonzalez / Bass
Eric Matos / Trombone
Willie Colon, Johnny Pacheco, Adalberto Santiago / Chorus
Hector Lavoe / Lead Vocals

Cal Tjader - Descarga

Produced by Ed Bogas

Originally released as

Agua Dulce 1971 (Fantasy 8416)

Live At The Funky Quarters 1972 (Fantasy 9409)

Digital Remastering 1995 Fantasy

Available at Amazon, etc

1. Agua Dulce (Cool-Ade) 4:08 (Otis, Otis, Love)
2. Curacao 5:38 (Cal Tjader)
3. Somewhere In The Night 4:23 (May, Raskin)
4. Gimme Shelter 2:52 (Jagger, Richards)
5. Ran Kan Kan 3:00 (Tito Puente)
6. Descarga Cubana 3:05 (Osvaldo Estivill)
7. Invitation 3:01 (Bronislau Kaper)
8. Now 5:25 (Dave MacKay)
9. Morning 3:29 (Clare Fischer)
10. Leyte 6:25 (Tjader, Hewitt)
11. Mother And Child 5:57 (John Heard)
12. Cubano Chant 4:50 (Ray Bryant)
13. Soul Sauce III 5:56 (Gillespie, Pozo)
14. Philly Mambo 6:36 (Tito Puente)
15. Davito 4:22 (Tjader)
16. Manteca 8:09 (Gillespie, Fuller)

The first part of the album - Agua Dulce (1971) - is fairly laid back. The only track inviting for dancing is Descarga Cubana, but it's good one. The arrangement of Ran Kan Kan by the Escovedo brothers on the other hand is good for listening only, and much of the rest is as much Jazz as Latin. The second half - Live at the Funky Quarters (1972) - is more intense. It is a live recording and with authentic crowd noise throughout but still with excellent sound quality. Philly Mambo made salsanewyork.com list - minimal background noise for this song. One song from Funky Quarters "Theme" was deleted because a single CD could not accommodate the length of both albums.

Musicians

#1-9 (Agua Dulce)
Cal Tjader / Vibes, Bongos, Guiro
Luis Gasca, Pat Houston, Frank Snow / Trumpet
Bill Perkins / Saxophone
Gerry Gilmore, Mel Martin / Saxophones and Flutes
Rita Dowling / Moog Synthesizer
Al Zulaica / Fender-Rhodes Electric Piano
Jim McCabe, Ron McClure or Phil Escovedo / Bass
Dick Berk or Lee Charton / Drums
Pete Escovedo / Bongos, Conga, Guiro, Percussion, Vocals
Michael Smithe / Bongos, Conga, Guiro, Percussion
Coke Escovedo / Timbales, Vocals

#10-16 (Live at the Funky Quarters)
Cal Tjader / Vibes and Percussion
Al Zulaica / Fender-Rhodes Electric Piano
John Heard / Bass
Dick Berk / Drums
Michael Smithe / Conga

Joe Cuba Sextet – Bang! Bang! Push, Push, Push

subtitled Wanted Dead Or Alive

Produced by Pancho Cristal

Released 1966 Tico

Fania / E-Musica Re-mastered 2006

Available at Amazon, Descarga, etc

1. Bang Bang 4:04 (Joe Cuba, Jimmy Sabater)
2. Mujer Divina 4:32 (Jimmy Sabater)
3. Oh Yeah 3:20 (Jimmy Sabater)
4. La Malanga Brava 3:05 (Jimmy Sabater)
5. Que Son Uno 4:15 (Joe Cuba, Jimmy Sabater)
6. Sock It To Me 2:20 (Jimmy Sabater, Hector Rivera)
7. Asi Soy 3:04 (Joe Cuba, Jimmy Sabater)
8. Triste 2:27 (Nick Jimenez)
9. Alafia 3:25 (Jimmy Sabater)
10. Push, Push, Push 2:15 (Joe Cuba, Jimmy Sabater)
11. Cocinando 9:00 (Joe Cuba, Hector Rivera, Henny Alvarez)

Follow-up to Estamos Haciendo Algo Bien (We Must Be Doing Something Right). Bang Bang is one of the best-known boogaloo of 1960’s. My favorite tracks from this album are Mujer Divina, Que Son Uno and Push Push Push – all three of them can be considered Cha Cha (or boogaloo).

The line-up for this album is not clear to me, and I don't know all the members by their face on the album cover. The original Joe Cuba Sextet line up circa 1954 is Joe Cuba (Sonny Calderon), Jimmy Sabater (Jaime Sabater), Willie Torres, Nick Jimenez, Ray Rosa and Tommy Berrios. Jules Cordero replaced Ray Rosa very early. Cheo Feliciano, who was with the band from 1957-1966, left to pursue a solo career before this recording was made. Willie Torres the original lead vocalist replaced Feliciano for this album.

