Various Artists: The Rough Guide to Boogaloo

VARIOUS ARTISTS The Rough Guide to Boogaloo (World Music Network)

Back in the mid-to-late 1960s, a new trend in Latin music called the boogaloo sparked the youth of New York's barrios and spread like wildfire throughout the world, before burning out by the salsa explosion of the early 1970s. Derided by many musicians and purists in its time, the smoke has now cleared, and some people think perhaps it's time to re-evaluate the movement. London's World Music Network label thinks so, and they have just released (as part of their familiar "Rough Guide" series) The Rough Guide to Boogaloo. The 18 tracks on this CD, along with the excellent liner notes by UK Latin music author/historian Sue Steward, offer a fairly good survey of this infectious style. Boogaloo simplified and anchored down Latin music's piano montunos, and maintained a less-syncopated rhythm, instead emphasizing the 1-2-3-4 downbeats. It also didn't shy away from incorporating American R&B into its Latin Soul. With some or all of the lyrics sung in English, even gringos couldn't resist jumping up on to dance floors across the nation to dig the wild new Latin beat.

Artists like Joe Cuba, Ray Barretto, Willie Colón, Pete Rodríguez, and many others were causing a sensation with their irresistible sing-along (or shout-along) choruses, handclaps, and tambourines. Soon, even skeptics such as Tito Puente and Charlie Palmieri were dipping their feet in the boogaloo stew. These artists are all represented in this compilation; however, other boogaloo pioneers such as Johnny Colón (Boogaloo Blues would seem an essential in any collection) are conspicuously absent. In light of the fact that this CD only purports to be a "Rough Guide," the omissions are pardonable. Behind the kiddie appeal and party atmosphere, boogaloo contains some highly sophisticated playing, intense instrumental solos, and some killer breakdowns. In hindsight, it's groovy, baby!

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