New Swing Sextet - Back On The Streets

Released 2008

Cotique / Fania / E-Musica

Produced by Henry Knowles and Willy Torres

Available at Amazon, Descarga, etc

1. Che Che 5:25 (Frank Grillo)
2. Bobo Tu Te Quedaras 5:36 (Jesus Santiago)
3. El Raton 4:01 (Jose Feliciano)
4. Sarandonga 4:01 (Lorenzo Hierrezuelo, Francisco Repilado)
5. En El Balcon 7:01 (Tito Rodriguez)
6. The Monster 5:00 (George Rodriguez)
7. Amor Jibaro 6:16 (D.R.)
8. Ay Carino 4:36 (Federico Baena)
9. El Bongo 5:25 (Pedro Ortiz)
10. Flight 4:12 (Jesus Santiago)
11. El Tiroteo 3:20 (Pedro Ortiz, George Rodriguez)
12. Monta Mi Caballito 4:11 (Moises & Bobby Capo)

This is the first album in 38 years for New Swing Sextet. The only band member in common between the musicians from the first four albums and this one is the leader and vibraphonist George Rodriguez. A former band member Jesus Santiago does contribute two new compositions. Three songs (The Monster & El Bongo from "A Taste Of Spanish Harlem", El Tiroteo from "Revolucionando") are new versions of old New Swing Sextet songs. Remainders are covers of classics by likes of Machito, Tito Rodriguez, Cheo Feliciano and Bobby Capo. [note: The liner note credits Tito Rodriguez as composer of Che Che, but Machito claims authorship of the source song Buenas Noches Che Che in his album whereas Tito Rodriguez does not claim authorship in his album]

A very good album all around - I think pretty much all songs are danceable.

All old original NSS albums are currently out of print. These are:

The Explosive New Swing Sextet (1967)
A Taste Of Spanish Harlem (1968)
Swinging Along (1969)
Revolucionando (1970)

A Vampisoul compilation album "Monkey See, Monkey Do" covers approximately half of the material from the original four albums.

Musicians:

Angel Justiano / Conga, Chorus
Harry Justiano / Bass, Chorus
Tomas Martin Lopez / Timbales, Bongos, Bata, Chorus
Joseph Mannozzi Jr / Piano
Jose "Cheo" Medina / Lead Vocals
Hector Ortiz / Timbales, Bongos
George Rodriguez / Vibraphone, Chorus
Joseph Mannozi III, Willy Torres / Hand and Misc. Percussion
Alejandro Rodriguez / Rap

La-33 - La-33

Released 2004

Independent release

Produced by La-33

Available at Prodland, Descarga, Amazon

1. La 33 5:37 (Sergio Mejia)
2. Soledad 4:45 (Sergio & Santiago Mejia)
3. Anny's Boogaloo 3:51 (Sergio Mejia, David Cantillo)
4. La Pantera Mambo 6:14 (Henry Mancini)
5. Que Rico Boogaloo 3:51 (Sergio & Santiago Mejia)
6. Suelta El Bongo 3:41 (Diego Sanchez, Guillermo Celis)
7. La Pelicula 5:11 (Sergio Mejia, David Cantillo)
8. La Vida Se Pasa A Mil 4:23 (Sergio & Santiago Mejia)
9. El Tornillo De Guillo 4:12 (Sergio Mejia, Natalia Cuellar)
10. Manuela 5:29 (Santiago Acevedo, Sergio Mejia)

Arrangements by Sergio Mejia & Lyrics by Guillermo Celis & David Cantillo.

Underground breakout hit. The band is sometimes referred to as Orquesta La 33 although never by the band as far as I know. Salsa dancers who have been around for few years would recognize La Pantera Mambo as the song that was overplayed to death by every other Salsa DJ. It still is a good song and it made salsanewyork.com list. Give it a few years of rest, and I predict it will be perfectly enjoyable again.

Other songs are quite good as well. Better ones include Soledad, Suelta El Bongo, La 33 for Salsa and Que Rico Boogaloo and Anny's Boogaloo for Cha Cha.

