Since 2003, Madrid's Vampisoul Records has been a label to treasure for all those in search of the cool. The vibrant Spanish label has developed a colorful roster of eclectic music, unearthing once-lost Peruvian psych, Brazilian rock, Harlem boogaloo, Detroit soul, Afrobeat, lounge, salsa and much, much more. Releases are enhanced by deluxe, stylish packaging -- on both CD and vinyl formats -- offering extensive liner notes and rare photos. Vampisoul remains absolutely essential for soul, funk and rare groove fans in search of more of the old gold.
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LP
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VAMPI 191LP
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$25.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 5/24/2019
"A revolutionary album full of experimentation and cross-fertilization with a sound unlike that of any other tropical record before or after, which could only have come from the Caribbean region of Colombia and the fertile mind of the band's leader, Alfredo Gutiérrez El Rebelde del Acordeón. What makes this record unique and a highly sought-after collector's piece among DJs and aficionados of Colombian music are the innovative arrangements (by Gutiérrez and his saxophone-playing friends Nacor Barón Garcés and Demetrio 'Pipe' Guarín) that mix a sax section with electric organ, piano and accordion, and the fact that it contains a killer version of Javier Vázquez's hard salsa tune 'Esa Mulata' as well as salsa versions of Gutiérrez's earlier vallenato hits 'Los Carasucias' and 'Bajo El Palo 'E Mango'. In addition, there is an interesting hybrid between the boogaloo and the joropo ('La Mezcla' by pianist Edel Manrique) and a fun cover of Dominican accordionist Angel Viloria's 1950 gem 'Yo Bailé Con Josefina' plus another hardcore salsa burner ('Salsa De Monte Adentro') and a flamenco/salsa hybrid ('Caribe'), both written by Poli Martínez, who used to sing with Climaco Sarmiento. The record kicks off with some local costeño flavor with the paseo 'Perdóname Leandro' and on side two the porro 'Toro Barcino'. The album cover, though tongue in cheek, must have also caused a stir, as it calls to mind Cuban revolutionaries and combines images of violence and music in a provocatively satirical way." --Pablo Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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LP
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VAMPI 190LP
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$25.00
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 5/24/2019
"Released in 1978, Soy La Ley by Robert Y Su Banda is an obscure but sought-after slab of Colombian salsa dura with the special distinction of having the 'original' version of Álvaro José 'Joe' Arroyo's monster hit 'Rebelión' hidden in plain sight on the second side of the record. The band's leader, Roberto Antonio Urquijo Fonseca, is still active today and, hailing from Barranquilla, Colombia, is as steeped in the costeño sound of cumbia as he is in salsa. Roberto certainly has a perfect voice for salsa, bringing to mind that of the Boricua super star sonero Héctor Lavoe . . . On this album the previously mentioned 'Rebelión' of Joe Arroyo kicks off side two but bears the completely different title 'El Mulato' and is credited to Adela Martelo de Arroyo, Joe Arroyo's wife at the time (Arroyo was signed exclusively to Discos Fuentes). The arrangement, by Enrique Aguilar, is also quite different from 'Rebelión' with an introduction that sounds inspired by Tite Curet Alonso's composition 'Plantación Adentro' (from Willie Colon Presents Rubén Blades Metiendo Mano!, 1977) but it contains all the elements of Joe's later global smash with the exception of being rhythmically more of a cumbia than a salsa . . . With Michi Sarmiento's brilliant arrangement plus La Verdad's modern reinterpretation of the nearly decade old tune, 'Rebelión' became a mega-hit even in Asia and Africa and Arroyo's fame shot around the world and made him the international legend he remains to this day, eight years after his untimely demise. Besides the aforementioned 'El Mulato', the title track 'Soy La Ley' is a dance floor burner and comes from the pen of Joe Arroyo as well, as does 'Mi Cariño No Espera', which is another cumbia/salsa hybrid . . . Aside from the Arroyo originals, there is the super-hot guaguancó 'Son Candela' by the venerable Cuban singer/composer Joseíto Fernández, the guajira son 'En La Inmensa Soledad', made famous by Los Compadres, the upbeat sounding lament 'Preso Sin Sentencia', originally by Puerto Rican plenero and percussionist Rafael Ortiz Escuté (aka Joe Pappy), plus an absolutely burning version of Mexican crooner Armando Manzanero's 1967 hit 'Aquel Señor'. The record is rounded out by the salsa tune 'Si Ella Pregunta Por Mí', which was covered in 1980 by Orquesta Borinquen." --Pablo Yglesias aka DJ Bongohead Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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CD
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VAMPI 187CD
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$17.50
PREORDER
RELEASE DATE: 5/3/2019
"Fifty years after the release of one of the founding records of the genre known as Peruvian cumbia (by guitar players Enrique Delgado Montes and Berardo Hernández 'Manzanita'), Vampisoul presents this third volume in the series Cumbia Beat, which brings together 45 rpm rarities from acclaimed groups, short-lived bands and outstanding huaycumbias. Like the previous volumes in this series, listening to this record takes you on a journey across the geography of Peru, as the majority of the groups on this collection were from different regions of the country, or had close links to them, although all of the artists recorded in Lima. Most of the bands emerged during the period 1968-1980, a time of deep political and social change implemented by the nationalist military dictatorship. Los Demonios Del Mantaro, Los Demonios De Corocochay, and Los 5 Palomillas are the exceptions to this, as they recorded between 1965 and 1967 and produced a hybrid of cumbia and huayno called huaycumbia, a genre which achieved high sales figures during those years. Despite the characteristics of huaycumbia, the early composers of Peruvian cumbia didn't consider it a direct source of inspiration. They admit to being more influenced by Colombian cumbia, Cuban guaracha, beat, and psychedelic music from the UK and US that they had played since the end of the '60s, in their 'own style', as a part of a musical appropriation process that quickly led them to forge a singular sound. Peruvian cumbia developed, spurred by the music school erudition of the guitarist Enrique Delgado Montes on the one hand and, on the other, by the self-taught creativity of Berardo Hernández 'Manzanita'. Largely ignored by the elites, it steadily won over audiences and created its own market, establishing its own broadcast channels and distribution channels. As Enrique Delgado stated in 1973: 'We've defined a typically Peruvian cumbia which, strange as it might appear, people also like in Colombia and several other countries.' Finally, setting up their own labels, competing hard against one another and enriching their music with sounds they brought from their specific regions, these bands that gradually sprung up all over the country managed to consolidate a tradition that is still alive today." --Hugo Lévano G
Also features Silvestre Montez Y Sus Guantanameros, Los Cóndores Del Cusco, Los Gitanos, Los Orientales De Paramonga, Los Casmeños, Los Beta 5, Los Girasoles, Paco Zambrano Y Sus Ratones, Los Ecos, Los Tantos, Los Scorpios, Los Blue Kings De Ñaña, Grupo Siglo XX, Los Sander's De Ñaña, Los Quantos, Los Diablos Rojos, Marco Merry Y Sus Golfos, and Sonido Verde De Moyobamba.
