Chikara Ueda - Written, Composed, Arranged and Producer
Recorded at Sound Inn Studio, Tokyo, August 3,4,5, 1980
Remixed at Victor Studio using JVC DAS 90 DIGITAL AUDIO MASTERING SYSTEM
Special Thanks to: Mr. Eduardo H. Gispelt and Cuban Embassy / Mr. Hideyo Fukasaku / Miss Atsuko Yamamoto / Mr. Jun Takemura / Mr. Toyo Nakamura
Front Cover: "Tres Lindas Cubas"
Recorded in Japan, and the whole thing was composed, arranged and produced by Chikara Ueda. Genre-wise, it's right up the band's alley - Cuban rhythms and melodies with jazz harmony and improvisation - but he makes the classic fusion mistake, burying the distinctive elements of each style so that the result is neither here nor there ("Sea Mail"). Irakere's own arrangements might take a classical piece to Minton's or make psychedelia danceable (or vice versa), but you can always tell what they're trying to do; Ueda, by contrast, smooths the emotion out of the bolero "Que Pasa?" and ruins the uptempo "Encuentro" with silly disco drumming. It's the difference between getting your chocolate in my peanut butter, and blending the two so thoroughly you can't tell what the heck you're eating any more. The compositions themselves are intriguing (the title suite), and if Ueda had just left Irakere the sheet music and quietly withdrawn, the results would have been worth hearing. By now D'Rivera had defected, and was promptly replaced by Germán Velazco.
There were at least two studio sessions in 1979 -- the last two before Paquito's departure in May of 1980. One in April 1979 in New York and one May 25 to June 1, 1979 for a Japan onlyrelease.
April, 1979 - New York Session:
This session produced six odd tracks (Claudia, Ayer te concí, Añung añunga, Gira gira, Baila mi ritmo and Ciento años de juventud) that don't appear to have ever been issued in Cuba and canonly be had on compilations. The one on the left is missing Gira gira, and is paired with better sounding transfers of 7 of the 8 studio tracks from LD-3660 (leaving out the studio version of Juana1600). The one of the right leaves out Ayer te conocí, and is paired with 4 of the 5 live Grammy-award winning tracks from LD-3769, (leaving the live version of Juana 1600!). It's highly ironic thatboth of these reissuers chose to jetison Juana 1600, which, with its prominent use of batá rhythms and folkloric coros, is much more interesting -- both musically and historically -- than some ofthe less original studio tracks from these foreign sessions which offer little more than derivative collages of American jazz and fusion.
The seventh track was the first studio version of one of Irakere's main live vehicles of the time, a steaming dance track called Por romper el coco. The New York version comes in at 5:22 andfeatures a trombone solo by Sandoval. An 8:40 studio version (titled simply El coco) was recorded in August of 1980 in Japan. There's also a live version on the 1978 23 y 12 concert.
If you are looking to have the complete session in digital format you will need these:
Irakere
1994
The Best Of Irakere
01. Gira Gira
02. Claudia
03. Ilya
04. Añunga Ñunga
05. Ciento Años De Juventud
06. Aguanile
07. Misa Negra (The Black Mass)
08. Adagio On A Mozart Theme
09. Xiomara
10. Por Romper El Coco
Irakere
2003
Chekere-Son - Best Of Irakere 1978/80
01. Chekere-Son
02. 38 1/2
03. Moja El Pan
04. Xiomara
05. Iya
06. Ayer Te Conoci
07. Añung Añunga
08. Baila Mi Ritmo
09. Por Romper El Coco
Audiences fortunate enough to experience a live IRAKERE performance when the group exploded out of Cuba in the late 1970s witnessed the group's rapid ascension to the exalted realm ofthe musically extraordinary. During the all-too-brief period when they were still performing as a unit, IRAKERE earned its rightful place alongside American jazz geniuses Louis Armstrong, DizzyGillespie, Thelonious Monk, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and other innovators and expanders of progressive musical horizons who heard something a little different and devoted their talent to thesearch for it.
IRAKERE pushed the jazz frontier deeper into the African heart of Cuba. Instead of using Cuban percussion patterns to enhance jazz compositions, they made their country's traditional musican equal partner or featured player in their work.
