He held the position for over five years, performing at diplomatic functions in the U.S. and abroad. It wasn’t until he relocated to New York City that he was able to insert himself into the flourishing and vibrant Latin music scene. Along with Eduardo Brito and Ángel Viloria, Primitivo Santos was one of the driving forces behind the popularization of merengue and Dominican rhythms in the latter half of the 1950’s and into the 1960’s, not only in the United States, but throughout Latin America. As well as playing Radio City Music Hall, he played Madison Square Garden in 1967 with fellow Dominicanos, Joseíto Mateo and Alberto Beltrán, further establishing himself as on of the top Latin performers of the era. Here’s a link to a bio and interview with Primitivo Santos:

http://www.elsolweb.tv/noticia.php?Id=598

These three singles are from Primitivo’s most successful period in the 1960’s. Interestingly, none of them actually feature Dominican rhythms. “Herimpoke” was recorded in 1961 and comes from an album by the same name. It features the vocals Camboy Estevez and is essentially a boogaloo. I have no idea what a herimpoke is. This version of “El Manisero” was recorded in 1967 and comes from the album, “Primitivo y su Combo en Washington”. The single would become his biggest hit, earning Primitivo a gold record. It also features the vocals of Camboy Estevez Babarquiti is a great version of the tune made famous by Celia Cruz and La Sonora Matancera. It features the vocals of Tito Contreras.

- Marcos Juarez

Thanks Marcos. WOW!!! – Sonido (better late than never) Franko

1. Primitivo Santos y su Combo: Herimpoke

2. Primitivo Santos y su Combo: El Manicero 

3. Primitivo Santos y su Combo: Babaraquiti

Anyway, I was in Nicaragua for about a week visiting family and came across some bootleg CD vendors – which is the pretty much how Nicaraguans get down with their music. I didn’t dig for any vinyl because I only had a smaller carry-on suitcase. Plus it was so fucking hot that I really didn’t want to stray to far from my cold beer. But I did get a few contacts for vinyl collections in both Managua and Leon, which I will exploit the next time I go back (October perhaps).

Despite all that, Nicaragua doesn’t really have a large music tradition like Mexico, Brazil or Colombia. I still did find some pretty cool stuff from the 60′s and 70′s. Most the music is 60′s rock, but I did manage to find a pretty dope descaraga track from Leon’s Los Hermanos Cortez, a group which was featured in Adam’s Musica Del Alma audioblog. Also, I found some music from the Atlantic coast, palo de mayo stuff, which I wrote about a while back aswell. I was going to throw up some Carlos Mejía Godoy (famous Nicaraguan folk singer), but COMMUNIST MUSIC IS BORING. ¡a la gran púchica!

1. Los Hermanos Cortez: El Apolo 9

2. Los Barbaros del Ritmo de Bluefields: Canción Desconocida

3. Los Pancho 5 Hippie: Cocktel Margarita

4. Los Rockets: Tema de William

From the 50′s to the 70′s the MaG label was putting out some very gritty hard-edged sounds from South America. From the tune O-dub dropped, to the songs here, you can see the wide range of influence on this label. There is even a Bobby Cruz and Ricardo Ray cover. But from what I gathered, it was pianist Lucho  Macedo who was the record labels most popular artist (sorry I don’t have any 45′s of his on MaG). In fact, most musicians posted here played in his Sonora at one point in time, almost like an Alegre All Stars for the MaG label of sorts. Nevertheless, all these musicians really capture that 60′s Antillean sound very well. Please Enjoy!

1. Los Kintos: Tema

2. Coco Lagos y sus Otares: Guajireate

3. Mita y su Monte Adentro: Mita Descarga

4. Carlos Muñoz y su Sonora: Oye Mi Descarga

28 DAYS OF 45!!!

That’s right – starting February 1st I’ll do another round of a 45 a day. But I’m going to need your help this time, so if anyone out there wants a day to post your thing = it’s all yours! Email me at sonidofranko@gmail.com if you need more info/help.

Anyway, some amazing infusion of Latin music from Colombia’s Los 5 De Oro. Not much was to be found about the group, but it appears that pianist Angel Macias had made a name and career for himself outside of his quintet. Nevertheless, this album is outstanding - and it really holds up to the Fania/Tico sound they were trying to capture. The B side was my favorite, which all the songs posted come from - along with a rendition of Jimmy  Sabater’s  “Alafia“  (Colombians can’t seem to put down the accordion). Strongly recommended album from beginning to end. Enjoy!