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2LP
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VAMPI 189LP
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RSD 2019 release. In 1968 Enrique Delgado, leader of Los Destellos, launched an original musical proposition that combined tropical music, rock and touches from other genres, which he arranged by drawing on his extensive experience accompanying stars of Andean and coastal music from Peru. He was determined to find his own style and created an earthy vibe that people still love dancing to today. Delgado was a precocious musician from Lima, passionate about waltzes, polkas and marineras from Creole music from an early age, founding Los Destellos in 1966 for purely commercial reasons, aiming to liven up exclusive social gatherings with a wide repertoire of danceable music. In mid-1967 he revamped the band to embark on the task of creating a new style that would be a hit with dance fans and guarantee economic success, influenced by the visit of Hugo Blanco to different cities across Peru, playing cumbias and other tropical rhythms using the harp as a solo instrument. Rock was another ingredient that this Beatles fan added to the mix; his goal was to find a formula through which he could integrate the different musical genres from Peru, ranging from Creole music from the Pacific coast to the exotic dances from the Amazon, thereby acknowledging Peruvian cultural diversity. He put all the ingredients together and mixed them well before going into the recording studio. Halfway through 1968, Fernando Quiroz joined the line-up. Delgado was looking for a guitarist who played rock and was recommended Fernando, who had played Los Zany's. This line-up also included Carlos Ramírez, Eduardo Rivera, and Rodolfo Casaretto. Sicodelicos selects the Los Destellos tracks closest to the genres of psychedelia, beat and boogaloo, released between 1968 and 1978, with Enrique playing lead guitar on the bulk of them. In the 21st century, several compilations such as Vampisoul's own Cumbia Beat (VAMPI 116CD/LP, VAMPI 143CD/LP) series have helped globalize Peruvian cumbia, winning fans from all over the world. Led by Delgado, Los Destellos truly defined the sound of Peruvian cumbia with the incorporation of diverse influences and the use of electric guitars. These 20 irresistible songs are essential elements of Peruvian cumbia, the rhythm that changed the face of Lima, shook the Andes and spread like a forest fire across the Amazon basin. For fans of Los Mirlos, Link Wray, Davie Allan, and surf instrumentals.
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2LP
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VAMPI 116LP
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2019 repress. Subtitled: Experimental Guitar-Driven Tropical Sounds from Peru 1966-1976. In mid-50s Peru, mambo was progressively replaced by preferences for other rhythms like merengue, guaguancó, cha cha cha, joropo, guaracha, rumba and cumbia, which timidly begins to sound during these years. In Lima it's the golden age of great orchestras and music ensembles which are capable of playing swing and jazz, but especially the diverse tropical variants inundating the market. The most successful of all, La Sonora De Lucho Macedo, released in 1965 an LP consisting exclusively of cumbia. Around this time, the successful folklore group Los Pacharacos released the album Los Ídolos Del Pueblo, which included a cumbia number in the middle of the potpourri of huaynos, waltzes, and polkas. The groups preserved the fusion of fox trot and mambo rhythms along with huayno and cumbia in the execution of their music. That feeling would be the basis for the success of such unorthodox and unclassifiable songs as "La Chichera" or "Peti Pan". The recording in 1965 of these two songs by Los Demonios Del Mantaro on a seminal 45 with the Sono Radio label was the jumping off point for the birth of cumbia andina, also called "chichi" precisely for this song, which is dedicated to a vendor of the well-known Incan liquor. The electric shock of rock guitars enters the world of cumbia in 1968. The cause of such copulation was Enrique Delgado Montes, regarded as the genre's godfather. He did it, as part of his band Los Destellos, on a 45 and an eponymous 1968 LP (CAL 001LP/CALC 001LP). His songs constitute the most surprising musical fusions and amalgams of the time, whether they merge Cuban music and psychedelia, explore the sounds of Andean or Amazonian music, combine the digitalization of the Creole guitar with huayno melodies or abuse fuzz tones and distortion pedals. There wasn't an innovation that tropical guitarists didn't add to their sound: delay, fuzz tone, overdrive, wah-wah, reverb, modulating effects typical of rock bands are assimilated into a stunning sonic cocktail. In this context, cumbia reached the top of the charts in popularity. It replaced rock as the urban sound. Includes extensive liner notes in English and Spanish, photos, and memorabilia.
Also features Silvestre Montez Y Sus Guantanameros, Los Orientales De Paramonga, Grupo Celeste, Los Mirlos, Manzanita Y Su Conjunto, Los Wembler's De Iquitos, Los Beltons, Los Beta 5, Los Galax, Aniceto Y Sus Fabulosos, Juaneco Y Su Combo, Los Sanders De Ñaña, Los Diablos Rojos, Los Ecos, and Los Demonios De Corocochay.
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2LP
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VAMPI 187LP
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Double LP version. "Fifty years after the release of one of the founding records of the genre known as Peruvian cumbia (by guitar players Enrique Delgado Montes and Berardo Hernández 'Manzanita'), Vampisoul presents this third volume in the series Cumbia Beat, which brings together 45 rpm rarities from acclaimed groups, short-lived bands and outstanding huaycumbias. Like the previous volumes in this series, listening to this record takes you on a journey across the geography of Peru, as the majority of the groups on this collection were from different regions of the country, or had close links to them, although all of the artists recorded in Lima. Most of the bands emerged during the period 1968-1980, a time of deep political and social change implemented by the nationalist military dictatorship. Los Demonios Del Mantaro, Los Demonios De Corocochay, and Los 5 Palomillas are the exceptions to this, as they recorded between 1965 and 1967 and produced a hybrid of cumbia and huayno called huaycumbia, a genre which achieved high sales figures during those years. Despite the characteristics of huaycumbia, the early composers of Peruvian cumbia didn't consider it a direct source of inspiration. They admit to being more influenced by Colombian cumbia, Cuban guaracha, beat, and psychedelic music from the UK and US that they had played since the end of the '60s, in their 'own style', as a part of a musical appropriation process that quickly led them to forge a singular sound. Peruvian cumbia developed, spurred by the music school erudition of the guitarist Enrique Delgado Montes on the one hand and, on the other, by the self-taught creativity of Berardo Hernández 'Manzanita'. Largely ignored by the elites, it steadily won over audiences and created its own market, establishing its own broadcast channels and distribution channels. As Enrique Delgado stated in 1973: 'We've defined a typically Peruvian cumbia which, strange as it might appear, people also like in Colombia and several other countries.' Finally, setting up their own labels, competing hard against one another and enriching their music with sounds they brought from their specific regions, these bands that gradually sprung up all over the country managed to consolidate a tradition that is still alive today." --Hugo Lévano G
Also features Silvestre Montez Y Sus Guantanameros, Los Cóndores Del Cusco, Los Gitanos, Los Orientales De Paramonga, Los Casmeños, Los Beta 5, Los Girasoles, Paco Zambrano Y Sus Ratones, Los Ecos, Los Tantos, Los Scorpios, Los Blue Kings De Ñaña, Grupo Siglo XX, Los Sander's De Ñaña, Los Quantos, Los Diablos Rojos, Marco Merry Y Sus Golfos, and Sonido Verde De Moyobamba.