The members, Carlos del Puerto (bass), Carlos Emilio Morales (electric guitar), Jorge "El Nino" Alfonso (congas), Enrique Pla’ (drums), Oscar Valdés (vocals and percussion), Armando Cuervo(also on vocals and percussion), Jorge Varona (trumpet and flugelhorn), Arturo Sandoval (trumpet, flugelhorn, valve trombone and vocals), Paquito D'Rivera (soprano/baritone/alto sax), CarlosAverhoff (soprano/tenor sox, piccolo and flute), and Jesus Chucho Valdés (arranger, composer and all keyboards), were all formally trained, student of jazz, and world (lass soloists, (as ArturoSandoval and Paquito D'Rivera, woodwind magicians, continue to demonstrate). Their contribution to the evolution of jazz as a gracious musical form that can accommodate and celebrate allcultures is rooted in the group's deliberate intent to cross-pollinate jazz instrumentation with traditional Cuban/African inspired music that weaved Batá drums (two sided Afro-Cuban drumsassociated with rituals instead of conga drums and timbales) and chekeres into their arrangements.
From a percussion perspective, it's still very polyrhythmic, but the layers often have an earthy, spiritual aura to them and the group's dense musical background allows them to leave few musicalstones unturned.
The vibrant "Gira Gira" showcases the interplay between drum set, congas, and chekere using a Congo rhythm with Chucho on Fender Rhodes, the keyboard instrument of choice for HerbieHancock and other progressive jazz musicians during that period. There's a smooth segue into a bass guitar and bass drum driven disco downbeat, a steady cadence that pauses for a sorrowfulflute phrase bathed in distortion to give it almost a rock sound and a bluesy guitar riff. The song is lively and complex but also political With its message about workers whose suffering in obeyingthe commands of the foreman or overseer echoes the pain of their slave ancestors. In that context, the drum/bass beat embodies the sound of a long march, the forced footsteps of workersbeing led into an endless day of pain, toil, and indignity, the flute and guitar solos sound like a lament, a momentary, solitary wail in the wilderness.
It's got a good beat and you can dance to it, but the full power in this modern day ode to mistreated workers lies in its connection to a historical necessity to hide or take refuge inside the musicof one's homeland.
American slave owners prohibited the use of African dialects among their slaves, often punishing them severely for practicing traditional musical rituals honoring births, deaths, marriages, etc.Drumming in particular was deemed as subversive with its potential for communicating in yet another language the slave owner did not understand, but where the drumming, (often achievedwith spoons, wooden boxes, beating on porch rails or anything handy) was allowed to follow, particularly in Cuba, it become the heartbeat, the pulse, the unifying force of a strong willed peoplewho set their music free in a hostile land even while they lived in bondage.
Having imported their own musical heritage through dance and the voice of stringed instruments (the forerunners of today's guitar), Spanish slave masters in Cuba were more tolerant of theAfrican passion for drumming. (Their influence was enduring-there's a Spanish high-society danzón feel to "Ciento Años De Juventud" included in this collection, but it starts with a FatsDomino/Jerry Lee Lewis kind of piano tinkling.) Under the guise of celebrating sacred Catholic rites, slaves in Cuba were able to preserve their Yoruba language and music and honor its Africandeities, or orishas. Music became the Cuban slaves' weapon of resistance and a barrier against complete assimilation, eventually infiltrating the fabric of village life all over the island.
It was the merging of what was available at the time to a musical people: the intricate patterns of Spanish stringed instruments and the propulsive, rhythmic, multi-layered drum/dance/voice triadof African celebratory or religious music, that formed the foundation for Afro-Cuban jazz.
Though separated by language and geography (and ultimately politics), there have always been jazz musicians in Cuba who played as well as anyone anywhere and admirers on both sides ofthe water. Years before the embargo, Swing Era big band leaders borrowed heavily from Cuban musicians who migrated to New York. American audiences easily accepted contemporary Afro-Cuban dances, La Rhumba, La Cha Cha Cha, La Congo, and El Mambo, embracing Desi Arnaz as a musician more readily than as the husband of its beloved Lucy
Through their collaborations (depending on who you talk to), Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo, Charlie Parker, Stan Kenton, Machito, and Mario Bauzá are credited with contributing a hybrid strain tothat genre, and naming their offspring Cu-Bop. They left the ground fertile for a new Afro/Cuban/American musical discovery.