1. Los 5 De Oro: Cali Boogaloo

2. Los 5 De Oro: Soy Como Soy

3. Los 5 De Oro: Alafia

El Expreso de Medianoche

Carlos Pickling—Cumbia Morena
Mariachi Nuevo Tecalitlan—Cumbia Arabe
Chicken y Sus Commandos—Cumbia Sampuesana
Los Aragon—Mar y Sol
Mario y sus Diamantes—Quena
Negros de Colombia—La Especulacion
Negros de Colombia—Bomba Tropical
Gustavo Pimintel—Pata Pata
Camacho y Cano y su Grupo—Gaita Numero Uno
Los Diplomaticos—La Samaria
Grupo Standard’s—Cumbia en el Palmar
Grupo Salas—Mar y Sol
Jose y sus Antillanos—Melodia Antillana
Los Beltons—Adios Pueblo
Jose y sus Antillanos—Morena Linda
Manzanita y su Conjunto—Asi Asi Asi
Elkin y su Organo Electronico—El Burro
Elkin y su Organo Electronico—Fiesta y Parranda
Los Socios del Ritmo—Chilito Piquin
Chico Sonido—A Bailar

-Franko

http://analogafrica.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/analogafrica

Nestled between the Caribbean Sea and the Rio Magdalena, lies the city of Barranquilla. Hailed by its locals as Colombia’s “Puerto de Oro” or Golden Gate Barranquilla has served as a gateway for “Caribbean Tropical Sounds” for almost a century. Home to the countries biggest cultural celebration, El Carnaval, and the birthplace of the radio and recording industry in Colombia, Barranquilla has always been a city deeply rooted in musical traditions. Its port-city status, has allowed its citizens to remain up-to-date with the latest grooves coming out of the Caribbean basin; with scores of LPs arriving from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the United States; the city soon became a bastion for musicians and vinyl enthusiasts from all over the world.

Nobody embodies more Barranquilla’s rich musical heritage than the master accordionist Anibal Velasquez. Known affectionately by his fans as “El Mago” (the Magician), Anibal has been one of the most prolific musicians of Colombia’s Musica Tropical movement. Anibal Velasquez Hurtado was born on June 3rd 1936 in Barranquilla into a musical family. His father was an accomplished musician but Anibal´s biggest influence was his older brother Juan who first introduced him to the secrets of the accordion. “I knew already how to handle the clarinet, the Guacharaca and other instruments, thats a talent I must have received from my father. In those days music was everywhere – people would come together and dance to cumbia’s and mapale’s…it was all very spontaneous.” 

“As you know Barranquilla has always been a musical city, but when I started to play the accordion, the instrument was not very popular, It had not become part of Costeno culture as it was considered a second-class instrument. A bit foreign and awkward, used primarily by campesinos in rural towns off the banks of the Rio Magdalena – but we´ve changed that. One of the turning points was an encounter with Robertico Roman a musician from Cartagena who I´ve met in a record store on a rainy day. We both had a deep love for Cuban Music and he often came to my place where we jammed. Its with Robertico Roman that I founded my first band called

“Vallenatos de Magdalena”. I made my first recording with that band in 1952. Four songs were recorded including a track called La Gallina, which became a huge hit. It really spread the costal sound toward the center* of the country (interior*).

With the death of Robertico In 1955 the band disbanded and Anibal became a session musician for disco Eva in a band called “El Conjunto Colomboy” which was directed by the Costeño Master “Lucho Campillo” till 1960 when Anibal decides to form a new group. Included in the band are his two brothers Juan and his younger brother José who was instrumental in the sound he wanted to achieve. Instead of using the bongos like in the Cuban Guaracha and Rumba, José decided to use the Traditional Colombian caja drum. The leather skin was replaced by an X-rays Film (radiografias Medicas) an innovation which enabled him to generate a much harder and dryer sound then the cuban bongos. But The cuban style I was producing wasent right – some sounds simply didn’t work on the accordion so I decided to create my own Guaracha which is much faster and a lot hotter then the cuban one. We´ve started recording for various record companies – I didn’t like to exclusive to a specific label – so they dubbed me “Anibal Todo Sello”  (Anibal all labels)

