The Alegre All-Stars

Performer: Alegre All-Stars
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: The Alegre All-Stars were far too busy having fun to worry whether they were playing jazz or not. Based around the seminal Alegre label, early-'60s dates for this group were the most swinging, inventive, and fun in the recorded history of Latin music. (The wine flowed very freely at these dates, as with their major influence, the Cuban jam sessions released on Panart a few years earlier.) Granted, they only released a handful of records, but it's no exaggeration to call these recordings the template for what became salsa music, with masterful playing and star-making roles for Charlie Palmieri, Johnny Pacheco, and Barry Rogers, among others (including the irrepressible timbalero known only as Kako). Although it's slightly more formal-looking (and -sounding) than it should be, the Fania compilation titled Jazz does a solid job of compiling the best material by this early-'60s collective. Including most of their longest jams, the 70-minute compilation features a good portion of the sum total of their material, and most of their best ("Ay Camina y Ven," "Peanut Vendor," "Kako y Palmieri"). ~ John Bush Late in the '50s, Alegre label-head Al Santiago was inspired by the loose, funky sound of the live-in-the-studio Cuban Jam Session LPs on Panart (led by Julio Gutierrez and Nino Rivera), so he organized a similar session with Alegre friends and family, hereafter known as the Alegre All Stars. The music is completely unrestrained charanga and salsa, packed with excellent jamming, infectious singalongs, and, on several tracks, lengthy intros revealing the atmosphere inside the studio (pouring drinks are unsurprisingly the most-often-heard sounds). "Estoy Buscando a Kako" ("I Am Looking for Kako") is a delightful romp; the players repeat a variation of the title preceding each soloist, working their way to the end of the line with Kako himself taking a solo on his timbales. Just this side of anarchic confusion, but with surprisingly few missed notes, The Alegre All Stars is a legendary date -- and certainly one of the few records ever released that credit a bartender. ~ John Bush

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.5