But until IRAKERE's successful experiments with blending both traditional jazz and traditionally Cuban elements and the political maneuvering that one assumes had to take place allowing thegroup to bring it off the island during the Cuban embargo-they were the first Castro-era group to record and tour abroad – the merge was incomplete.
The group's finesse in calling all historical and musical forces into play (along with the inspiración style of improvisational singing) gave them a potent arsenal from which to create. No song iswithout several well conceived and interestingly placed influences, particularly the three movements of the 17-plus-minutes-long "Misa Negra (The Black Mass)" which stretches across a galaxyof sound using chimes, cymbals, bird whistles, a haunting background vocal melody, call and response singing. Almost a suite but definitely a masterpiece of composing and arranging, "MisaNegra" establishes a cosmic aura, featuring Chucho's brilliant keyboard strategy, and breakneck arranging for the brass section. Tempo and mood change along the way.
Introduced by cowbell, the song "Ilya" demonstrates the power of call and response not only between the primary vocalist and background vocalists but among the singers and drummers.Pushed by a 6/8 rhythm into a religious/Yoruba direction, the chorus (or coro) inspires the singer in a kind of intense conversation with each "speaker" responding to the passion of the others.(Sandoval shines in this selection named after one of the bata drums.)
Unless the planets align themselves again to produce a reunion of these exemplary musicians, fans of their music can only experience IRAKERE through old records, IRAKERE, IRAKERE 2,the Havana Jam LPs, etc. But the advances in recording technology since the group disbanded present old fans and new audiences with the chance to hear them on CD which provides thismusic with the sound quality it so richly deserves.
Irakere was an amazing band. Something like this does not happen very often. Musicians so uniquely talented together in one band. I had read about them being one of the premier Cubanbands, and I got this compilation. The first time I heard it, I couldn't believe it. These guys know their Latin roots to a T, yet they mix that with a lot of different styles. Disco/Funk style grooves,complete with psychedelic synthesizer give way to the deepest Latin groove, capped with monstruos solos by the great Arturo Sandoval or Paquito D'Rivera. Dark, African tribal-like melodiesinterspersed with spoken-word phrases. Even classical music, Cubanized! I never get tired of it. I can never get tired of fearlessly made music. Music made with the sole purpose of exploringpossibilities. Yet, one can feel the sense of humor. You feel they are having fun, they enjoy the creative process, they enjoy the off-beat combinations that seem to work like magic. One can onlyjoin in the enjoyment. If you like Latin music at all, and you also enjoy music that combines seemingly disparate elements, Irakere should be on your list of bands to consider.
Recorded at EGREM Studio in Havana, Cuba, on May 25 ~ June 1, 1979
Mixdown at Victor studio, Tokyo, Japan
Manufactured & distributed by Victor Musical Industries, Inc., Tokyo, JapanIrakere - La ComparsaIrakere Comparsa
This session was recorded in Cuba for a Japanese company and released on JVC and Milestone, It would be Paquito's last session with Irakere
1) Chéquere-son - This is a different and much long version of the opening song of Irakere's second studio album, LD-3660
2) Quince minutos - This is a very different version of the very non-Cuban sounding easy-listening jazz number that became the title track of LD-4267 in 1986.
3) La semilla & 6) Cha cha cha - Both of these found their way onto LD-4004, EGREM's Selección de éxitos, Vol. II.
4) La comparsa - This is the only known studio version of the opening number of the famous 23 y 12 concert.
5) Camagüey - When EGREM inexplicably re-released LD-3660 as LD 3926, this recording replaced Chéquere-son as the opening track.
A studio album recorded in Havana that saw delayed release in the US and Japan, with three songs previously cut for Areito (title track, longer but less exciting than previously) and three new ones ("La Semilla"). I have to think it was originally intended for CBS/Columbia, but was an early casualty of the Reagan Revolution. Either way, the band doubles down on Irakere 2's ill-advised disco direction: comparing this incarnation of "La Comparsa" to the Recital version demonstrates the distressing results. Even the less bastardized tracks are rather silly ("Cha Cha Cha") - if you're going to skip any of the original Irakere discs, make it this one.