“thats when I met with Antonio Fuentes who had just started his broadcasting company called Emisoras Fuentes in Cartagena. I really enjoyed working with him because he understood the mind of the musician and gave us lot of creative freedom. Encouraged by his attitude I began by playing different styles adapting regional elements to the accordion. I would play cumbia, merecumbe, Mapalé, Pompo, and corrido and later also began to incorporate Cuban and Puerto Rican elements into my music. It was in many ways the golden area of the Musica Tropical movement. Lucho Bermudez and Estersita Forrero had taken the genre into new heights spreading the warm tropical sound of the coast to Bogota and reaching as far Cuba and the United States. I recall playing in a small venue called “Mi Kioskito” here in Barranquilla. I was playing there every week and all the greats musicians of this country would appear one after the other; Pacho Galan, Rufo Garrido, Pedro Laza , Michi Sarmiento…Costeno music was taking over the country and we were pioneering a new movement, a new identity for Colombia – Amazing times – I began to have an impressive amount of followers…(including some future legends) guys like Alfredo (Gutierrez) and Lisandro (Meza) were greatly influenced by my style and used it to developed their own.”

The interest for Anibal´s innovative sound started growing and recording offers started pourring in. This was Anibal´s most productive period were many records were produced for innumerable costal labels. Discos Fuentes worried by the artist´s dominance who´s sound had started spreading like a wildfire by forming a super group called Los Corraleros de Majagual composed of Lisandro Meza, Alfredo Gutierrez, Ernesto Estrada (aka Fruko), Calixto Ochoa and few other giants.

The rivalry between the two bands came to an abrupt end with the arrival of the drug cartels. By the mid-1960s, music in La Costa began to change drastically. With the onset of the hippie movement in the United States and America’s new found craving for marijuana, Colombia’s Caribbean Coast had become a main trafficking hub. A new economy of drugs had emerged in the coast and with it a style called Vallenato rose to prominence. It’s distinct accordion sound and bleusy appeal made it a favorite among drug lords and Mafiosos alike, eventually becoming the soundtrack for their feverish life-styles. According to Anibal, “for a short period, people found happiness in the new economy of drugs and Vallenato had became the manifestation this new found happiness. This new brand of prosperity was soon followed by a dramatic upsurge in drug-related violence. The Drug Cartels ruled the streets and people did not feel safe. Life changed and so did the music.” The Drug-lords delighted in the accordion and the instrument soon become a trademark in local festivals and public gatherings.

Vallenato was everywhere. “I quickly began to redefine my playing style because I became bored with Vallenato mostly because its lyrical content had become decadent and too closely associated with violence. So while the other bands started playing slower music I became faster, much faster. I began incorporating new sounds and techniques creating a new fast tempo style known as “Guaracha de Anibal Velazquez” which became an incredible success during Carnival here in Barranquilla. Unfortunately due to the violence in this country I decided to packed my luggage and moved to Caracas where I stayed for 18 years (Half of the  300 LPs recorded by Anibal Velasquez were recorded in Venezuela).

We are very proud for the opportunity to bring this sound to you. Many of the tracks presented here have set fire to more then one dance-floor and have become essential during Analog Africa Dj Sets.

Samy Ben Redjeb
Analog Africa – Rare Afro Sounds from the 70s
Friedberger Landstr 128
60316 Frankfurt am Main / Germany

Presented in this post are some of the samples that didn’t make it on his record. Nevertheless, the record Anibal Velasquez: Mambo Locos (on LP and CD) is spot on and Samy once again nailed it with probably every important and stand-out song that Anibal Velasquez has ever done. A highly recommended record, which I will give you more details of in my next post. The music below is divided by artist/song/album. Enjoy!!!

Anibal Velasquez /El Cucarachero/Tropical 

1. Panga Pajapa (Afro-Criollo) 

Anibal Velasquez/Self Titled Lp/Var-bo (pressing is off on this – not a great recording) 

2. Burun Bumba (watusy) 

3. El Guamo (cumbia) 

Anibal Y Jose Velasquez/Cumbia Brava/Sonolux  

4. Cumbia Brava 

5. El Sucusu-Sucusu (sucusu) 

Anibal Velasquez/En Tremenda Salsa/Fuentes 

6. Que Paso (descarga) 

Anibal Velasquez/Bailela…Y Gocela!/Lyra 

7. Charanga Cucutena 

Anibal Velasquez/Boogaloo Descarga Mosaicos/Tropical 

8. Descarga Loca

1. Ricardo Ray/Bobby Cruz: Ricardo Ray In Orbit

2. Machito And His Orchestra: Baby I Love You

Today, I wanted to share this red hot Bush y su Combo Los Magnificos 45 with you all.  Both sides are amazingly beautiful slabs of Latin music from Panama.  While not the most explosive descarga out there by any means, “Nananina” holds its own with pure style and swing.   It’s always been one of my favorite songs off of the now-classic Panama! compilations on Soundway Records, but I never knew the flipside of this obscure, privately-pressed 45 was just as hot!