Musicians:

Sergio Mejia / Bass, Director
Santiago Mejia / Piano
Guillermo Celis / Lead Vocals (2,4,6,8,10), Chorus
David Cantillo / Lead Vocals (1,3,5,7,9), Chorus
Diego Sanchez / Bongos, Chorus
Cipriano Rojas / Conga
Juan David Fernandez / Timbales
Roland Nieto / Trumpet
Felipe Cardenas / Tenor Sax
Vladimir Romero / Trombone, Chorus
Jose Miguel Vega / Trombone

Francisco Aguabella - H2O

Released 1986 Olm Records

Re-issued 1999 Cubop Records

Produced by Orlando Lopez

Available at ubiquityrecords.com, Amazon, Descarga, etc

1. Short Story 3:30 (Kenny Dorham)
2. Quien Eres Tu 5:12 (Francisco Aguabella)
3. Wood Place 4:24 (Francisco Aguabella)
4. Nena 4:57 (Francisco Aguabella)
5. Cavalie 3:19 (D.R.)
6. Son To Any Kid 4:56 (D.R.)
7. Intensity 4:02 (D.R.)
8. Vencido 4:32 (Francisco Aguabella, Eduardo Reyes)
9. Caito 4:46 (D.R.)
10. Danzonete 4:57 (D.R.)

Arrangements by Julio Raul (1,3,5,6,7,10), Eduardo Borra (2,4,9), Eduardo Reyes (8).

Danceable Latin Jazz album. Many of the songs are purely instrumental. The most obvious danceable track is Quien Eres Tu, which plays like a hard-core Salsa track with full vocals, a lot of breaks and flavor. Wood Place stood out to me as the most obvious purely instrumental dance track with caveat that I never had a chance to try it out (it probably needs to be slowed down too).

Musicians:

Francisco Aguabella / Leader, Conga, Bata, Other Percussion
Joe Rotondi Jr / Piano
Jonathan Pintoff / Bass
Luis Gonzalez / Trumpet
Charles Owens / Sax
Dan Weinstein / Trombone
Nengue Hernandez / Lead Vocals, Timbales
David Romero / Bongo
Ed Smith / Drums
Orlando Lopez, Francisco Aguabella, Nengue Hernandez / Chorus

Orquesta Guayacan - Xtremo

Released 2005

Norte Discos / Sony BMG

Produced by Alexis Lozano

Available at Amazon, Descarga, etc.


1. A Cali 4:46 (Nino Caicedo)
2. Ay Amor, Cuando Hablan Las Miradas 4:16 (Nino Caicedo)
3. Guayacan Bachatas 4:42 (Nino Caicedo)
4. Cambiare Por Ti 4:10 (Nino Caicedo)
5. Con Que Derecho 4:38 (Nino Caicedo)
6. Herencia Musical 4:23 (Alexis Lozano)
7. La Primera Vez 4:33 (Nino Caicedo)
8. La Suerte Mia 4:59 (Nino Caicedo)
9. No Sigas Pensando En Mi 4:16 (Nino Caicedo)
10. Son Cepillao 5:06 (Alfonso Cordoba)
11. Vete 4:21 (Carlos Arroyo)

Arrangements by Alexis Lozano.

Nice album. Ay Amor, Cuando Hablan Las Miradas was such an instant classic that Alberto Barros decided to cover it in 2007 in his tribute CD/DVD album for Colombian Salsa "Tributo A La Salsa Colombiana" a mere 2 years after the original was released!

Musicians:

Alexis Lozano / Director, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards
Alberto Barros / Trombone
Jose Aguirre / Trumpet
Wilson Viveros / Campanas
Juan Manuel Murillo / Bongo
Michael Hassed "Possy" / Piano
Julio Cortez / Piano
Hector "Pichi" Perez / Chorus, Minor Percussion
Luisito Carrion, Puppy Santiago, Wichy Camacho / Chorus
Andy Caicedo / Vocals
Pedro Arroyo / Vocals
Geimar Murillo / Vocals

Guest Musicians:

Papo Lucca / Piano (8)
Alexis Lozano Jr / Timbales, Conga (6)
Nina Caicedo / Chorus (2)
Junior Jein / Rap

Marc Anthony - Valio La Pena

Released 2004

Sony Discos

Produced by Sergio George

Available at Amazon, Descarga, etc.


1. Valio La Pena 4:51 (Estefano, Marc Anthony)
2. Escapemonos 5:32 (Estefano, Julio Reyes)
3. Ahora Quien 5:10 (Estefano, Julio Reyes)
4. Tu Amor Me Hace Bien 5:01 (Estefano)
5. Volando Entre Tus Brazos 5:19 (Estefano, Julio Reyes)
6. Amigo 4:13 (Roberto Carlos, Erasmos Carlos / adaptation to Spanish Buddy & Mary McCluskey)
7. Se Esfuma Tu Amor 4:37 Estefano, Jose Luis Pagan)
8. Lamento Boricano 5:06 (Rafael Hernandez)

Arrangements by Sergio George.