The second EGREM disc of the year - also drawn from a live performance - eschews the band's party anthems in favor of highbrow fare: Cuban classical guitar virtuoso Leo Brouwer arranged and performed on four of the album's six tunes. There's a quiet version of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" with just Brouwer and Valdés alternating statements of the melody, only livened up with brief spurts of Dixieland horns. There are takes on three classical pieces: Rodrigo's "Concierto De Aranjuez," Heitor Villalobos's "Preludio No. 3," and the Mozart "Adagio" - more fully realized here than on the previous rendition. As with Newport and Montreux, the "Misa Negra" suite is best of all, with a tremendous instrumental and emotional sweep. Confusingly re-released by EGREM as Vol. II.
"Leo Brouwer-Irakere" Documents An Exceptional Concert That Sought To Break The Barrier Between Classical And Popular Music (Havana, 1978). Thus, It Brought Together For The First TimeLeo Brouwer -Considered At The Time One Of The World´S Most Important Guitar Soloists - And The Afro-Cuban Jazz Group IRAKERE. The Group, Winner Of A GRAMMY In 1978, And The #1 Ranking Latin Jazz Band
Recorded live at the Newport Festival, New York and at Montreux Jazz Festival by Mountain Studios, Montreux, Switzerland during the group’s tour through the United States and Switzerland during June/July, 1978
North American Latin jazz audiences were knocked out when this LP came out, for it was the first idea many of us had of the explosive power of this Cuban jazz/rock band, which had been letbriefly out of Cuba to tour. Columbia taped them live at New York's Newport Festival and Switzerland's Montreux Jazz Festival, and the result was a noisy, ambitious, frenzied, tremendouslyexciting mixture of everything but the kitchen sink. Co-founder, keyboardist and arranger Chucho Valdes was as thoroughly attuned to the thumping electric bass, the careening buzz of asynthesizer and bell-like electric piano as he was to his homeland's complex rhythms and his own classical training -- and despite the cultural embargo, the 11-piece group was in touch withthen-current developments in American jazz/rock. "Juana Mil Ciento," curiously the only track not available on CD, comes roaring out of the box with an incendiary mix of battering Cubandrumming, Arturo Sandoval's wild trumpet and Paquito D'Rivera's wailing alto. Paquito also contributes a free-floating, sometimes slapstick fantasy on themes of Mozart. The most audaciousnumber is the 17 1/2-minute "Black Mass," which unleashes Valdes' staggering classical piano technique, knockabout rock guitar, Cuban chanting, high-wire brass, and lots of drums withoutsomehow losing its train of thought. All but one of these tracks were reissued on CD as part of The Best of Irakere; admittedly, the LP's raucous sound is a bit more exciting than the cleaned-upCD.
Around 1972, some of the members of the Cuban Modern Music Orchestra decided to form their own group, and by 1973 it had been organized into what is now known as IRAKERE. Whenthese musicians, all impeccable soloists, left the best orchestra in the country, they had but one purpose in mind: to put all their efforts into what could be called 'experimenting,' joining a trendbegun by others who were trying to renovate popular music.
Chucho Valdés (piano) and Paquito D'Rivera (alto sax & clarinet), both composers and arrangers, were, from the beginning, the main inspirers of IRAKERE. Oscar Valdés would be in charge ofgiving a different personality to the percussion section, adding to it his knowledge of ancesteral songs in African language, one of the most important and least known forms of music of the Afro-Cuban musical heritage. Other members of the group also come from Cuban Modern Music Orchestra: Emilio Morales (guitar), Carlos del Puerto (bass), Enrique Pla' (drums) and ArturoSandoval and Jorge Varona (trumpets. Later additions were Carlos Averhoff (tenor & baritone sax) Jorge Alfonso and Armando Cuervo (percussion) to complete the group as it is today.