“Los Magnificos” is a deep guaguanco complete with rolling piano, mighty horns, and able vocals from Chombo Castro (unknown to me until now). Either side should have no problem setting the dancefloor ablaze…..

Bush y su Combo Los Magnificos: “Nananina” y “Los Magnificos”
From the Sol Records 7″ (Panama, 197?)

-Adam Dunbar

I want to thank Adam for the amazing post and for being an all around cool ass dude. Adam has been a big supporter of the site since day one and continues to surprise me in his own right. Totally appreciated. What a great track Nananina is though. Adam I think you’re being modest, the song is a real cooker. And I’m really glad you threw in Los Magnificos, on account of me not having too much salsa/70′s guaguanco.

Please go check out Mr. Dunbar’s Latin audio-blog  Musica Del Alma * Word em’ ups!!!

-Sonido Franko

1. Bush y Su Combo Los Magnificos: Nananina 

2. Bush y Su Combo Los Magnificos: Los Magnificos

1. Luis Gómez y su Conjunto: Descarga En Acordeon

2. Luis Gómez y su Conjunto: Descarga En Acordeon

1. Los Corraleros: Descarga Corralero

2. Los 5 Gatos: Que Rico Chicha

3. Los 5 Gatos: Descarga Sabrosa

1. Los Tiburones: La Reina Y La Cumbia

2. Los Tiburones: Descarga Tiburona

I’ve been catching some flack by some other dj’s for letting go of some of my funkier Latin numbers. And I can understand where they are coming from. I understand how some dj’s want some sort of exclusive domain over a gem they found. Maybe it’s to protect their set, I don’t know. But I don’t really care and I never have. As I see it, the music doesnt belong to me anyway and as a dj I always appreciate it when someone wants to know what you’re playing. Shit I even let people pilfer through my crate to peep all my records (as long as they dont look like they’d walk off with it). At least I have someone in the audience actually listening.

With that being said, I’m sure there will be someone in this world upset that I’m giving you this funk bomb from Colombia’s Los Tiburones (the sharks). I just got this album from Mexico and I’m really loving the blend of funk, cumbia, descarga, and gaitero music. It appears to be a commemorative record for Colombian Carnival in 1968 (most likely the Carnival of Barranquilla). A real fusion of Native, European and Afro-Colombian sounds and cultures. Which essentially is what Carnival is all about. It’s like the worlds first ever multicultural event, a party where race and class are mixed up for a time being. Pretty much a reflection of the record itself. 

The album is on the Tropical label (one of my favorites) and has the popular Aniceto Molina on accordion and Duque Palomino singing from Discos Fuentes fame.

1. Los Destellos: Descarga Electrica

Under the direction of lead guitarist Enrique Delgado, Los Destellos (the sparkles, like a star) are pretty much known as the founders of Cumbia Peruana circa 1966. Now I am pretty sceptical about using the word chicha to define their genre of music.  I feel that chicha is more associated with 70′s and 80′s transient Andean cumbia, a music that is probably rooted more in Amerindian sounds, beliefs and the harshness of the Amerindian experience (hardship, displacement, lament). Whether they influenced the chicha movement later on or became part of it by default, I’m not 100% sure.  However, Los Destellos appear to be more part of the Lima Mestizo culture (mixture of Indian/Spanish blood). And can be reflected in the way which their sounds fuse Latin boogaloo, psychedelic rock, soul, Colombian cumbia, tropical and indigenous music in a whole host of ways. 

2. Los Destellos: Cumbia Morena

3. Los Destellos: Boogaloo De Los Destellos

Charangos(Andean mandolins), requintos, and guitars are a huge part of Peruvian musical culture. Tavern life is filled with them supposedly.  So any transition to a modern sound would probably have been seem-less for a group like the guitar laden Destellos. And Peruvian music at this time seems to really embrace the electric guitar. The Cumbia Morenais a great example of them playing a traditional Colombian cumbia with this more electric sound. Whereas, the Boogaloo De Los Destellos almost sounds like a Latin version of the American psychedelic rock band The Byrds. With an electric 12 string and the highly melodic guitar playing, it reminded me instantly of Roger Mcguinn’s style.   