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2LP
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VAMPI 143LP
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2019 repress. "The 'resurrection' of Peruvian tropical music, of psychedelic cumbia or, as others like to call it, 'chicha,' is perhaps one of the most surprising musical phenomena in recent years . . . Elements of rock, folklore, música criolla, Andean music, Amazonian music, Colombian cumbia, salsa and even psychedelia intermingle in this 'cannibal' genre capable of devouring and assimilating every possible influence. Both Enrique Delgado and Manzanita, the two great founding guitarists of the genre, made music that absorbed all possible manner of styles. Vampisoul features not only tunes from Delgado with his group Los Destellos and from Manzanita, but also from their side projects: Delgado's Los Casmeños and Manzanita's El Monje Loco. Los Girasoles, Los Yungas, Los Beta 5 and Los Ecos continued those sonic explorations . . . Although this compilation consists mostly of instrumentals, a classic of Peruvian tropical music, 'Colegiala' by Los Ilusionistas, is included with vocals from Carlos Ramírez 'Centeno'. Los Beta 5 would never turn to the sung format . . . Another group that has in their origins instrumental beat spirit and sound are Los Ecos. The sparkling-clean guitar sound of their leader Beto Cuestas always shines in songs filled with a delicate pop sensibility and melodies that oscillate between melancholy and danceable experimentation. Los Yungas had recorded songs in which música criolla and huayno are 'cumbianized,' but the more significant point of departure happened when Los Demonios Del Mantaro released a historic single . . . [Carlos] Baquerizo was also the first to introduce an electric guitar in Peruvian cumbia in Los 5 Palomillas, a side project of Los Demonios. The influence of the 'provincial sound' would be felt by many other guitarists . . . One of the most original and surprising guitar sounds in Peruvian tropical music would be that of Maximiliano Chávez from Los Orientales De Paramonga, who created a very peculiar style of tropical music with deep basses, galloping percussion, and wah-wah guitar . . .Los Mirlos, with their guitars and hypnotic grooves, achieved the most popular and transnational of the Amazonian sounds. The other Amazonian miracle was Juaneco Y Su Combo, led by Juan Wong. Their music, full of references to Amazonian mythology and to ayahuasca (a psychoactive drink), featured the guitar of Noé Fachín." --Alfredo Villar
Also features Los Orientales, Compay Quinto, Los Pecos, Los Titanes, Los Yungas, Grupo Celeste, Los Santos, Aniceto Y Sus Fabulosos, and José Y Sus Antillanos.
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LP
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VAMPI 188LP
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"By the time Sexteto Miramar's groundbreaking ¡Salsa! Mi Hermana LP was released in 1968 they had been performing for over a decade and had gone through changes in both personnel and instrumentation. Formed in Medellín as a children's 'murguita' (little holiday party band) that used to annoy the neighbors, they quickly grew into a hot teen combo specializing in Cuban and Colombian music with accordion and sax arrangements in a conjunto (small group) format, eventually recording for local labels including Zeida. During this time the group had several hits that became standards including 'Carruseles' and 'Cumbia Del Sol'. By the mid-1960s the old band had dissolved and original founding member and bandleader/arranger Hernán Builes had formed a new outfit, signing with Zeida rival Discos Fuentes. Miramar then recorded an obscure album of tropical music called Cumbias Con El Miramar, sounding much like their earlier records. However, inspired by New York's Joe Cuba Sextet and La Playa Sextet, several years later Builes decided to swap the folkloric accordion for the more contemporary sounding electric guitar, piano and vibes and signed a new contract with Fuentes under the name Sexteto Miramar. During this period Miramar featured several vocalists who would later go on to greater fame, including Humberto Muriel, Johnny Moré and Rodolfo Aicardi. The newly minted Sexteto Miramar were perhaps the first Colombian group to use the term 'salsa' as a musical genre when they recorded ¡Salsa! Mi Hermana. The record was also their first album as a sextet under their new name, instrumentation and membership... The album features several originals as well as cover versions of New York Latin and Cuban tunes first popularized by Orquesta América Del '55, Tito Rodríguez, Celia Cruz, Sabú Martínez, La Playa Sextet, Joe Cuba Sextet, and the Peruvian group Pepe Moreno Y Su All-Star Band. As to how Builes came up with the album's signature tune, 'Salsa Boogaloo', he had most likely been listening to Venezuelan radio broadcasts of the new Latin records by artists such as Pete Rodriguez, Ricardo Ray, and Johnny Colón coming out of New York, which had been described as 'salsa' since 1966 by bohemian disc-jockey Phidias Danilo Escalona . . . According to Muriel, the fact that ¡Salsa! Mi Hermana did not have any overtly Colombian genres like cumbia and instead concentrated on foreign sounds such as guajira, mambo, charanga, bolero, guaguancó, guaracha, boogaloo, and salsa meant that the band was consciously trying to update Colombian tastes." --Pablo Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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7"
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VAMPI 45069EP
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La Redada is a sextet of tropical psychedelic musicians from the capital of Mexico consisting of Carlos Icaza, Julian Huerta, Daniel Llermaly, Óscar Ojeda, Feike de Jong, and Fernando Caridi. They reference Latin American music from the '30s to the '70s, reinventing sounds hidden in crates of second-hand vinyl. La Redada takes these songs with the goal of revisiting an imaginary past of Mexico City. The sound of La Redada is determined by its instrumentation: drums, organ, bass, percussions, woodwinds, and theremin. The composition of the band is cosmopolitan, numbering two Chileans, a Dutchman, and three Mexicans.
