Latin boogaloo meets New Orleans funk/soul.

12 MP3 Songs in this album (43:08) !
Related styles: Latin: Boogaloo, Jazz: Jazz-Funk, Mood: Party Music

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Details:
LINER NOTES FROM OLIVER WANG (soul-sides.com):

Few music styles capture the remarkable magic of Americaâs cultural mixing better than Latin boogaloo. Born as a Black dance craze in Chicago, boogaloo traveled to East Harlem, where a young generation of Puerto Rican American musicians remade it in their own image: part Afro-Cuban with its mambo and guajira grooves, part Afro-American with its doo-wop vocals and R&B basslines. Beginning in 1966, when the first hits began to emerge - The Joe Cuba Sextetâs âBang Bang,â Pete Rodriguezâs âI Like It Like Thatâ - Latin boogaloo stormed out of uptown New York and swept its way throughout North and South America. Whether sung in English or en español, the lure of the âooh/aahâ choruses and slaps of hand claps proved irresistible internationally.

Few cities embrace the remarkable magic of Americaâs musical mixing better than New Orleans. At the crossroads of Spanish colonialism, the African slave trade and U.S. expansionism, New Orleansâ sonic roots have long been intertwined. Especially with the close ties between New Orleans and Havana, itâs no surprise that the clave rhythm - the âkeyâ at the heart of Afro-Cuban styles - also made its presence felt on NOLA musics from ragtime jazz to second-line funk drumming.

For all these reasons, when I first heard the music of Los Po-Boy-Citos, it just made sense. What better music to link Chicago, New York and New Orleans - three of the pillars of polyglot America - than boogaloo? And like the young East Harlem bands of the mid-60s, the Po-Boy-Citos inspire a vitality and excitement that any dancefloor audience can relate to.

Their irresistible rhythms are felt throughout the album, especially on their covers of less-known boogaloo hits such as Charlie Palmieriâs tense and funky âEither You Have It Or You Donât,â and Joey Pastranaâs deliciously swinging âKing of Latin Soul.â On the other, original songs like âLong Way Homeâ and âBaila Conmigoâ demonstrate that the band has mastered the essence of boogaloo in penning their own songs that pay loving tribute to the musicâs best traditions.

Personally, my favorite tune of theirs is âBrand New Dance,â first released on 7â vinyl and sold to loyal fans at gigs. Here, it all comes together - a little Texas funk courtesy Archie Bellâs âTighten Up,â mixed with some down-home flavor in the form of Eddie Boâs âCheck Your Bucket,â and then all filtered through a Latin percussive makeover that recalls the sizzling fusions of bands led by boogaloo legends such as Larry Harlow, Joe Bataan or George Guzman.

Conventional wisdom says the boogaloo âdiedâ around 1969 but as a band like Los Po-Boy-Citos suggests, no good music ever really disappears so long as it still inspires the interest and passion of new generations of acolytes. New Orleans has long embraced musical cultures from around the world; little wonder that itâs now home to this new breed of Latin soul seekers (and they cookinâ!)

Fall 2010
Los Angeles, CA
Oliver Wang (soul-sides.com)