Musicians (best guess)

Joe Cuba / Conga
Jimmy Sabater / Timbales, Lead Vocals
Nick Jimenez / Piano
Jules Cordero / Bass
Tommy Berrios / Vibraphone
Willie Torres / Lead Vocals

Bobby Valentin - La Boda De Ella

Released 1978

Produced by Bobby Valentin

Bronco 107

Available at Descarga, Prodland, etc.

Arrangements by Bobby Valentin (1,2,3,5,6,8) and Ray Santos (4,7)

1. La Boda De Ella 5:26 (Roberto Anglero)
2. Massa - Massa 5:38 (D.R.)
3. Ingratitudes 6:22 (Margarita Rivera)
4. Mas Bajo 4:52 (Tito Puente)
5. Libro De Amor 5:42 (Israel Perez)
6. El Muneco De La Ciudad 6:03 (Adrian Perez)
7. Post Data 3:19 (Roberto Anglero)
8. Canta Mi Gallo 6:46 (D.R.)

Bobby Valentin had in my opinion an annoying habit of releasing untitled albums. One might suspect this is another one of those, but fortunately everyone refers to this one by the first song on the album - La Boda De Ella. La Boda De Ella is also the standout song of this album and made salsanewyork.com list. Another song of note is Ingratitudes, which gets played only for birthdays.

Musicians

Bobby Valentin / Bass
Luis S. Garcia / Trumpet
Agustin Antomattei / Trumpet
Edwin Cintron / Trombone
Freddie Miranda / Baritone Saxophone
Justino "Tino" Labour / Alto Saxophone
William D. Thompson / Conga
Hector Faberlle / Bongos
Rafael "Koki" Rivera Martinez / Timbales
Charlie Aponte, Johnny Vazquez, Cano Estremera, Bobby Valentin, Leo Pacheco / Chorus
Johnny Vazquez / Lead Vocals
Carlos "Cano" Estremera / Lead Vocals

Bobby Valentin – Rey Del Bajo

Released 1974

Produced by Bobby Valentin
Recording Director: Johnny Pacheco
Arrangements by Bobby Valentin

Fania / E-Musica Remastered 2006

Available at Amazon, Descarga, etc.

1. Hay Craneo 3:54 (Tito Rodriguez)
2. Arenas Del Desierto 4:02 (Rafael Colon)
3. Guaraguao 3:30 (D.R.)
4. Mi Ritmo Es Bueno 5:43 (Bobby Valentin)
5. Codazos 3:59 (Bobby Valentin)
6. Cuando Te Vea 5:26 (Tito Puente)
7. Esperame En El Cielo 4:45 (Paquito Lopez Vidal)
8. La Vibora 4:19 (Tony Ramos)
9. Aqui No Me Quedo 3:50 (Roberto Anglero)
10. Coco Seco 3:37 (Luis Reyes Bacallao)

Rey Del Bajo is Bobby Valentin's 8th album (out of 9) with Fania label and is considered one of his best. Cuando Te Vea with Frankie Hernandez in lead vocals made salsanewyork.com list. The other big standout is Hay Craneo with Marvin Santiago in lead vocals. Some people I know think Mi Ritmo Es Bueno is one of Bobby Valentin's best - it's good but I wouldn't go that far.

Musicians

Bobby Valentin / Bass
Oscar Colon / Timbales & Traps
Juan Torres / Trumpet
Randolfo Gonzalez / Trumpet
Humberto Ramirez / Baritone Sax
Emilio Sanchez / Tenor Sax
William P. Thompson / Conga
Edwin Rodriguez / Piano
Hector Faberlie / Bongos
James Adames / Trombone
Ismael Quintana / Maracas
Elliot Randall / Guitar
Ismael Quintana, Bobby Valentin, Marvin Santiago, Frankie Hernandez / Chorus
Marvin Santiago / Lead Vocals
Frankie Hernandez / Lead Vocals

Kako Y Totico - Siguen Pa' Lante Y Pa' Lante

From early 1970s (1972?)

Produced by Al Santiago

Disco Hit 2039

Available at Descarga (review available), Prodland, Disco Hit, and possibly Amazon

1. Con Sabor Llego La Rumba (C. Curet Alonso) 3:20
2. La Mujer Que Yo Quiero (Joan Manuel Serrat) 3:43
3. El Doloroso (C. Curet Alonso) 3:24
4. Pongase Duro (Carlos Valdez, Eugenio Arango) 3:39
5. Que Quiere La Nina (Eugenio Arango) 4:00
6. Si Me Fuera De Tu Lado (C. Curet Alonso) 3:32
7. Del Agua Brava (C. Curet Alonso) 3:04
8. Volvera (D.R.) 4:02
9. Los Dicharachos (Carlos Valdez, Eugenio Arango) 3:52
10. Ganga Zumba (C. Curet Alonso) 4:19

This is second album by Francisco "Kako" Angel Bastar (timbales) and Eugenio "Totico" Arango (lead vocals & conga). This album has many nice slow Salsa songs such as Que Quiere La Nina, El Doloroso, and Del Agua Brava. It's not flashy but it is highly listenable throughout. Unfortunately, there isn't very much information about this album - no musician listings, not even the year of release!