IRAKERE has two advantages over all the other groups who have a similar musical approach: the virtuosity of its soloists, who are excellent improvisers, and then, the cohesion which comesafter playing together for many years. Chucho, Paquito and Carlos Emilio have been associated almost since the beginning of their professional careers: first in the Havana Musical TheatreOrchestra and later on in a group that was led by Chucho, which had as a vocalist Amado Borcela (Guapacha'), who has since died, and with whom they made a number of records for EGREM,earning quite a lot of popularity in the sixties. Later on they formed different quartets and quintets (with Pla', Oscar and sometimes with Sandoval or Varona) to play at sporadic concerts andfestivals in Cuba and abroad. Their most outstanding performance outside of Cuba was during the 1970 Polish Jazz Festival, where the Cubans were heard and praised for the first time byrenowned jazz artists like Dave Brubeck and Gerry Mulligan.
But let us leave IRAKERE's past history and come to present times. After having become the most brilliant and solid group within the new stream in Cuban music, they met, during the (one andonly) Jazz Cruise's stay in Havana in 1977, (such luminaries as) Stan Getz, who had come to Cuba often during the fifties, and Dizzy Gillespie, who strangely had never visited the country of hiscollaborator, Chano Pozo. The interest and enthusiasm that IRAKERE stirred up among the members of the Cruise - including musicians, jazz critics and producers - was like a preview of whatwould happen during the group's tour through the United States and Switzerland during June/July, 1978, and outstanding performances at the Newport and Montreux Jazz Festivals.
Japanese Edition
The press reviews that appeared in The New York Times, and San Francisco Examiner and Billboard, were very enthusiastic about IRAKERE, but a few questions arose that showed that therewas some confusion. Is it really jazz that IRAKERE plays? Has it anything to do with "salsa"? Can the group be classified as "Latin-jazz-rock'' or as ''Latin-fusion'' or ''salsa-fusion"?
The truth is that although the majority of the IRAKERE musicians have played jazz for many years, they have more experience and more solid roots in Cuban music. And the presence of Cubain IRAKERE is not only in its percussion, it is also in its way of playing: in the phrasing, in the attack and sense of rhythm of the soloists, as well as in whole passages.
Our novelist, Alejo Carpentier, who is also a renowned authority on music, has said that Cuban popular music is "the only music that can be compared with 'Jazz in the 20th century.' Is it notstrange that these two musical forms have been compared so frequently. Their affinity comes from before the existence of jazz as such. We know all about the history of the beginnings of jazz,but we don't always associate it with the ending of slavery in Cuba, between 1880 and 1889, and the massive immigration of black Cubans, free but jobless, to places like New Orleans. Neitheris it unusual that along with French and English names, one finds among the first jazz musicians names that show their Spanish roots (Lorenzo Tio, Luis Tio, Manuel Perez, Willy Marrero, PaulDominguez), nor that Jelly Roll Morton, when asked about where jazz came from, included Cuba among its places of origin.
More well known are the international influences of the habanera and the rumba, until we come to the 1940s and 1950s, the Cubop era. During this period, the impact caused by the meetingbetween Chano Pozo and Dizzy Gillespie can be added to the influences of Machito, Perez Prado, Mario Bauzá, Mongo Santamaria, Chico O'Farrill and many others. The "fusion'' betweenelements of jazz and Cuban music has a long history having nothing to do with the more recent merging of jazz and rock, which sometimes adds certain so-called ''Latin'' elements which are inreality, Afro Cuban or Afro-Caribbean. As far as salsa is concerned, it is 99 percent Cuban music of the '40s and '50s. This is why if IRAKERE are jazz musicians, they are so in a verysubstantially Cuban way.
If Chucho Valdés was familiar with the piano styles of Horace Silver or Bill Evans more than ten years ago, he also knew the peculiarities of the son, the contradanza and the danzón. At timeswe here reminiscences of Art Tatum in some passages, yet the other side of Chucho's style is given by his mastery of Cuban classical piano: Cervantes and Samuell in the 19th century andLecuona in the 20th, and in a more popular vein, Antonio Maria Romeu. Going down this road, who knows if, with the coming of IRAKERE onto the musical scene, we are getting to the roots andto the redevelopment, with a newer viewpoint, of practically inexhaustible materials.
Chucho's compositions, as well as those of other members of the group, reflect a receptiveness; to what is going on internationally, including free jazz and the so-called European musicalvanguard. They put these to work as a form of personal expression, underlined by the knowledgeable use of rhythms that have African origins and which are mixed and renovated with greatoriginality. One of the contributions has been to incorporate, into a musical context that once only accepted Congo and Dahomeyan elements, the intricate and vigorous Yoruba and Carabalirhythms which have been well known in Cuba but which had not been "integrated'' into the mainstream of our music. Another characteristic of these compositions are the frequent changes intime and atmosphere, a typical element in Yoruba music. "Misa Negra" ("Black Mass"), is perhaps the best example of this, although it can also be heard in "Ilya,''"Aguanile'' and others.
