HECTOR LAVOE Que Sentimiento! Fania Records (JMLP-598) Willie Colon/Hector Lavoe Split-Up declared the headline in Latin New York magazine. To the amazement of the Latin music industry, Colon had turned back at the airport just minutes before he was due to fly to Africa with the Fania All Stars to perform before the 1974 Mohammed Ali/George Foreman heavyweight title fight, known as the legendary Rumble In The Jungle. Lavoe felt that his exhausting schedule of late night gigs and traveling was inhibiting his creativity and, as a result, he left his band so he can focus on broadening his musical horizons. After a while, Lavoe decided to continue with the band and was kept busy on the New York club circuit and touring outside the city. It l8ter emerged that the split-up had been an unsettling period for Lavoe, a time when he had realized that he had been over reliant on the bandleader Colon. I was much too dependent on Colon, Lavoe told Latin NY in 1980. I guess he was trying to figure out a way of telling me. I waited for Willie for over two months before cutting La Voz (1974 Fania Records), my first solo album. Willie didnt play on my recordings after that, but he did continue with me as producer. After the success of the La Voz album, Willie told me that I was ready to lead my own band, so I went ahead and did it. At first I was hurt, but I soon realized that the split up had its purpose; it was a test! I had to prove that I could go at it alone. Just in case, one day one of us wasnt around. Thank God, we both came out all right. The split actually helped me gain confidence in myself. La Voz went gold and in May 1976 Lavoe won Best Male Vocalist and Best Conjunto in the second annual Latin NY music awards. Colon produced Lavoes next four solo projects on Fania: De Ti Depende/Its Up To You (1976), Comedia (1978), Recordando A Felipe Pirela (1979), and El Sabio (1980). However, what distinguishes 1981s Que Sentimiento! is that it was Lavoes first and only self-production. His childhood friend from Puerto Rico, trumpeter/arranger Jose Febles and Louie Ramirez, one of New York salsas most successful and imaginative arrangers and producers, acted as co-musical directors on this album. While Willie Colon had no physical presence on the project, the influence of his wildly successful and lushly produced 1979 Fania album solo, which precipitated a phase of overproduction in New York salsa, is reflected in the string orchestration used on Yo Ta Cansa and No Hay Quien Te Aguante. Soloing on the album is kept to a minimum. Guest flautist Nestor Torres and pianist Gilberto Pulpo Colon, who joined Lavoes band in 1975, both solo on Yo Ta Cansa, definitely one of the albums standout cuts, co-penned by the esteemed Cuban sonero/composer Marcelino Guerra and Julio Blanco, Yo Ta Cansa was previously recorded as a cha cha cha in the charanga-style by the legendary sonero Albelardo Barroso with Orquesta Sensacion on their mid-1950s album Guajiro De Cunagua on the Cuban Puchito label. Guerra also composed the bolero Juventud, in which Lavoe assumes the mantle of an older person lamenting his lost youth and admonishing the person, to whom the song is directed, that he will be in the same position one day. Lavoe dips into the songbook of Puerto Ricos Cortijo y Su Combo to cover the plena Lo Deje Llorando, written by Cortijo sideman Sammy Ayala and included in the maestros album Baile Con Cortijo y Su Combo on the Seeco label, where it was sung by Ismael Rivera (El Sonero Major). Febles chart gives the simple original 1958 recording a somewhat complicated makeover. Top league arranger Luis Cruz does the honors on Soy Vagabundo, another highlight, as is No Hay Quien Te Aguante arranged by Jose Madera, a stalwart of Tito Puentes band for 30 years and a staff arranger with Fania Records in the 1970s. Following Que Sentimiento!, Lavoe sang on Colons 1983 production Vigilante, which was released to tie-in with a movie of the same name. Johnny Pacheco directed his next solo recording Revento (1985), then Colon returned to produced his final complete solo project, the Grammy nominated Strikes Back (1987). Lavoes increasingly tragedy-strewn life came to an untimely end in 1993 when he lost his battle to AIDS. Enjoy! Side A 1. Amor Sonado * 2. Lo Deje Llorando ** 3. Juventud * 4. Yo Ta Cansa *** Side B 1. Soy Vagabundo **** 2. El Son ***** 3. Seguire Mi Viaje ** 4. No Hay Quien Te Aguante ****** Personnel: Hector Lavoe: Leader, Maracas Eddie Montalvo: Conga Eddie Torres: Bongo, Cowbell Nicky Marrero: Timbales Mike Collazo: Timbales Salvador Cuevas: Electric Fender Bass Harry DAguiar: Trombone Leopoldo Pineda: Trombone Reinaldo Jorge: Trombone Gilberto Pulpo Colon: Acoustic Grand Piano Ray Maldonado: Trumpet Hector Bomberito Zarzuela: Trumpet Jose Jerez: Trumpet Mac Truck Gallehan: Trumpet Lead Vocal: Hector Lavoe Coro: Ramon Rodriguez Nestor John Wayne Sanchez Jose Mangual Jr. Milton Cardona Hector Lavoe Special Invited Guest Stars: Ray Castro: Guiro Hector Casanova: Guiro Nestor Torres: Flute Irving Spice String Ensemble Musical Arrangements by: Louie Ramirez * Jose Febles ** Edwin Torres *** Luis Cruz **** Luis Perico Ortiz ***** Jose Madera ****** Produced by: Hector Lavoe Executive Producer: Jerry Masucci Recording Directors: Jose Febles & Louie Ramirez Album Cover & Liner Photos: Dominique Album Cover Design: Ron Levine Art Director: Terry Borges Album Cover Concept: Hector Lavoe Recording Engineer: Irv Greenbaum Recorded @: La Tierra Sound Studios, NYC FANIA RECORDS, 1981 A FANIA RECORDS PRODUCTION
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 23:05:49 +0000