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LP
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VAMPI 186LP
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"Arguably the strangest (yet coolest) concept record in the Discos Fuentes catalog, this compendium of trippy tropical madness masquerading as "international" cumbias features the venerable Argentinian showbiz couple Tita Duval and Roberto Rey. Dominga Salazar Azula (1924-2008), aka Tita Duval, was an Argentinian-born accordionist, saxophonist, and singer based in Medellín, Colombia. She was also enamored of the tropical genres from Colombia's coastal regions; she was equally lauded for her abilities interpreting both her native tango as well as the cumbia of her immigrant home, a skill perhaps as unprecedented and unique as it was improbable. Recorded with her husband Rey (Adán Azula), the well-known Argentinian music impresario who had also emigrated to Colombia, Cumbias Internacionales was an attempt to fuse hippie pop sensibilities with the tropical music for which Duval was famous. The album combines a mix of Afro rhythms, social commentary, and psychedelic instrumentation such as the electric Varitone sax, echo-drenched flute, Mellotron, and spacey organ, which transport the proceedings to another level. The record starts out innocently enough with the thoroughly Colombian "Oye Mi Cumbia", albeit with a processed electronic reed section, but the tunes get weirder from there with "Safari, Safari", pseudo-psychedelic disco-Afrobeat cumbia with heavily-accented English lyrics. The amazingness continues with "The Poor man" ('El Hombre Pobre') fighting for justice, over a loping reggae/porro hybrid, with drum breaks bringing to mind American funk! This is followed by a boogaloo, "Zombie Rock". The side finishes out with a jam of epic proportions that has to be heard to be believed; it morphs into another mix of cumbia and soul, complete with Stax horns stabs. Side B kicks off with, the thumping Afro-funk burner "Batukacuto"? with a floating pied-piper flute. Tita Duval herself brings us back to Earth with "Cumbia mujer", which she sings in a sweet voice. Then comes surely the weirdest version of "My Way" featuring Tita's echo-drenched warbling. We end on an up note with the most traditional-sounding tune, "Claudia." Which combines cumbia lyrics and costeño-style clarinet with merengue beats and Varitone; indescribably delicious. A satisfying trip to be sure, but still a head-scratcher. In retrospect, the album is a hip, exotic, experimental Afro-psychedelic brew that's even more mind-blowing when you consider Duval was 50 and her husband 60 at the time it was recorded." --Pablo Yglesias aka DJ Bongohead. Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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LP
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VAMPI 185LP
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"While all four Peregoyo y su Combo Vacaná albums are classics deserving their rightful place in the national musical heritage of Colombia, Mi Buenaventura (recorded circa 1967) is perhaps their most iconic. Their second release for Discos Fuentes is rich with diverse sounds and festive rhythms, from the exotic trance-inducing coastal Afro-Colombian polyrhythmic syncopations of the currulao, abozao chocoano, porro, cumbia and aguabajo to the more well-known genres of Cuban and Puerto Rican origin like descarga, bomba, guaracha and son montuno -- Peregoyo and his crew were equally adept at playing all these and more. The nine-member combo was formed by composer and tenor saxophonist Enrique "Peregoyo" Urbano Tenorio in the Pacific coastal city of Buenaventura and is said to be the first to make their local "Pacífico" music traditions an integral part of a commercially presented repertoire. His stated mission was to modernize the folkloric genres of his region as well as play the popular tropical dance music from Cuba, New York and Puerto Rico. First recording as Peregoyo y su Combo Vacaná for Discos Fuentes in 1966, the band broke up over a financial dispute a few years later at the Feria de Cali while performing with Ricardo Ray. They had a brief "comeback" decades later, and are acknowledged today as a seminal influence on Colombian music. The combo's output stands the test of time, and this reissue presents one of their finest efforts in its original form." --Pablo Yglesias aka DJ Bongohead
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LP
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VAMPI 184LP
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"Vampisoul present the latest volume in their Discos Fuentes reissue series, Salsa Con Monte, an instant tropical Latin dance party from Blas 'Michi' Sarmiento. Honestly, all Michi Y Sus Bravos albums are all so good. However, a poll with fans and DJs, selected his sixth album Salsa Con Monte, from 1973, issued here for the first time. 'El Michi', as his grandmother nicknamed him, is the son of the famous reedman Clímaco Sarmiento, a bandleader who recorded with Fuentes for decades. Proficient in percussion and singing from an early age, Michi is most known for following in his father's footsteps with clarinet, saxophone, composition and musical arranging as his signature skills. By 17 Michi had his own band and by 1967 his Bravos were competing with local sound systems and radio stations that were playing salsa, descarga, charanga, and boogaloo. While Sarmiento has consistently maintained his love of traditional Afro-Colombian-rooted 'música costeña' to this day (porro, cumbia, cumbelé, gaita, paseo and merecumbé), Los Bravos always played it hard, loose and fast, because they had to compete with the DJs. Michi preferred recording "live" in the studio with the result being an accurate document of what a powerful outfit they must have been to experience in person. This album contains a number of excellent cover tunes, including the rather surprising choice of Gilberto Gil's "Viramundo". This opening cut is followed in quick succession by a dizzyingly diverse gaggle of genres, namely cumbelé, calypso, pasebol, cumbión and rumba. One could truly say Michi and his band of 'braves' bring us quite a heavy load of salsa 'mounted' on this record (Salsa Con Monte, referring to Michi's motorbike 'mount' on the cover), which is exactly what's happening by the look of the front and back jackets of this classic Discos Fuentes LP." --Pablo Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead Issued with facsimile artwork and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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10x7" BOX
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VAMPI 45068EP
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East LA is much more than an area located east of the Los Angeles River. Inhabited almost exclusively by Chicanos with their own way of life, there is not enough space allotted here to explain the East LA culture. Local groups like Thee Midniters, Cannibal & the Headhunters, The Blendells, The Premiers, The Ambertones, and dozens others, provided a soundtrack. In the '60s, East LA garages, where the bands rehearsed, were mined by record companies searching for the new sounds. One of the movers and shakers of this scene was Eddie Davis, who started his Faro label around 1958. Faro issued mostly pop-oriented records, but also Richie Valens-influenced rockers like "So You Want To Rock" by Chick Carlton & The Majestics. Davis formed other labels as well, like Linda and Rampart. Davis's music enterprises really took off in 1964 with three songs that were licensed to larger companies. Takin' Care Of Business consists of tracks from Eddie Davis's family of labels and it is evidence of the wonderful music made with a solid emphasis on the groove. R&B was always very important on the East Side. The included recordings by Sarah James & The Soul Babies, Thee Enchantments, The Majestics, and Sammy Lee are among the finest soul records ever recorded. One of the best R&B records cut for Faro was "Tracy (All I Have Is You)", a Ray Charles-influenced stormer by a young Barry White (his first record) backed by The Atlantics. Also featured herein are some fine party records: Little Ray's "Come Swim With Me", The Atlantics' "Beaver Shot", and The Blendells' "Huggies Bunnies" are among them. They liked to rock on the East Side, and three of the tracks included here -- those by The Romancers, The Premiers, and Sunday Funnies -- have plenty of beat, snarl, and fuzz-toned guitars. No serious East LA compilation of music would be complete without a romantic soul ballad. Dig "One Like Mine" by The Salas Brothers with The Jaguars. Davis continued his operations into the early '70s with Gordo. Many of the songs recorded for this label exuded new-found Chicano pride, such as "Via Tirado" by El Chicano and especially the two included here by Willie G with Six Pak and Two Tons Of Love. Also features: Ron Holden, The Mixtures, The Pagents, The Four Tempos, The Invincibles, and Thee Royal Checkmates. Includes a 16-page illustrated booklet.
