Puerto Rican singer Ismael Rivera used to work with Latin
percussionist Rafael Cortijo for many years. On this solo
project, Rafael joins him again as an invited guest.
Rivera had a great voice, they called him ‘el Sonero Mayor’.
Beautiful 70’s piece of latin, a must have.

tracks;

1 Soy feliz
2 Son son sonero
3 Tonto del amor
4 Yo no quiero que te enamores
5 Las tumbas
6 No soy para ti
7 Parece que le gusta
8 Boriqueneando
9 Si yo pudiera
10 Los apuros de Miguel

WARNING !

Do you know that phenomena, you buy an LP, you check it properly
for being in a good condition. This one looks perfect, but when
I was recording it and came to the second side, it appeared
to be pressed almost 1 centimeter out of the center.
So, the first 6 tracks are just fine but tracks 7 to 12
sound a bit FALSE I’m affraid. The music is so nice however,
I didn’t want to withhold it from you.

Rafael Cortijo was one of Puerto Rico’s heroes of the 50’s
and 60’s. His plena’s and bomba’s were and are still among
the most respected in the world. This is his first stereo
recording from 1960. Volare is a well known song of which
he made his own version. If you are familiar wirh the music
of Brazil’s singer Dorival Caymmi, you will recognize the last
song on this album. It used to be called ‘Maracangalha’.
Cortijo’s versions are great, they sound natural as if
they were his own. Like lots of Cortijo’s albums, this one
is also with the great singer ‘Ismael Rivera’ with whom
he worked for many years.

tracks;

1 Oriza
2 Si te mueres no me lleves
3 Volare
4 Que le paso
5 La hija de la vecina
6 Madame Calalu
7 Y Pedro Flores
8 Mofongo pelao
9 Solavaya
10 Los chismosos
11 Dona Chana
12 Me voy a Marancagaya

This is one of the greatest Merengue singers and he comes
out on one of the greatest labels. Discos Fuentes de Medellin
Colombia brought out many albums by greats like Joseito Mateo.
Very hard to find some good background information.
Merengue like it’s meant to be.

tracks;

1 La secretaria
2 La yerbita
3 Quisqueya
4 Merengue yeye
5 La justicia
6 Picolina
7 Pa’ lante y pa’ trás
8 La fiesta de los monos
9 Festival de merengues
10 Agarralo que eso es tuyo
11 Un domingo sin ti

Ramito’s Jíbaro from Puerto Rico is super fine,
and if you want to try it, our friend Yoyo from
listentoyourears just posted some, just
go_here

Plena is the most typical rhythm of Puerto Rico and the master
of the plena was Canario. His real name is Manuel Jiménez and
started his singing career at the age of 5. He was beheld a child
prodigy and that gave him his start towards everlasting fame.
The vocals here belong to Raful. Listen to Canario.

tracks;

1 Llego de Roma
2 Hechisera
3 Buscando a malen
4 Cortaron a Elena
5 Cuando las mujeres quieren a los hombres
6 El mundo se va acabar
7 Santa Maria
8 Por bandolera
9 Que se va José
10 Tanta vanidad
11 La negra Merced
12 Que tabaco malo

Hello musiclovers around the globe, I just got back from a
two day record-hunt through Belgium and the Netherlands.
I visited Antwerp, Brussels, Nijmegen and Arnhem, and
found quite some material to spoil you with in the
forthcoming weeks.

I start with an album I was very lucky to find.
Let me explain, my first encounter with Ramito was
when I found this_album at La Caja de Pandora.
I was surprised and exited hearing this delightful style
form Puerto Rico. So when I had a conversation with Mrs. Salsa,
in the Amsterdam Bimhuis later, and heard her speak about Ramito
so passionately, I decided to start a search for his music.
She explained to me a ‘Jibaro’ is a wild dog in Cuba, but in
Puerto Rico it is this fine music.
For two days I saw a lot of LP’s and also bought quite some.
When I visited the very last shop, in Arnhem, they had very
little Worldmusic, I couldn’t believe my eyes when this
treasure of Ramito appeared. It was the rewarding final piece
I brought home from a great trip.

About Ramito, I’ll quote the backsleeve; “Ramito is a true
child of Puerto Rico. Born and raised there, he loves his
homeland and shows his devotion in his singing.
Ramito is a troubadour – as such he sings and improvises
about everything that moves him: Love, patriotism, politics
and the trivia of daily live.”
Our friend Yoyo from Listentoyourears will post some Jibaro
in the near future he promised me. He’s got a great collection
of this nice Puerto Rican music.

tracks;

1 El Jibaro del cuento
2 La historia de un mal padre
3 El deudor de todos
4 En el monte del olvido
5 Apellidos del hombre casado
6 Ramito en Hawaii
7 Soy Boricua
8 Penas que matan
9 El grito del buen Cubano
10 Flores para Hawaii
11 Aires Navideñas
12 Feliz año nuevo