Son Boricua

Released 2001

Cobo Music
CCD-9041

Available at Descarga, Amazon, etc



1. Buen Boricano 4:43 (Rafael Hernandez)
2. Oye Listen 3:28 (Joe Cain)
3. Mambo Diablo 3:53 (Tito Puente)
4. Bomba Carambomba 4:35 (Alberto Amadeo)
5. Blues For Louie 7:35 (Sonny Rivera)
6. Descarga 4:43 (D.R.)
7. Lejos De Ti 4:56 (Angel Canales)
8. Boleros Medley 3:46 (Rafael Hernandez)
9. El Jibarito 5:47 (Jose Mangual Jr)
10. Que Gente Averigua 4:36 (Mon Rivera)

Vibraphone-based all-star band from Cobo Records (previously Caiman Records) led by Jose Mangual Jr. Their rendition of Angel Canales classic Lejos De Ti made salsanewyork.com list. Another song I liked is Bomba Carambomba with Jimmy Sabater on lead vocals. All but two of the songs are covers.

Musicians:

Jose Mangual Jr / Musical Director, Lead Vocals, Chorus, Percussion
Jimmy Sabater / Timbales, Lead Vocals
Frankie Morales / Lead Vocals
Hiram de Jesus / Piano
Papo Pepin / Conga
Willie Amadeo / Chorus
Sonny Rivera / Vibraphone
Ray Martinez / Bass
Ruben Rodriguez / Bass
Ray Colon / Bongos, Conga
Erick Velez / Conga
Ada Chabriel / Lead Vocals
A. J. Mantas / Vibraphone
Lucho Cueto / Piano
Anthony Alaiprantis / Electric Guitar

Sonora Poncena - 45 Aniversario Live

Released 2000
BMG Latin

Director - Enrique "Quique" Lucca
Musical Director, Producer, Arranger - Enrique "Papo" Lucca

Available at Amazon, Descarga, etc

CD1
1. Introduccion 0:55
2. Fea 7:52 (Pedro Flores) Cantante - Hector "Pichie" Perez
3. Percusion 9:02 (Roberto Blades) Cantante - Danny Davila
4. Cancion 5:54 (Pablo Milanes) Cantante - Mannix Martinez
5. Sola Vaya 7:17 (Justi Barretto) Cantante - Mannix Martinez, Sammy, Pichie
6. Remembranzas 6:19 (Jose Torres, Papo Lucca) Cantante - Omar Ledee
7. Borinquen 6:48 (Johnny Ortiz) Cantante - Yolanda Rivera
8. Canto Al Amor 7:11 (Enrique Lazage) Cantante - Yolanda, Wito, Miguelito Ortiz
9. Pio Pio 5:42 (Luis Demetrio) Cantante - Luigi Texidor
10. Ahora Si 16:21 (Marcelino Guerra) Cantante - Andy Montanez

CD2
1. Homenaje A Tres Grandes Del Teclado 5:17 (Papo Lucca)
2. Boranda 13:32 (Eduardo Lobo) Cantante - Cano Estremera
3. Tu Y Yo 6:12 (D.R.) Cantante - Ismael Rivera Miranda
4. Hachero Pa' Un Palo 10:42 (Arsenio Rodriguez) Cantante - Wito Colon
5. Todo Tiene Su Final 6:47 (Willie Colon) Cantante - Rafi Santana
6. Timbalero 10:20 (Ramon Rodriguez) Cantante - Miguelito Ortiz
7. Despedida 45 Aniversario 1:08 (Francisco Alvarado)
8. Jubileo 45 5:13 (Ramon Rodriguez) Cantante - Pichie, Danny, Wito, Edwin Rosa
9. Fuego En El 23 8:49 (Arsenio Rodriguez) Cantante - Pichie Perez

This is a live recording with canned crowd noise added, which I found annoying. Sometimes the live aspect of the recording makes some songs painful to listen to. Such is most evident in over 13 minute long rendition of Boranda where the lead singer is trying to engage the audience to sing along - except there is no recording of the actual audience.

Many of the songs are big hits, and whopping 8 songs (Cancion, Remembranzas, Borinquen, Canto Al Amor, Ahora Si, Homenaje A Tres Grandes Del Teclado, Boranda, Fuego En El 23) are mentioned in the salsanewyork.com list - with caveat that not all of the songs in this album are playable. Obvious unplayable songs include aforementioned Boranda and Ahora Si (over 16 minutes long although I did find this one nice to listen to), and I would almost certainly pass on the versions of Homenaje A Tres Grandes Del Teclado and Fuego En El 23 and possibly others as well. In fact the original studio versions of the songs are preferred in my opinion where I have heard both the original and this live recording.