Salsa version of the pop ballad album "Amar Sin Mentiras" with Lamento Borincano added. Three of the songs work fine for Salsa dancing - Valio La Pena, Ahora Quien and Tu Amor Me Hace Bien.

Musicians:

Sergio George / Piano, Keyboards, Chorus
Alex Duque / Bass
Diego Gale / Conga, Bongos, Bata
Roberto Vilera / Timbales, Bata
Kevin Ricard / Bata, Minor Percussion
Tiki Pasillas / Misc Percussion
Alberto Barros / Trombone
Luis Aquino / Trumpet
Bernd Schoenhart / Acoustic Guitar
Grecco Burrato / Acoustic Guitar
William Duvall, Chris Alfinez / Chorus
Luis Damon, Leyla Hoyle, Kevin Ceballo / Chorus (3)
Marc Anthony / Lead Vocals
Jennifer Lopez / Co-Lead Vocals (2)

Musicians for Lamento Borincano:
Los Andinos / Acoustic Guitar & Requinto
Pedro Perez / Bass
Wilfredo Lopez / Percussion

Marc Anthony - Todo A Su Tiempo

Released 1995

RMM / Universal Music Latino

Produced by Sergio George & Marc Anthony

Available at Amazon, Descarga, etc

1. Se Me Sigue Olvidando 4:53 (Rudy Amado Perez)
2. Te Conozco Bien 5:14 (Omar Alfanno)
3. Hasta Ayer 4:38 (Omar Alfanno)
4. Nadie Como Ella 4:56 (Omar Alfanno)
5. Te Amare 4:47 (Angel Ramirez Jr)
6. Llegaste A Mi 4:56 (Omar Alfanno)
7. Y Sigues Siendo Tu 4:34 (Guadalupe Garcia Garcia, Eduardo Reyes, Laura Reyes)
8. Por Amar Se Da Todo 4:59 (Salako)
9. Vieja Mesa 4:24 (Victor Victor)

All arrangements by Sergio George except (6) by Sergio George & Angel Fernandez.

Second Salsa album by Marc Anthony and his first to reach #1 position on the US Tropical Chart. Arguably the best known Salsa song is Te Conozco Bien, but Nadie Como Ella probably is easier to play for dancing.

Musicians:

Sergio George / Piano, Keyboards
Ruben Rodriguez / Electric & Upright Bass
Marc Quinones / Percussion
Bobby Allende / Percussion
Luis Quintero / Percussion
Ite Jeres / Trumpet
Pro Rodriguez / Trumpet
Angel Fernandez / Trumpet
William Cepeda / Trombone
Bernd Schoenhart / Acoustic Guitar (3,7)
Lewis Kahn / Trombone & Violin (3)
William Duval, Marc Anthony, Sergio George / Chorus
Gabriela Andres, Sergio / Ooohs and Aaahs
Marc Anthony / Lead Vocals

Edwin Bonilla - Edwin Y Su Son

Released 1999

SAR Records 1080

Produced by Roberto Torres & Edwin Bonilla

Available at Amazon, Descarga, etc

1. Las Islas Del Sabor 4:36 (Jesus Perez, Edwin Bonilla)
2. Si Te Vas No Me Muero 6:53 (Jesus Perez)
3. Si Te Busco En El Baile 5:49 (Jesus Perez)
4. Consult En Guanabacoa 5:24 (Jesus Perez)
5. Carmen La Rocca 7:26 (D.R.)
6. Son De Mi Tierra 6:56 (Edwin Bonilla)
7. Mi Son 5:12 (Jesus Perez)
8. Si Tu No Vienes No Bailas 4:32 (Jesus Perez, Edwin Bonilla)

Arrangements by Jesus Perez & Edwin Bonilla.

This is the first solo album for Miami-based percussionist Edwin Bonilla recorded for now Miami-based SAR Records of Roberto Torres.

Two songs (Si Te Busco En El Baile, Si Tu No Vienes No Bailas) made salsanewyork.com list.

Musicians:

Jesus Alejandro Perez "El Nino" / Lead Vocals, Chorus, Tres, Flute, Bass, Piano
Edwin Bonilla / Timbales, Conga, Bongos, Maracas, Clave, Chorus
Eduardo Sanchez / Trumpet, Chorus
David Grott / Trombone
Mike Fahie / Trombones (1,8)
Gerardo Araujo / Clave (1)
Alejandro D'Armas / Chorus
Lazaro Leyva / Bass & Chorus (1,8)