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2LP
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VAMPI 178LP
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Double LP version. Welcome to the second Vampisoul set of trouvailles from the Supraphon vaults, a series of compilations that the label launched in 2016 under the title Czech Up! (VAMPI 167CD/LP). It's a concept that the label had in mind ever since they began their collaboration with Supraphon over ten years ago, but that wasn't initially possible to accomplish due to -- luckily temporary -- licensing restrictions. In the meantime, just as Supraphon is steadily progressing with revalidating their immense back catalog, the label is now able to move along with them, picking up their cherries as they keep popping up on the notional surface. The Supraphon label was established in the early 1950s in former Czechoslovakia and has been continuously active ever since. While it's always been highly esteemed by music connoisseurs for its excellent classical music releases, Supraphon's pop, rock, and jazz music catalog, although comprising around 60,000 unique tracks, remains for the most part a big unknown to the international audience. Today it also incorporates the complete back catalog of Panton, another Czechoslovak label launched in 1967 that operated independently until the late 1990s. On Czech Up! Vol. 2, Vampisoul again present an array of astounding songs from the otherwise inglorious decade of political and social gloom in Czechoslovakia, a decade that actually started shortly after the invasion of the Warsaw Pact armies in 1968. Here's your chance to meet up with some eccentric fools, wry sarcasm, fountains of cognition, lovers approaching, lovers leaving, faunal fables, bizarre beings, wizardly seasons, ordinary oddities, unearthly gardens, morbid dreams, pretense obedience, melancholy windscapes, wishful thinking, exotic jungles, and eerie ravines. So whether you're hanging loose, shaking a leg, sampling some of this'n'that, or just opening your mind and ears widely, here's 22 more tracks that won't let you down while you're czeching up. Includes detailed liner notes by Lukás Machata. Features Olympic, Hana Ulrychová, Mahagon, Framus Five, Apollobeat, Beatings, Valerie Cizmárová, Gustav Brom Orchestra, The Blue Effect, SHQ, Metronom, Synkopy 61, Jazz Q, Vulkán, George & Beatovens, Flamengo, Eva Pilarová, Flamingo, The Soulmen, Barnodaj, Hana Zagorová, and Karel Cernoch.
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VAMPI 178CD
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Welcome to the second Vampisoul set of trouvailles from the Supraphon vaults, a series of compilations that the label launched in 2016 under the title Czech Up! (VAMPI 167CD/LP). It's a concept that the label had in mind ever since they began their collaboration with Supraphon over ten years ago, but that wasn't initially possible to accomplish due to -- luckily temporary -- licensing restrictions. In the meantime, just as Supraphon is steadily progressing with revalidating their immense back catalog, the label is now able to move along with them, picking up their cherries as they keep popping up on the notional surface. The Supraphon label was established in the early 1950s in former Czechoslovakia and has been continuously active ever since. While it's always been highly esteemed by music connoisseurs for its excellent classical music releases, Supraphon's pop, rock, and jazz music catalog, although comprising around 60,000 unique tracks, remains for the most part a big unknown to the international audience. Today it also incorporates the complete back catalog of Panton, another Czechoslovak label launched in 1967 that operated independently until the late 1990s. On Czech Up! Vol. 2, Vampisoul again present an array of astounding songs from the otherwise inglorious decade of political and social gloom in Czechoslovakia, a decade that actually started shortly after the invasion of the Warsaw Pact armies in 1968. Here's your chance to meet up with some eccentric fools, wry sarcasm, fountains of cognition, lovers approaching, lovers leaving, faunal fables, bizarre beings, wizardly seasons, ordinary oddities, unearthly gardens, morbid dreams, pretense obedience, melancholy windscapes, wishful thinking, exotic jungles, and eerie ravines. So whether you're hanging loose, shaking a leg, sampling some of this'n'that, or just opening your mind and ears widely, here's 22 more tracks that won't let you down while you're czeching up. Includes detailed liner notes by Lukás Machata. Features Olympic, Hana Ulrychová, Mahagon, Framus Five, Apollobeat, Beatings, Valerie Cizmárová, Gustav Brom Orchestra, The Blue Effect, SHQ, Metronom, Synkopy 61, Jazz Q, Vulkán, George & Beatovens, Flamengo, Eva Pilarová, Flamingo, The Soulmen, Barnodaj, Hana Zagorová, and Karel Cernoch.
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VAMPI 181LP
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On their third album, Futuro Do Pretérito, Garotas Suecas begin a new phase as a four-piece where the four musicians also share the lead vocals: Irina Bertolucci (vocals, keyboards), Tomaz Paoliello (vocals, guitar), Fernando Perdido (vocals, bass), and Nico Paoliello (vocals, drums). The album deals with a wide range of issues, from thorny political matters to sentimental troubles and even tropical fruits. "The songs were developed during 2016 in our new horizontal line-up: four singers, four musicians, four songwriters. We started recording in early 2017, at Freak studio. It's the first time that both the production and the mixing has been done by the band. The records comes completely from within ourselves, it's less referential and more organic. We chose our own formula rather than any established formulas," states Tomaz Paoliello. Futuro De Pretérito features guest musicians such as long-time collaborator percussionist Matheus Prado (Projeto Coisa Fina), saxophonist Filipe Nader (Música de Selvagem, Trupe Chá de Boldo), guitar players Marcelo Vogelaar (Holger), and Marcelo Lemos (Vruumm, Projeto Coisa Fina), and keyboardist Andre Bruni (Mel Azul, Cupin). The artwork is by illustrator and designer Walter Rego.