Musicians

Enrique "Papo" Lucca / Piano, Synthesizer
Freddie del Valle / Trumpet
Delfin Perez / Trumpet
Jose Madera / Trumpet
Ricky Zayas / Trumpet
Felix Torres / Conga
Willito Lopez / Conga
Domingo "Tito" Gutierrez / Bongos
Jessie Colon / Timbales
Edgardo Morales / Timbales
Manolito / Timbales
Japhet Rodriguez / Timbales
Alexander "Cano" Rosa / Bass
Kriptonite Texeira, Darvel Garcia, Hector "Pichie" Perez, Daniel "Danny" Davila, Edwin Rosas, Fernando "Wito" Colon / Chorus

Grupo Niche - Huellas Del Pasado

Released 1995
Sony Discos

All songs written and arranged by Jairo Varela
Produced by Jairo Varela

Available at Amazon and many other vendors

1. Gotas De Lluvia 5:59
2. Balseros: Testimonio De Libertad 5:35
3. Lo Bonito Y Lo Feo 4:57
4. Es Mejor No Despertar 5:07
5. Se Me Parte El Corazon 5:02
6. Verdades Que Saben 5:35
7. Solamente Tu 4:56
8. Bajame Uno 5:55

Two songs (Gotas De Lluvia and Lo Bonito Y Lo Feo) made salsanewyork.com list.

Musicians:

Daniel Silva / Bass
Carlos Vivas / Piano & Keyboards
Julio Abadia / Piano (track 6)
Douglas Guevara / Percussion & Effects
Jose Aguirre / Trumpet 1-2-3
Leo Aguirre / Trombone 1-2
Andres Viafara, Diana Serna, Willie Garcia, Richie Valdes, Javier Vasquez, Jairo Varela, Daniel Silva, Carlos Guerro / Chorus

Grupo Niche - Un Alto En El Camino

Released 1993
Sony Discos

All songs written by Jairo Varela
Arrangements by Alberto Barros, Jose Aguirre, Juan V. Zambrano, Jairo Varela
Produced by Alberto Barros and Jairo Varela

Available at Amazon and many other vendors

1. Un Alto En El Camino 4:52
2. La Gallinita De Los Huevos De Oro 4:52
3. Duele Mas 5:41
4. Sin Palabras 4:59
5. Colombia Tierra De Todos 5:46
6. Ave De Paso 4:56
7. Las Tres Son Caribe 5:04
8. Somos Guerros 5:07

Two songs (Un Alto En El Camino and Duele Mas) made salsanewyork.com list.

Musicians:

Daniel Silva / Bass
Julio Abadia / Piano
Carlos Vivas / Piano
Juan V. Zambrano / Keyboards
Douglas Guevara / Percussion, Conga, Bongos, Timbales
Alberto Barros / Trombone 1-2-3
Jose Aguirre / Trumpet
Oswaldo Ospino / Trumpet
Carlos Guerro / Maracas & Guiro
Jairo Varela, Daniel Silva, Richie Valdes, Javier Vasquez, Carlos Guerro, Charlie Sa, Diana Serna / Chorus
Charlie Cardona, Javier Vasquez, Carlos Guerro / Lead Vocals

Grupo Niche - Cielo De Tambores

Released 1990
CBS Discos

All songs written by Jairo Varela
Arrangements by Jairo Varela, Andres Viafara, Sergio George
Produced by Grupo Niche

Available at Amazon and many other vendors

1. Cielo De Tambores 5:41
2. Una Aventura 5:30
3. Se ParecioTanto A Ti 5:30
4. Dona Pastora 4:56
5. Busca Por Dentro 5:57
6. Deberia Olvidarla 4:25
7. Sin Sentimientos 4:57
8. Cali Aji 4:36

Four songs made salsanewyork.com list - Cielo De Tambores, Una Aventura, Sin Sentimientos and Cali Aji.

Musicians:

Raul Umana / Bass
Pelusa / Piano
Sergio George / Piano & Keyboards
Danny Jimenez / Trumpet
Osvaldo Ospino / Trumpet
Jhonny Gonzalez / Trombone
Gonzalo Palacio / Trombone
Andres Viafara / Trombone
Dennys Ibarguen / Conga
William Valdez / Timbales
William Ospino / Bongos, Campana
Javier Vasquez, Charlie Cardona, Richy Valdez, Jairo Varela / Chorus
Charlie Cardona, Javier Vasquez, Richy Valdez / Lead Vocals

Grupo Niche - 20 Exitos Originales

Released 2005
Sony Discos

Available from Amazon and many other vendors

I'm not completely sure every song was written by Jairo Varela, who wrote pretty much all of the Grupo Niche songs by the 1990 album Cielo De Tambores.