As to the individual contribution by each soloist, we must let them speak for themselves. You can't deny Paquito D'Rivera and Arturo Sandoval owe a lot to Parker and Gillespie, but can there bea more logical debt?
In Paquito's explosive sense of humor, the fierce intensity of Arturo, and Chucho's controlled lyricism, we find very personal facets in their playing. Like IRAKERE, there are many other youngCuban musicians who also play jazz in a style deeply rooted in Afro-Caribbean music and who at the same time have definite personal styles. IRAKERE is an outstanding example within a realmusical 'explosion.' Which is saying a lot.
Alto Saxophone – Carlos Emilio Morales, Paquito D'Rivera
Baritone Saxophone, Clarinet – Paquito D'Rivera
Bass, Tuba – Carlos del Puerto
Congas [Tumba] – Jorge Alfonso, Oscar Valdés
Piano, Organ – Chucho Valdés
Drums – Bernardo García
Flute – Carlos Averhoff, Paquito D'Rivera
Guiro, Shekere, Tambourine – Carlos Barbón
Guitar – Carlos Emilio Morales
Percussion – Bernardo García, Carlos Barbón, Jorge Alfonso, Jorge Varona, Oscar Valdés
Soprano Saxophone – Carlos Averhoff, Paquito D'Rivera
Tenor Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – Carlos Averhoff
Timbales [Paila], Bongos, Vocals – Oscar Valdés
Trumpet, Valve Trombone – Jorge Varona
Led by ace pianist Jesús "Chucho" Valdés, Irakere plays traditional Cuban rhythms and jazz with equal proficiency, throwing in pinches of everything from rock to disco to Mozart. Irakere hasgone through innumerable horn and wind players - including world-famous soloists like Paquito D'Rivera, Arturo Sandoval and José Luis Cortés - since their first big hit, 1974's guitar-driven"Bacalao Con Pan" (though their rhythm section has remained admirably stable) and continued to perform all over the world through the 90s. (Since then, Valdés has focused on solo work.) Forall the accolades the group and its members have received, I think Valdés's sense of humor has been overlooked: as serious as he takes his music, there's always a playful spirit at work, asheard in tunes like "Rucu Rucu A Santa Clara" or 1998's cover of "Feliz Cumpleaños."
Chucho Valdés had been playing jazz with various future members of Irakere throughout the 60s, but it wasn't until 1973 that they began to play under the name Irakere. By 1974 Valdés hadassembled a crack dance band that ranged easily into fusion and pop: Most of Irakere's core was on hand, though Sandoval had not yet joined and Bernardo García was on drums rather thanPlá. The band's first hit was the uptempo fusion number "Bacalao Con Pan" (by Raúl Valdés), driven by wah-wah guitar and a vocal chant; "Taka Taka-Ta" is similar - from the chord progressionup - and arguably better, thanks to a wild organ solo from Valdés.
According to UC Irvine musicologist and Irakere expert Raúl A. Fernández:
“Irakere was not really a formal group yet when "Bacalao con pan" was recorded. The Orquesta Nacional de Música Moderna was on a tour of Oriente Province, and had spent a few days inSantiago de Cuba. Some of the members, who had been rehearsing some ideas, stayed behind. In Santiago, a local music producer, composer and musician, Rodulfo Vaillant gave them a localstudio to do a couple of recordings. One of those was "Bacalao con pan." The boys could not have recorded the tune in Havana, they were fairly controlled by the Orquesta de Música Modernathere. But somehow the tune made it from Santiago to radio stations in Havana where it became a hit; Irakere was formally organized a little bit later.”
Pablo Menéndez (Mezcla) recalls the first time he heard Bacalao con pan:
"Irakere were jazz musicians who played stuff like "Bacalao con pan" with a bit of a tongue in cheek attitude -- 'for the masses'. I remember Paquito d'Rivera bringing a tape of the first four songsof Irakere over to the ICAIC, where he sometimes played with our group. He thought it was pretty funny stuff (as opposed to 'serious' stuff)."
