"Los piratas"

Here’s a find: contemporary recordings of veteran Dominican Republic musicians performing old-school sons, boleros, and meringues on acoustic instruments—and slaying them.  This is no soft and cuddly acoustic session padded out with gauzy production.  For the most part this set deliver hard driving dance music, recorded very simply to convey the immediacy and virtuosity of musicians we’ve been overlooking for far too long. 

Speaking broadly, son originated in eastern Cuba when a generous dose of African rhythm and drumming was introduced to the popular Havana sound of the day.  Son went everywhere, fathering new musical genres in Central and West Africa, and paving the way for mambo, salsa, timba, and more.  Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic nurtured its own son tradition, one intertwined with local bolero, guaracha, and early meringue.  In the first half of the 20^th century, these sounds intermingled in Santiago’s La Joya district, a decadent, dangerous milieu—in short, a perfect breeding ground for red hot local music.  Since the fall of the dictator Trujilo in 1961, meringue and bachata have emerged as the DR’s predominant music styles.  But the old soneros have played on, and based on the recordings on this CD, they preserve one of the most impressive guitar styles in the Caribbean. 

The star of this CD is actually a singer, Puerto Plata, a veteran of the old La Joya scene.  José Manuel Cobles—a.k.a. Puerto Plata—sings in a husky tenor, capable both of great tenderness and also bravado.  He performs here with two separate groups, each sporting an extraordinary lead guitarist.  The dry, staccato snap of Edilo Paredes digging into his gut strings with lightning speed and razor precision is this CD’s greatest revelation.  Paredes’ stylish riffing is the thread that binds the first six tracks here, and it is never short of bracing.  Parades is beloved and prolific traditional guitarist in the DR.  For this session, he revisits his roots with passion and verve.

Paredes protégé Frank Mendez takes the lead guitar for the second group (tracks 7-11).  He begins gently with a trenchant bolero “Santiago,” but soon shows himself Paredes’s equal, notably on a ripping meringue, “Los Paratas,” actually a commentary on the terrorist attacks of Septermber 11, 2001.  Kudos to producers Benjamin de Menil and David Wayne for shining a spotlight on these neglected treasures of the Caribbean stage.

Contributed by: Banning Eyre for www.afropop.org