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VAMPI 182LP
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"Discos Fuentes featured many great vocalists and composers in the realm of Colombian tropical music during the golden era of the 1960s and 1970s. One of the most talented and perhaps tragic figures of the 1970s salsa and cumbia boom in Colombia associated with Fuentes was Edulfamid Molina Díaz, aka Piper Pimienta, whose life was ended by a bullet from an anonymous assassin in 1998. . . . After coming to the attention of producer José María Fuentes in Medellín in 1970, [El Combo Monterrey ] was boastfully renamed El Gran Combo Los Supremos and signed for a one album deal, recording Atiza Y Ataja ('Push and Pull') in April of 1971. Grounded firmly in the Cuban style of La Sonora Matancera, with a prominent piano and crisp trumpet sound augmented by an additional double sax, Los Supremos were also influenced by the NYC salsa dura and bugalú of Willie Colón, while also managing to include coastal Colombian tropical music like cumbia and currulao, throwing in some improvised descarga jamming as well, making for a varied and hard-edged mix for one of Discos Fuentes' first, and finest, forays into making salsa records. . . . The frenetically paced title opener is a largely improvised descarga guaguancó (jam session in the guaguancó rhythm). . . . The next tunes, a paseaíto (short and fast paseo, akin to a cumbia) and a cumbia proper . . . These are followed by 'El Mico' ('The Monkey'), a great example of Colombian 'salsa dura' . . . The side closes out with another bouncy cumbia with Scoot (Pedro Botina Guevara, aka 'Peter Scoot') on lead vocals and featuring the growling and whinnying equine trumpet of 'Don Fabio' Espinosa. Side two kicks off with the most obvious homage to what was happening at Fania Records in New York City with the cumbelé titled 'Hacha Y Machete'. Next up is the funky Cuban-style guajira (mixed with son montuno) 'Sin Solución', with vocals shared by Pimienta and Scoot . . . That's followed by 'Guaguancó Supremo' in an upbeat descarga style, a party jam that was also popular in the dance halls and radio airwaves of Cali and Buenaventura. . . . The record ends with what is perhaps the most experimental tune in the whole repertoire, mixing funky Latin soul/boogaloo with guaguancó . . . " --Pablo Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead
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VAMPI 180LP
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Vampisoul present the first reissue of Los Chicos Malos' self-titled album, originally released in 1980. Remastered sound from original tapes. Presented in facsimile artwork; 180 gram vinyl.
"Los Chicos Malos was a short-lived Colombian 'super group' of sorts from Cartagena with acclaimed pianist and composer Víctor M 'El Nene' del Real as orchestra director and arranger. Vocals were shared by John Jairo Murillo and Víctor Meléndez, both known for their work with The Latin Brothers, a popular Discos Fuentes band that El Nene had collaborated with previously as well. The three also worked with Víctor del Real's close childhood friend Joe Arroyo and his orchestra La Verdad during the 1980s, while El Nene had written and arranged for Michi Sarmiento in the 1970s and Adolfo Echeverría in the early '80s, later going on to found El Nene y Sus Traviesos in the 1990s. . . . The sole Los Chicos Malos long-playing album was produced by the legendary Mario Rincón and released in March 1980. The record features a range of tropical dancefloor bangers that include fan favorites like 'Los Chicos En Salsa' and 'Con Gusto Y Con Gana' plus the killer cut 'Pobre Soy Yo' with a smoking piano solo by El Nene. Four earlier Chicos Malos recordings came out on a various artists compilation, Guerra De Ritmos, on the Fuentes subsidiary imprint De Lujo. These tracks are equally impressive but were a lot less polished, being produced by pianist Roberto de la Barrera and featuring a different singer, 'El Guachi' Meléndez, while El Nene played electric piano for the recording date. The style heard on the later Los Chicos Malos long play was not much different than The Latin Brothers in that it deployed an irresistible mix of uncompromisingly hard salsa and cumbia infused with infectiously happy melodies punctuated by a distinctive double-trombone attack inspired by the Nuyorican street sound of Willie Colón. The record also aimed its sights at the Venezuelan market with the tune 'Viajera' and the costeño home crowd with the two merengue colombianas 'La Carestía' and 'Ritmo Con La Punta Del Pie' plus the cumbelé 'El Hombre Aquel' and the cumbia anthem 'Cumbia Y mechones'. . . . Just as uncompromisingly hard sounding as Fruko y sus Tesos and The Latin Brothers' recorded output, it is stuffed with lots of mid-tempo numbers propelled by a stripped down sound." Pablo Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead
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VAMPI 179CD
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Italian library music expert Alessandro Casella on Nelson Psychout: "Welcome to the second release of Vampisoul's Psychout series. In this album we dig into the record library of Nelson Records, founded in 1970 by the musicians Maurizio Majorana, Antonello Vannucchi and Roberto Podio after establishing the recording studio Telecinesound, right where the New Italian Library Sound was created. This is the sound that many collectors, musicians, record producers and film directors still like, look for, rediscover and re-use for their work. The New Italian Library Sound has the signature of I Marc 4, a quartet that recorded 20 albums from 1970 to 1980 but who also collaborated with the great masters of Italian soundtracks of the '60s and '70s, especially with Armando Trovajoli, bringing their own style into this new sound, mixing jazz, pop, rock and psychedelic music. Maurizio Majorana on bass, Antonello Vannucchi on Hammond organ and piano, and Roberto Podio on drums, were the backbone of the quartet, but the real soul was the guitarist Carlo Pes. Although Pes played with the RAI (Italy's public broadcaster) orchestra together with his three colleagues, he did so as an external musician. He was a virtuoso guitar player with international experience who wrote music for the pop singers of the great RCA Italy label. His biggest hits were 'Il Mondo', sung by Jimmy Fontana, and 'Che Sarà' by José Feliciano. Thanks to their recording visits to Telecinesound, these four musicians were an experienced and very inspired studio band. Through their rhythmic experimentation they created a warm sound, sweet, most of the time sour-sweet, inspired by pop music of the period, filtered by their great technical execution. Their jazz roots did the rest to create the New Italian Library Sound. Any derivation of the pysch-groove genre is explored in this album. Despite having collaborated with the great artists of pop music, it is only in I Marc 4's own records that we have the chance to hear a guitar so rough, aggressive and sometimes disturbing, as was required by the composers of the time. Enjoy the Psychout world of I Marc 4." CD version includes two additional tracks.