What's most striking to me is the sophisticated way the band worked with the unsophisticated recording equipment at their disposal: Ernesto Lecuona's "Danza De Los Ñañigos" is arranged withfuzz guitar opposite trumpet, sky-high wordless vocals from Ele Valdés, and echoey plucked bass under everything, and somehow emerges as an unbearably gorgeous pop song. "Quindiambo"confronts the same limitations with the sort of exuberant excess I adore: enough hooks to power five songs are condensed into one, including one of the best breaks I've ever heard.
While it's still an issue of some controversy, Chucho himself said, in the Latin Jazz Founders documentary, that 4 musicians generally considered to be founding members of Irakere did notrecord on the first official Irakere album, Areíto LD-3420, (La colección, Vol. 1), due to mandatory military service. Instead of Enrique Pla on drums, it was Bernardo García. The conguero wasnot El Niño, but his older brother, Lázaro "El Tato" Alfonso. And the horn section consisted only of Varona and Averhoff, with Paquito D'Rivera and Arturo Sandoval still marching to the beat ofmilitary drums.
The first album was released in early 1974 as Areíto LD-3420. EGREM released the same 8 tracks, with the same catalog number, with at least three different covers!
The text "Teatro Amadeo Roldán - Recital" has led the incorrect conclusion that the album was recorded live. Even more subversively confusing is the back cover of the second LP above.Perhaps EGREM was inspired by the Beatles'"Paul is dead" cover art chicanery.
The three guys at the top are trumpeter Jorge Varona, Chucho, and saxophonist Carlos Averhoff. So far, so good, but below them, from left to right, we have four musicians who, according toChucho himself, didn't play on the album: Enrique Pla (according to Chucho the drummer was Bernardo García), a very svelte Arturo Sandoval (holding Paquito's saxophone to further confuseus), Paquito D'Rivera (holding Arturo's trumpet), and El Niño, who hadn't yet joined when the tracks were recorded. To the right are guitarist Carlos Emilio Morales, bassist Carlos del Puerto, andsinger/percussionist Oscar Valdés.
The 8 tracks were reissued on the CD La colección, Vol. 1, and on multiple compilations and foreign vinyl reissues. In our Roots of Timba section we review our two favorite tracks: Bacalao conpan and Quindiambo. The latter, paired with La verdad, appears on one of the few 45s we've been able to find by Irakere. Oddly, another, 6902, pairs the La verdad with Valle de la picadura. theonly other single we know of was 7529, from about 1982, with Los caramelos and Que se sepa yo soy de la Habana. There must be more singles and EPs out there, and if you know of one,please send an email! We're also very interested in confirming that the 45s have the same recordings as the LP. We think the do, but around that time, Los Van Van made a habit or doingseparate recording sessions for their singles and albums
Confused enough yet? Just wait!
When I started listening to the band in the early 80s it was nearly impossible to figure out their discography; now, thanks to resources like Spotify, Timba.com and Patrick Dalmace's excellentChucho Valdés discography, it's much easier. Though I'm still unaware of the original sources of a few things... So all help, corrections and extra information is more than welcome!
Bulgarian Edition Cover
By 1974 Valdés had assembled a crack dance band that ranged easily into fusion and pop: Most of Irakere's core was on hand, though Sandoval had not yet joined and Bernardo García was on drums rather than Plá. The band's first hit was the uptempo fusion number "Bacalao Con Pan" (by Raúl Valdés), driven by wah-wah guitar and a vocal chant; "Taka Taka-Ta" is similar - from the chord progression up - and arguably better, thanks to a wild organ solo from Valdés. What's most striking to me is the sophisticated way the band worked with the unsophisticated recording equipment at their disposal: Ernesto Lecuona's "Danza De Los Ñañigos" is arranged with fuzz guitar opposite trumpet, sky-high wordless vocals from Ele Valdés, and echoey plucked bass under everything, and somehow emerges as an unbearably gorgeous pop song. "Quindiambo" confronts the same limitations with the sort of exuberant excess I adore: enough hooks to power five songs are condensed into one, including one of the best breaks I've ever heard.
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