Putomayo Recordings - World Music

[Bongo Boy]

CDs and cassettes being published by Putomayo (http://www.putomayo.com) are now available all over the place. They are covering styles from all over the world. I recently bought one entitled "Afro-Latino" and I wonder if anyone has heard it. I'm going nuts over this--it has the stuff I just love--but I have no idea what style category any of this music might fall in to. If anyone has this particular recording and can make comments I'd appreciate it.

[timo]

yes i have that one (exept i dont know where it is)
also the CUBA one is pretty good.

[Mike]

Yep - I have the Cuba one as well, a really nice sampler though it was a bit expensive.
Putomaya label seems to be renowned for "non-mainstream" samplers...?

[Bongo Boy]

Okay, but I'm wondering if anyone can label ANY of the cuts on the CD as a particular style, using a descriptor that I may have heard elsewhere (e.g., salsa, mambo, rumba, etc) so that I can start to understand what these styles are and what they sound like.

I'm pretty sure there aren't any salsa tunes on this CD--I'm trying to give examples of what I mean when I say "descriptor". Thanks folks!

[Mike]

Well, I think labelling tunes with hyphen after hyphen doesn´t make much sense anyway. (Afro-Caribbean-Latin- etc.)
It´s all about this cultural awareness stuff. At times I doubt the sense in creating a musical identity with label words -
LET THE MUSIC SPEAK!!!!!!!!!!

Talking about the history of various styles is another matter, the so-called mambo era, e.g., where you can see how Cuba took hold of the U.S. (musically speaking..

Anyway, an interesting book on this is THE LATIN TINGE by John Strom Roberts; for a closer look, view (or buy):
http://www.amazon.com/exec....9072749

Hope this helps,
greetings by Mike

[Bongo Boy]

I understand your point--this reminds me of my mother in law asking me why I like "that kind of music", to which I had to reply "Which kind?". I think the urge to hyphenate must come from the need and attempt to identify to communicate, and from the recognition that referring to "Latin music" is about as helpful as referring to "rock" or "classical".

Problem: when I hear a tune I love I have little idea what I'm listening to--so it's almost impossible to get more of it. I can't go in to a music store and find this stuff by artist--it's on samplers or compilation discs, usually compiled by genre such as "Afro-Latino". Not very useful.

Thanks for the book tip, by the way--I looked at the 16-page excerpt at amazon and it looks like a definite bargain.

[delkron]

Hey, I enjoy some of the Putumayo releases. Received as gift the Puerto Rico one-love it, have heard many others. After living for some time in Puerto Rico, and taking liking to all Latino styles, I have an idea about the labels. For background, realize I am over 50 years, have been a musician...guitar and keyboards, now some congas/percussion, and collector of records, soundboard tapes, and CD's, actually beginning before 12 years. My musical horizon and breadth of types of music I enjoy, or can tolerate, has grown significantly with age and experience. As a general statement regarding "Latin" music, as well as most other "types", the categorical terms tend not to mean very much. Salsa, for example, may have originally referred to a particular beat and collection of musical instruments used in the performance, and may have had some recognition of the ability to do a particular form of dancing to the music. Now however, "Salsa" can encompass just about all types of Latin music the way it is commonly used as a label, perhaps it really means "Music of a Hispanic sort". Some other labels have also lost specific character...ex. Cuban, Afro-Cuban. Maybe Cuban originally meant with a 3/2 or 2/3 clave beat......but just pick up a "Cuban" labelled release and see what variety it will have. Even some of the types which describe a form or sub-type that is based upon a particular beat, pattern, or instrumentation, ie. merengue, son, etc. are used generically. So much so that if you purchase a "merengue" labelled disc, you may end up with a couple true merengue, and some ballada, or bachatta, etc. on the same disc. While, some who try to label the musical product may mean well, there is just so much overlap, and it is virtually impossible to sub-categorize all the variations and types or be genuinely true to a specific type in most cases. It is best to get to know what you like, identify the artists, types of instrumentation, source of the music...ie. country, label, songs, and so forth so that you can identify what you want to listen to. These days, purchase of many discs is simply a gamble unless you get a chance to listen to them ahead of time. Choosing by the category alone is very risky. I don't get hung up on categories so much, though I went through that stage at times. Now, it is the music that counts, sometimes the song. If it is of a quality to move me, that really is what counts. Sometimes I like to hear a particular instrument, or mix of instruments. Sometimes I want acoustic, or other times I am ready to rock out. Sometimes folk ballads, sometimes current popular stuff. One mood now, another mood later. Music is really a very, very subjective thing. No wonder objective labels don't work so well.
I notice that among so many others, Putumayo also has a Dominica CD out, and is advertising the soon to be released "Afro-Portugese" CD. Check out the label offerings at one of the Web CD sources, like CD Universe. Don't let the labels stunt your musical growth!