Very Best of Latin America

With the plethora of latino compilations flooding today’s market, one could be forgiven for thinking that the well has got to run dry sometime, especially with a release that bears the title The Very Best Of Latin America and features many well-known artists and themes.

This newie from Nascente features 26 songs on a double CD and runs well over two hours and contains succinct synopses of each of the songs in a 6-page booklet. The geographic, temporal and stylistic range is also wide, covering pieces both old and new from New York, Miami, La Habana, Brasil, Uruguay, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and the Dominican Republic.

The guys at Nascente have chosen to open each disc with two numbers that would be familiar even to those who only listen to what the dial tells them to listen to. Santana’s enduring beefy version of Tito Puente’s Oye Como Va and Jose Feliciano’s hit version of the Doors’ Light My Fire. Indeed Tito’s campy Hit The Bongo which quickly turns latin kitsch into rhythmic fire is also included. Another track, Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66’s take on the Jorge Ben classic Mas Que Nada also saw heavy air-play more than three decades back.

Even another headliner Gloria Estefan sounds better than she has a right to be bolstered as she is by a superb band and arrangements on the Colombian sounding No Dejes De Querer which was co-written with Ruben Blades. If this is a digitally remastered recording (no mention of it anywhere) then it’s one of the best I’ve heard, because the sound is consistently warm, fat and clear but without any of that sterile clipped feeling.

Disc One probably leans a smidgen toward the jazzy international latino groove, although the selections can’t be faulted. Examples here might be the supercharged English language Pastime Paradise by congo maestro Ray Barretto, which is heavily garnished with an over the top rock guitar solo, Mr Hermano’s jazzy remake of spiritual era Carlos Santana’s Free As The Morning Sun or Brazilian staples Azymuth’s thumpy Jazz Carnival. Also Uruguayans Negrocan keep the flag waving with a number that swoons with Brazilian saudade but is powered by candombe rhythms.

While some may have preferred something other than the groovy boogaloos offered by Jack Costanzo or the late great Pete Rodriguez (surely the greatest non-Cuban male singer of recent decades), two hard-edged salsas are sure to have even the purists jumping out of their skins, Celia Cruz’s mercifully rare Berimbau, a hot salsification of the Baden Powell/ Vinicius de Moraes classic which features Celia at her storming best and Carmen Gonzalez’s Canoero. This remarkable diva from Ecuador has been woefully neglected so it’s good to see her name appearing on several recent compilations. CD one closes with hot Brazilian batucada beats by Par Ney de Castro. With a production that imbues the percussion with the power of thunderclaps but without unnecessary meddling the aptly titled Ba-tu-ca-da could even have a curative effect on the rhythmic dyslexia that reigns in contemporary dance-clubs.

As we move to side two we find even more depth (depending on what you’re looking for) and certainly variety….updating of the classic bossa sound by Bebel Gilberto, the incomparable funky insouciance of Amor Verdadero by the Afro-Cuban All-Stars, entries from fellow Cubans Ruben Gonzalez who punches elegantly with his Tumbao and chanteuse Omara Portuondo with the beautifully soulful La Sitiera. All these numbers are from releases which have been reviewed in previous issues of DIASPORA.

Compay Segundo also contributes a lovely, rootsy version of his Chan Chan which I had not heard previously. Colombia is represented by some very fine roots cumbia from Toto La Momposina while songstress Susana Baca casts the classic Caras Lindas which features on her eponymous international debut in a modern Afro-Peruvian image of her own creation. Even as the familiarity quotient is balanced slightly by Jam Miami’s vibes-led latin jazz as it is by conguero Mongo Santamaria’s staple Watermelon Man, French Argentinians Gotan Project take the bandoneon-led tango into subtle dance beat fusion which manages to keep the tango sense of danger eerily intact.

And as Francisco Ulloa comes charging forth fingers flailing on his accordion at a thousand miles an hour with some traditional merengue tipico, it really is just another twist in the snake’s tail. A really nice touch was to close the second disc with the haunting liturgy of Brazilian singer Virginia Rodrigues’ Salvador Nao Inerte, a beautiful contrast to the fire of Par Ney de Castro’s Ba-tu-ca-da.