ALEX BUENO ORQUESTA

 

There's a dude I work with who travels everywhere in the facility with his tunes. Okay, there are more than a few dudes who do the same thing, but I'm not gonna write a blurb about some foo blasting AC/DC or METALLICA at work because....well....yawn, right? The dude in question is always upbeat, jogs around downtown in a sweatsuit before his shift starts and will frequently jog by the jobsite just to say what's up?!? to the folks who start earlier than him. He's the guy who makes friends with the folks from management without even trying - and they invite him to the private corporate soiree because they want him there. His tunes fit his demeanor always and as soon as I heard the opening bars of "Quiero Que Elijas El Lugar" I thought about watching his entire crew getting shit done with a sly smile on their faces and a pep in their collective step. Energy is infectious, and positive energy is contagious. The sounds of Dominican ALEX BUENO are both, particularly so on 1988's Con Fe y Sentimento, Bueno's first excursion with his Orquesta (highly recommend the earlier recordings with ORQUESTA LIBERACIÓN as well). The confidence of this then 25 year old singer is astounding, even though he was already several years into his career when this was released. Anyway - I'm gonna see that dude at work today, and I'm gonna play this when he's around....maybe I can spread a little bit of that good shit too for once. 

CON FE Y SENTIMENTO 

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. 

DOLORITA