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VAMPI 179LP
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Italian library music expert Alessandro Casella on Nelson Psychout: "Welcome to the second release of Vampisoul's Psychout series. In this album we dig into the record library of Nelson Records, founded in 1970 by the musicians Maurizio Majorana, Antonello Vannucchi and Roberto Podio after establishing the recording studio Telecinesound, right where the New Italian Library Sound was created. This is the sound that many collectors, musicians, record producers and film directors still like, look for, rediscover and re-use for their work. The New Italian Library Sound has the signature of I Marc 4, a quartet that recorded 20 albums from 1970 to 1980 but who also collaborated with the great masters of Italian soundtracks of the '60s and '70s, especially with Armando Trovajoli, bringing their own style into this new sound, mixing jazz, pop, rock and psychedelic music. Maurizio Majorana on bass, Antonello Vannucchi on Hammond organ and piano, and Roberto Podio on drums, were the backbone of the quartet, but the real soul was the guitarist Carlo Pes. Although Pes played with the RAI (Italy's public broadcaster) orchestra together with his three colleagues, he did so as an external musician. He was a virtuoso guitar player with international experience who wrote music for the pop singers of the great RCA Italy label. His biggest hits were 'Il Mondo', sung by Jimmy Fontana, and 'Che Sarà' by José Feliciano. Thanks to their recording visits to Telecinesound, these four musicians were an experienced and very inspired studio band. Through their rhythmic experimentation they created a warm sound, sweet, most of the time sour-sweet, inspired by pop music of the period, filtered by their great technical execution. Their jazz roots did the rest to create the New Italian Library Sound. Any derivation of the pysch-groove genre is explored in this album. Despite having collaborated with the great artists of pop music, it is only in I Marc 4's own records that we have the chance to hear a guitar so rough, aggressive and sometimes disturbing, as was required by the composers of the time. Enjoy the Psychout world of I Marc 4."
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VAMPI 176LP
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"In 1952 [Pedro Laza Gutiérrez] founded the Sonora Pelayera, which in 1958 became known as Pedro Laza Y Sus Pelayeros when, under the supervision of Antonio Fuentes of Discos Fuentes, Laza was contracted to back Puerto Rican bohemian crooner Daniel Santos for the hit album Candela (1976). . . . Laza had fallen in love with the big band sound of swing jazz and the mambo of Pérez Prado, Benny Moré, Machito and Tito Puente . . . Laza also drew from Colombia's own brass band traditions, of which San Pelayo is a famous exponent, especially with brass band arrangements of coastal genres like cumbia, fandango and porro. . . . Rito Esclavo was an early Discos Fuentes stereo LP album and Laza's eighth as leader of Los Pelayeros, being released to great success in 1961. Listening to the album evokes a bygone era of nattily dressed dancers swaying and sashaying across a hotel patio floor to the big band sounds of velvety saxophones, thrilling trumpets and tumbling drums under tall palm trees lit by moonlight as the sea laps the sand in the distance. Questionable cheesecake bondage album cover art aside, the record itself is distinguished by high quality engineering (a hallmark of Discos Fuentes engineer José María Fuentes) that still holds up more than half a century later, with bright and deceptively intricate interlocking brass featuring a distinctive reed section, rolling tropical percussion and a wide variety of Caribbean rhythms from both Colombia (cumbia, porro, paseaíto, fandango) and Cuba (cha-cha-chá, mambo). There are only two vocal numbers, the previously mentioned 'La Mafafa' (also a hit for La Sonora Cordobesa) and the minor-key exotica title song 'Rito Esclavo' (Slave Rite) sung by Mario Gareña, which is among one of the more dramatic cumbia hits of the 'golden era' Discos Fuentes catalog. Of the instrumentals, all are top notch but some especially stand out: 'Señora Santana' has an infectious melody, while 'Lindo Magdalena', named after the Río Magdalena, a river that snakes through a region that is one of the cradles of Colombian folkloric music, is a classic cumbia that effortlessly blends urban big band instrumentation and authentic sounding indigenous percussion." --Pablo Yglesias (DJ Bongohead) Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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VAMPI 173LP
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"Though the modern style of New York Latin music known as salsa penetrated South America during the mid to late 1960s, and Colombia had its share of bands and recordings influenced by this new strain of Cuban-influenced urban Latin dance music, it wasn't until Medellín's Fruko Y Sus Tesos first hit the scene in the early 1970s that the genre began to really take off in a home-grown, domestic form. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, band-leader/bassist/producer Julio Ernesto Estrada (aka Fruko) would develop and tweak his own take on this sound, the arrangements becoming more complex and original over time. In 1968, Fruko personally experienced the burgeoning salsa scene on a tour with Los Corraleros de Majagual when they went to Caracas and New York, inspiring him to form the Tesos (local slang for tough guys who know it all and are on top of their game, bestowed upon the band by Fruko's lead trumpeter, Jorge Gaviria) in 1969. Tesura (from 1970) is Fruko Y Sus Tesos' debut record. It displays a diamond-in-the-rough simplicity born of the street, flaunting an uncompromising macho menace that is compelling in its focus and elemental integrity, heavily influenced by Willie Colón's gangster posturing in New York. As Fruko has said, when Tesura was first released Colombians were convinced it was in fact recorded by a Nuyorican group, so thoroughly did it break with previous Colombian tastes, which until then had been mostly for bambuco, tango, ranchera or cumbia. . . . From the severely separated audio channeling to the uncompromising rhythmic approach and ubiquitous sharp trumpet stabs in the style of Ricardo Ray and Ray Barretto, Tesura more than lives up to its title (slang for 'toughness'). Fruko is right out front, his giant electric bass positioned in the center. The emphasis is on allowing the musicians to flex their muscles and strut their stuff, with many purely instrumental sections in a descarga (jam session) style echoing the freedoms being explored by the previously mentioned New York heavyweights Ray, Colón and Barretto, as well as Eddie Palmieri, Larry Harlow, Louie Ramírez and Johnny Pacheco. . . . The vocalist for this record is Humberto 'Huango' Muriel (shown on the cover with the cigar and attack dog), who had been in Sexteto Miramar." --Pablo Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead This first ever reissue is presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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VAMPI 177LP
