04 May 2019

WILFRIDO VARGAS y SUS BEDUINOS


A couple of weeks ago as we re-entered this country from Mexico after a(nother) excellent show in Mexicali, we popped into a tiny record store in downtown El Centro, CA before heading to San Diego. For quite some time now, I find that if I'm not "in the mood" to dig for records then I simply have no desire to look at all. If I'm in the mood, of course, then it's game on....but this day I was more interested in exploring the dusty and (mostly) forgotten downtown while Paul looked for Mexican psych (with some success). But...I'm still gonna cruise the tape shelves....right? Exactly. On this day, there were few things that piqued my interest, but this well worn but still shrink wrapped copy of Dolorita grabbed my eye. Never heard of Mr. Vargas, but $3 later he was in my bag of goodies, waiting to take me on a journey when I got home. The debut release from WILFRIDO VARGAS, 1973's Dolorita released on Popular label is high energy merengue tempered with swinging Latin pop. One minute it's the credit roll soundtrack to a movie you never knew you loved, and the next minute you're dancing hard to "La Grenua." Heavy on Caribbean percussion and island mosh calls, this is an first step window into a world of Dominican music that I (still) know nothing about. So I'll shut up....and you just listen. 



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