Grupo Niche
A Golpe de Folklore
(PPM 10001)

I love Grupo Niche! Eventhough their previous record, Seņales De Humo, was a bit on the weak side, I've liked close to everything they've recorded, including some of their early "amateur" productions. Throughout the years Grupo Niche has been an incredibly consistent ensemble of musicians, faithful to Salseros worldwide. True to the clave, Grupo Niche delivers in each and every track an undisputable afinque that can bring out the dancer in everyone. Jairo Varela, the leader, songwriter and founder of Grupo Niche, runs the lyrical gamut by rendering songs that cover blinding passion, bitter sweet romances, satirical social observations, and the nostalgia for Latin American folklore. A Golpe de Folklore firmly establishes Grupo Niche's musical identity, by giving the public more of what we have learned to expect from them. This time around Grupo Niche has Raul Agraz and Jose Tabares as invited guest, and reunites with ex-Grupo Niche members Alberto Barros and Tito Gomez. If you appreciate good sound engineering, you'll be pleased to see Jon Fausty on the credits. There are some small musical passages that quickly remind you of something else you've heard before, but you really don't mind it because what you hear in A Golpe de Folklore is really just that good.



Willie Amadeo
A Mi Manera
(Mambo City 2001)

It was late 1999 and from the moment the CD player started to play Willie Amadeo's latest, I quickly realized that maybe, just maybe, 2000 was not going to be all doom and gloom. I was hooked! And honestly speaking, I don't know what it was! I can't really put my finger on what was the thing that grabbed me almost immediately. I mean the first track, other than being the introduction to the production, is really nothing out of this world. But for some reason as the record kept playing, the more tracks I ended up liking immensely. Then suddenly it hit me, I genuinely like the way Willie Amadeo sounds! His voice, aside from concurring with that of the pretty boys, has a distinct mature melodic timbre. As the CD continued to play, I ended up liking 7 out 9 tracks, and 6 out of the 7 I ended up REALLY liking. Not just because of Willie Amadeo's singing, but because the tracks swing! The themes are on point and the coros have memorable hooks that keep you humming, long after the song is over. Prime examples of this phenomena can be found on track 8 "Con Ganas" written by Aquilino Zuņiga, and track 9 "Amor De Temporada" written by Sonero Pichardo. As a matter of fact the latter has a very inventive exchange of question & answer between the coro and the vocalist. It's just amazing! Willie Amedeo's A Mi Manera should be the way salsa is to be done for years to come.



Various Artist
Puerto Rico Jazz Jam
(A.J. Records 169)

I am not going to re-invent the wheel here folks! Therefore I'm going to quote the words of the person responsible for this awesome recording. "Puerto Rico has given us great composers that when you listen to the versions of ‘Bello Amanecer' and ‘Lamento Boricano', also the combination of having young musicians like Luis Marin, Charlie Sepulveda, Paoli Mejias, Prodigio Claudio, Richie Flores, Quique Domenech, Julio Alvarado, Edgar Abraham and many others, with the experience of masters like Justo Almario, Alex Acuņa, Papo Lucca, Bobby Valentin, Roberto Roena, Elias Lopes, and Mario Ortiz (R.I.P); make this recording, in my opinion, a major contribution to the music in Puerto Rico and the world. In closing, let me add that one of the rewards of doing this recording is to understand how beautiful music sounds when it is played from the heart." - Humberto Ramirez. What is left for me to say after that? What you just read is exactly what you get, 49 minutes and 56 seconds of pure Latin Jazz Jam.



- Nestor Louis