Various ‎– Cuban Dance Party

Post-production at Sound Ideas Studio, New York.
Mastered at S. A. E. Phoenix, Arizona.
Jacket made in Canada

℗ 1990 Rounder Records Corporation
© 1990 Cultural Research Communication, Inc.

Texts from back cover:

When Arsenio Rodriguez wrote one of the first Mambos in 1936, he described the rhythm that drove the dancers, as ritmo diablo. The Hypnotic repetition of this rhythm can lead to a euphoric state. Practitioners of Afro-Cuban religions achieve a similar state when they enter a trance-like state of "possession", in order to commune with on the orichas (deities). As Arsenio knew, you don't have to be a religious initiate to feel the power this music. We suggest you get out on the dance floor and the let the passionate essence of this rhythm infuse your being with pleasure. You'il be in good company. All the music on this album has been recorded live at a variety of locations: from neighborhood dance in the heart of Havana, to Saturday night community dances in the country, to colossal street dances during Carnival. The music on this album is authentic and 100% dance tested by people who learned how to dance as soon as they could walk. Join them.

Track A1: This version of one of Irakere's most popular dance tunes was recorded at a community dance in San Jose de Lajas, a small town outside Havana on a hot April night in 1984. An exuberant crowd of several thousand dancers kept the energy high well past three in the morning, urged on by a powerful interchange between the band and the dancers: The phrase "Everybody's dancing like this!" sets up a call and response pattern with the audience: Here, the function of the music and musicians has an intimate connection with the community. At rollicking dances such as this Cuba's world renowned jazz band stays in touch with what young people like to dance to.

Track A2: Los Van Van ("the Go-Go's") is the most popular Cuban dance band of the last decade. This hit, played in the songo rhythm and written by Los Van Van's talented composer-arranger Juan Formel. literally refers to a palo which may be translated as a bat, stick or pole. But the phrase"Que palo es ese?" can also be translated as "What kind of spell it this?," referring to a type of black magic or witchcraft that derives from Africa. The phrase "palo mayombe", which occurs later in the song, refers to brujeria, a sort of religious ritual which was brought over by slaves from the Congo region. In this song, as in so many other aspects of Cuban culture, the strenght an enduring power of the African diaspora prevails, as it does throughout the Caribbean, in Brazil, and other new world Western Hemisphere cultures.

Track A3: Before the Cuban revolution in 1959 Estrellas Cubanas was known as Fajardo and his All Stars. Fajardo went to the US and became a popular band leader in New York while other members of the band stayed in Cuba. Felix Reyna, a violin player, became the leader of the new group. Estrellas Cubanas is a charanga band, characterized by flute and strings carrying the melody with a rhythm section that has bass, timbales, conga drum and guiro, and a piano player plus two or three singers, often singing in unison. Like the danzon of the late 19th century, and other forms of Cuban Music, we can see in the charanga an energetic blend of European-derived instruments such as the flute and violins, driven by a powerful percussion section whose instrumentation and rhythms are of African origin. The charanga structure, often used by the latin bands now playing in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and other cities, was well established by the 1940s. These charanga groups are the musical descendants of Arcano y sus Maravillas (Arcano and his Marvels) whose orchestral structure was developed in Cuba in the 1930s.

Track A4: "Moneda Falsa", an old Spanish tune that translates "A Phony Penny" or "A Counterfeit Coin." According to Armando Sanchez, leader of the group Son de La Loma, this traditional song refers to a two-faced woman, or a deceptive woman of "easy virtue" who goes from man to man. The lyrics tell a sad familiar story:
"You smile when you face me,
but when I turn my back
you stab me."

Tracks B1 to B3: These three traditional songs are performed by Septeto Nacional de Ignacio Piñero, the oldest group still playing the son from Havana, founded in 1927. This recording features one musician who has been playing with the group since 1932: Lazaro Herrera Diaz, the trumpet player, worked for many years with the legendary founder and leader Ignacio Piñero. The group plays the son as it was performed in the style of the 1930s, the heyday of groups like Septeto Habanero, Septeto Nacional and others. In those years, North American tourists were flocking to Cuba in ever increasing numbers, drawn by the warm tropical climate, the availability of booze, the sexy dancers and the lush sensual music.
The son style of Septeto Nacional differed from the style of contemporary groups like Trio Matamoros and others whose music reflected the Conga and Comparsa rhythms of Santiago in Eastern Cuba. The rumba was more characteristic of Havana and Matanzas in Western Cuba. Septeto NAcional, still active today - six decades after its founding - features the singing of Carlos Embale, one of the great soneros of Cuba.

Track B4: Llegaron Los Millionarios is a mambo written by Orestes Lopez, and recorded in the Liceo, an enormous marble edifice in downtown Havana, built by the Spanish rulers of 19th century Cuba and now used for popular community dances and cultural activities. Orestes Lopez composed one of the first mambos back in 1938. The new dance came out of the remarkable group of musicians that gathered round Arcano's orchestra in Havana in the late 1930s. The mambo was essentially an extension of the son. In this composition by Oretes Lopez it sounds more like a danzon with a new beat. The early mambo composers gave the danzon a new expression by adding a conga drum. Arcano's band was influenced by Tin Pan Alley in the united States.
They took American standards like Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", Ellington's "Take the A Train", W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues", and played them with a Cuban beat. They even set "Over the Rainbow" to a 6/8 Abakua rhythm. These cross fertilizations reflect the changes in the 1930s when the music industry was growing. Thanks to the infulence of radio and records, there was an increasing internationalization of music.
At popular dances, a band like Arcano's would frequently dedicate a song to a social club or community organization. For black workers on the lowest rung of Cuban society, finding a steady job was often difficult. When some local workers found regular employment on the docks, their position was significantly better off than most of the people in the surrounding barrio. They celebrated by founding "The Millionaires Club". Orestes Lopez dedicated a new mambo to commemorate his friends' success, hence: "Here Come the Millionaires".

Track B5: This song is a musical satire performed by legendary tres (The six strings are grouped in three pairs) guitar player Isaac Oviedo (who was 82 years old at the time of this recording) Oviedo grew up in the sugar cane fields of rural Matanzas Province, picked up the guitar when he has eleven and began playing at country dances. By 1926 Isaac had moved to Havana with the Matanzas Sextet where he's been an outstanding composer, singer and performer ever since. Isaac performs here with his daughter Julia, his son Ernest (one of the best ballad singers in Cuba), another son Papi (one of Cuba's finest tres players) and Andres Sotolongo, who is 92 years old and blind, but clearly shows why he's been known for decades as the best bongo player in Cuba. Isaac sings:
"You sure are Ugly!
Super ugly my friend.
You can't come in here my friend.
This party's not for ugly people!
Go and change your face, my friend,
It's so ugly, it's scary!"