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"Lisandro Meza (born in 1939) is one of Colombia's most talented all around musical giants, still going strong today. Equally adept at playing musical instruments (accordion, piano, guitar, bass, gaita) as he is at composition and singing, Meza has recorded just about every type of Colombian genre as well as his own decidedly Colombian versions of salsa, Afrobeat, funk and disco . . . In 1961 Meza joined Los Corraleros de Majagual under the leadership of Manuel Cervantes . . . Perhaps taking a page from bandleaders like Benny Moré, Cortijo and Kako, Meza decided to name this new band his Combo Gigante -- indicating a compact unit but with a big sound, inspired by Cuban, Puerto Rican, and New York orchestras of the time. Meza's outfit was augmented by two additional vocalists, Lucho Gómez and Lucho Peñate, who had a good feel for the New York sound. Unlike many budding salsa bands at the time, for the first record Salsita Mami (released 14 September 1970), Meza's arrangements put the saxophone out front on several songs. The band also features the tambourine, a major addition to New York Latin music during the boogaloo craze, with plenty of space for the piano, timbales, and brass to stretch out on the largely improvised montunos. If one listens to Fruko Y Sus Tesos from this same time period, a similar uncompromisingly hard sound is apparent, especially with the bass and prominent cowbell, as well as swaggering, ominous melodies and a certain odd funkiness inspired by the coastal rhythms of the indigenous cumbia and porro. . . . There are no Meza originals here, but the cover tunes are inspiringly done: check out the fiery version of Joey Pastrana's 'Cha Ca Boom' or the fun 'A Romper El Coco' -- called 'El Coco' here, made famous originally by Benny Moré with Pérez Prado; plus there's 'Soy Dichoso', which was a smash for Tommy Olivencia and Chamaco Ramírez in 1967, a version of Milton Zapata's 'Milton's Jala Jala' (called 'Arrebata' here) and the Celia Cruz and La Sonora Matancera anthem from 1961 'Sabroso Guaguancó'; not to mention 'Cuca La Loca' -- a hit for Willie Rosario and his vocalist Adalberto Santiago in 1968." --Pablo Yglesias (DJ Bongohead) Presented in facsimile artwork and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
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VAMPI 174LP
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"A La Memoria Del Muerto is Fruko Y Sus Tesos's second album, released in 1972, and features exclusively the soaring and soulful vocals of Cali native Edulfamid Molina Díaz, aka 'Píper Pimienta', Fruko's previous vocalist Humberto 'Huango' González having left after the first album Tesura (1970). The record is a mix of spirited cover versions and authentically Nuyorican-sounding originals with a Colombian twist. . . . Produced and engineered by Fruko's uncle Mario "Pachanga" Rincón, the album has an uncompromisingly stark, hard sound that is appealing to today's collectors of 'salsa brava' just as it was impactful on the Colombian scene when it was made at the beginning of the 1970s. Unlike the first Tesos album, with a two trumpet line-up and fairly simple arrangements, this more mature recording added another trumpet and two trombones for a more robust brass attack. Additionally, instead of basic salsa, there are many different rhythms - guaguancó, bomba, plena, oriza, bolero, cha-cha-chá, descarga and Latin soul. Though Fruko's sound at this stage wore its New York, Havana and San Juan sources on its sleeve - Willie Colón, Javier Vázquez, Richie Ray -, at the same time the album has a uniquely Colombian approach to these influences with the bounciness of coastal music like cumbia being felt throughout. The title song is a 'guaguan-plena' version of Dominica Y Su Conjunto's original 'Acuyuye' hit of the same name from a decade earlier. Following that is Fruko's take on Cuban pianist Javier Vazquez's driving salsa dura anthem 'Mi Verdadero Son'. . . . The side finishes out with more cover versions: the double-entendre 'La Fruta Bomba' by Cuban trovador Maximiliano "Bimbi" Sánchez Y Su Trío Oriental and the fiery rumba gitana 'Achilipu'. . . . Side B kicks off with one of Fruko's favorite Afro-Cuban artists, the conguero and Santería singer Silvestre Méndez, with 'A Bailar Oriza'. After a wild descarga (jam session) track, we are treated to a fun pair of cover tunes: Johnny Zamot's 'Bomba Africana' and the old Afro-centric chestnut by folkloric Cuban rumbero Alberto Zayas, 'Baho Kende'. . . . The record finishes off with another Fruko original written with his Discos Fuentes colleague Isaac Villanueva. . . . This reissue features as a bonus the Latin soul track 'Tihuanaco' (a cover of Peruvian pianist Alfredito Linares), which appeared on the US edition of the LP." --Pablo Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead
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VAMPI 175LP
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"Combo Los Yogas was a short-lived early Colombian salsa band from Medellín directed and arranged by Aníbal José Ángel Echeverri, the famous antioqueño keyboardist known as Aníbal Ángel or simply Anán. Anán studied arranging and composition at the famed Manhattan School of Music in New York, had many of his own songs become hits over the years, founded the raspa gallega band Los Teen-Agers in 1958, and recorded with Discos Fuentes starting in 1965, so he was already an established musician on the scene by the time he founded this oddly named combo. With the influence of New York's burgeoning young Latin scene being absorbed by certain sectors of the youth in South America at the end of the 1960s, Aníbal Ángel must have felt the urge to join the fray, so in 1968 he founded Los Yogas to explore this new phenomenon from the north. Employing Barranquilla native Johnny Moré as his lead vocalist and a full combo with trumpet, trombone, congas and timbales, Los Yogas recorded a fantastic collection of cover tunes in the guaguancó, son, guajira, descarga and cha-cha-chá rhythms. The sound here is very raw and hard, something that makes this obscure Discos Fuentes record a sought after collector's item. Taking their cue from the New York scene, Los Yogas cover Larry Harlow's arrangement of 'Coco May May' and 'Bajándote' from Orquesta Harlow's 1967 album of the same name, as well as a fabulous version of Puerto Rican singer/songwriter Chivirico Davila's 'Montuno Pa' Caridad' from Joe Cotto's classic early 1960s album El Magnífico. Sprinkled throughout are heavy versions of Cheo Marquetti's son cubano classics 'Que No Muera El Son', 'Caramelo A Kilo', and 'Apriétala En El Rincón', all tunes heavily influential on Fania co-founder and musical director Johnny Pacheco. Venezuelan sax player and New York transplant Juan 'Johnny' Sedes's composition 'Aquí Y Allá' . . . became a hit in Colombia for Los Yogas when they covered it, as did the title tune 'Cañabrava' by Mexican composer Paco Chanona and the album's sultry closer, the guajira descarga 'Oye Mira' (originally done in 1965 by Pete Rodríguez Y Su Conjunto La Magnífica). Despite being a record with no originals, Cañabrava holds up magnificently due to the inherent quality and execution of its repertoire, providing a wonderful snapshot of the influences and early development of the genre of salsa in 1960s Colombia." --Pablo Yglesias, aka DJ Bongohead
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