1. La Canoa Ranchaa 4:40
2. Culebra 4:25
3. Cielo De Tambores 3:48
4. Han Cogido La Cosa 4:42
5. Duele Mas 3:43
6. Busca Por Dentro 3:02
7. Hagamos Lo Que Diga El Corazon 3:18
8. Mi Machete 5:29
9. Una Aventura 3:17
10. Sin Sentimientos 4:22
11. Etnia 4:33
12. Mi Pueblo 3:53
13. La Negra No Quiere 3:12
14. Cali Aji 3:14
15. La Gallinita De Los Huevos De Oro 3:17
16. Ana Mile 5:00
17. Gotas De Lluvia 3:27
18. Un Alto En El Camino 4:49
19. Se Parecio Tanto A Ti 3:49
20. Cali Pachanguero 3:19

Every song in this compilation with possible exception of Un Alto En El Camino is truncated; some of the songs cut by nearly 2 minutes from the original. These same shorter versions of the songs were used in some other Grupo Niche compilation CDs.

Nine songs (Culebra, Cielo De Tambores, Duele Mas, Una Aventura, Sin Sentimientos, Etnia, Cali Aji, Gotas De Lluvia, Un Alto En El Camino) are included in the salsanewyork.com list.

Track 20 from No Hay Quinto Malo (1984)
Track 16 from Se Paso (1985)
Tracks 3,6,9,10,14,19 from Cielo De Tambores (1990)
Tracks 7,12 from Llegando Al 100% (1991)
Tracks 5,15,18 from Un Alto En El Camino (1992)
Track 17 from Huellas Del Pasado (1995)
Tracks 1,11 from Etnia (1996)
Track 6 from A Prueba De Fuego (1997)
Track 4 from A Golpe De Folklore (1999)
Tracks 2,8 from Imaginacion (2004)
Track 13 - original album unknown to me but it certainly was released before 1993 and probably before 1988.

Latin Giants of Jazz - Trip To Mamboland

Released 2007

Gigante Records

Produced by John Rodriguez Jr and Jose Madera

Orchestrations by Jose Madera

Available at Descarga, Amazon, etc.

1. Cuero Na' Ma 5:21 (comp. Tito Puente. arr. Jose Madera)
2. Mientras Yo Viva 4:21 (comp. Marcellino Guerra. arr. Jose Madera)
3. No Me Molesto 5:56 (comp. Jorge Zamora. arr. Sonny Bravo)
4. Trip To Mamboland 4:47 (comp. Nick Jimenez. arr. Jose Madera)
5. Chao Chao 5:30 (comp. Rosendo Ruiz Jr. arr. Harold Wegbreit)
6. Mambo Is Here To Stay (comp. Gil Fuller & Frank Grillo. arr. Oscar Hernandez)
7. My Best Friends 5:32 (comp. Mitchell Frohman. arr. Joe Manozzi)
8. Everything Happens To Me 6:37 (comp. Matt Dennis & Tom Adair. arr. Marty Sheller)
9. Guaguanco Del Pueblo Nuevo 4:22 (comp. Horacio de la Lastra. arr. Tito Puente)
10. Flamenco Mood 5:29 (comp. & arr. Ray Santos)
11. Alex Mambo 5:36 (comp. & arr. Rene Hernandez)
12. En Francia 4:27 (comp. Justi Barretto. arr. Frank Colon)
13. Michito's Boogaloo 5:55 (comp. Mitchell Frohman. arr. Jose Madera)

Latin Giants of Jazz is made up of late Tito Puente's band and is headed by Jose Madera. With 4 trumpets, 4 trombones and 5 saxophones, what you get is a real big band sound. Considered one of the best albums of 2007, there's a lot to choose from here. With some caveats (speed of some of the songs primarily), I would consider playing songs like Cuero Na' Ma, Trip To Mamboland, Mambo Is Here To Stay, Guaguanco Del Pueblo Nuevo, Flamenco Mood and Alex Mambo (and possibly En Francia) - which is essentially half the album!

Musicians

Raul Agraz / Trumpet
John Walsh / Trumpet
Pete Nater / Trumpet
Richie Viruet / Trumpet
Sam Burtis / Trombone
Reynaldo Jorge / Trombone
Joe Fiedler / Trombone
Noah Bless / Trombone
Bobby Porcelli / Saxophone
Todd Bashore / Saxophone
Mitch Frohman / Saxophone
Peter Brainin / Saxophone
Pete Miranda / Saxophone
Sonny Bravo / Piano
Gerardo Madera / Bass
George Delgado / Conga
John Rodriguez Jr. / Bongos & Percussion
Jose Madera / Timbales, Musical Director & Conductor
Frankie Vazquez / Lead Vocals
Cita Rodriguez, Willie Ruiz & Willie Martinez / Chorus
Willie Torres / Chorus (replacing Willie Martinez in tracks 1, 9, 12)
Tom Harrell / Flugelhorn (track 7)
Bobby Porcelli / Alto Sax (track 8)
Randy Brecker / Trumpet (track 11)
Mario Rivera / Soprano Sax (track 10)
Kevin Bryan / Trumpet (track 10)