4. Los Destellos: Me Resignare

The albums I’m posting are in order by catalogue number. I have a few other LP’s that should be in this group, but I have seemed to have misplaced them. Maybe I’ll amend this post if I ever find them. But for the most part this is pretty good discography and I am trying to run the entire gamut of sounds Los Detellos produced. On a side note I know that from looking at some of the musicians in the band that they show up in other groups on the Odeon/Iempsa label. The dude playing the bongos is in Los Orientales De Paramonga. Perhaps they were session musicians at the time.

5. Los Destellos: Carnaval De Arequipa

6. Los Destellos: Boogaloo Del Perro

Arequipa is a the second largest city in Peru and is way up in the Andean Mountains. This song is a pretty traditional number. You’re probably more likely to hear this tune being played by Andean pan-pipe and poncho musicians. Definitely on the chicha tip this one.

7. Los Destellos: Noche De Garua

Garuais the dry winds that hit the lower western slopes of the Andes creating a low-level of cloud. Within the Andes Mountains the garua blocks out the sun for the cooler six months of the year, and there is almost no rainfall during this period. With the title, this instrumental song sounds almost like something the Ventures would do. Surf/garage music was pretty big in Peru in the early 60′s. Groups like Los Saicos, Los Shains, Los Yorks, Los Doltons are to name a few.

8. Los Destellos: El Pacifico

9. Los Destellos: El Electrico

10: Los Destellos: La Cumbia Del Sol

11. Los Destellos: Tu Donde Estas

Hands down my all time favorite record of Los Destellos. In fact, I like it so much I began to eat to lower right hand corner of the album cover. Peep the break beat ballad Tu Donde Estas (where are you?), it’s a hip-hop track waiting to be copped. 

12. Los Destellos: Constelacion

13. Los Destellos: Pachanga Espanola

I probably have 3 more Los Destellos  records, but like always, their later stuff just isn’t as good. Apparently Los Destellos had a resurgence of popularity in the 80′s that lasted until Enrique Delgado died in the early 90′s. The band still performs today, but I believe it’s the widowed wife of Enrique who runs the band now. If I find any more records of theirs, I’ll amend the post. Also, thanks to all the Japanese viewers as of late who have been vibing this site. Word!

1. Los Mozambique: Descarga Mozambique

A super rare track from the Afro Peruvian Descarga scene. The unfortunate thing is that I couldn’t find out much about this group and this is the only item of theirs which I own.  But oh man….what a killer song.

This is a far cry from Eddie Palmeri’s María Caracoles  or his LP Mozambique.  But leave it to a bunch of Peruvians to adopt a genre of music and take it into some other awesome direction. The repetition and vigor are there, but like always, performed in a much more relaxed and informal manner.

2. Los Pachas: El Hueleguiso

Whoever is reading this, you must think I’m the worst audio blogger in the world. Yet again I have absolutely no information about these guys. In fact, I researched this label years ago and I actually found the website for Dinsa. But now I can no longer find it. Man I suck.

Pretty much the only thing I can tell you is that the Peruvian artist Manzanita does a version of this song (which i’ll put up some day). And I found out what huele (smell) guiso (stew) actually means. From what I gathered from other Peruvian blogs, a hueleguiso is an uninvited guest that comes over because he smells the food that you’re cooking. It’s slang for a freeloader I suppose.  

This song is considered a boogaloo number. Like the first song, just a bunch of dope hybrid sounds from Peru.

On a side note, I’ve had more luck with Peruvian pressings than any other South American record. Not only can they be colorful and thick, but they’re super fucking loud. Anyway, I just thought I’d throw that out to all the diggers out there.

1. Los Zheros: Descarga De Los Zheros

I could’nt find any info on Los Zheros (the zeros) or it’s members. I searched the inter-net, other audio blogs, even Peruvian message boards. Not one scrap of information besides the liner notes. Maybe it is an indication of how short lived the band was? Or maybe it’s just the shroud of mystery that is part of Los Zheros’ legacy?

As indicated on the back, guitarist and vocalist Chocho Alvan seems to be the band leader accompanied by his two brothers and three other band mates. Their ages range from 16 to 22 at the time this debut album was made.

There seems to be an emphasis on their academic professions and the school each member is attending. Maybe this record was a youth project of some sort? Anyway, definitely one of my favorite records from Peru. ”Cuarto Oscuro” (dark room) is a total crossbreed of cumbia, garage/rock, and descarga all done in the distinct guitar heavy Peruvian style. The rough edged quality of these songs makes for an overall awesome sound. I could care less if these guys were 16 or 60.