Luisito Rosario, "Rumba Del Barrio" (Mambo City/Discos Fuentes
Let me cut to the chase, this is a very good record. Luisito is out to
"sacar al bailador de la rutina" - I love that coro. In fact, is the one
CD that in recent times has spent the most time in my player after classic
Fania stuff. Granted the musical landscape is almost barren, and the case
could be made that any halfway descent record could raise eyebrows. Is
like being in the desert and quenching your thirst with a drop of stale
water. Not the case with this record, for it has all the necessary
ingredients that should make Luisito Rosario a flat out house hold name in
the genre. With 11 tracks, out of which, one is an extended version of a
track already in the record; Rumba del Barrio is an extremely high energy
dance oriented production tailored for the dancer and the listener. The
latter perhaps to a lesser degree only because, for my taste, some of the
lyrics could be a bit cliche-ish and run of the mill. Take for example
"El Guiso", a.k.a "si tu cosinas como caminas me como hasta la.... (fill
in the blank)". Can you believe that a whole track/song was made up out
of that? The most overdone over killed phrases in all of Latin American
culture. On second thought - It takes a whole lot of creativity to do
that. Contrasting that, you have a track that's dedicated to the late
Celia Cruz. Folks, for a decade I endured horrible songs that paid homage
to the lady. Tribute songs done by artists that no one knew or cares to
remember, at least 10 years before Celia ultimately died. Others came from
artists that should've done a much better job. Authored by Evelio Fuentes
and Jesus Alejandro, Luisito Rosario vocalizes one of the better tribute
songs to the lady. And that's the thing about this production that makes
me want to listen over and over again, Luisito's ability to vocalize and
interpret each song the way a genuine salsero de la mata would do. From
the arrangements to the overall production, there's a certain sense of new
car smell that just stays with you long after you started the engine and
drove a hundred thousand miles. Maybe the fact that the entire production
took place in Montreal Canada, away from the usual players in NYC, Puerto
Rico, and Miami has something to do with that. Eventhough his productions
tend to be too much about "el niño", I got to give credit to Jesus "el
niño" Alejandro for this one. He found a way to stay in the background and
made this record all about Luisito Rosario - and how good it is.
FROM
THE DESK OF NESTOR LOUIS 10/17/2005
Radio
Universidad WRTU.ORG 89.7 FM Puerto Rico
El
segundo grupo recoge la salsa en la era de MTV (1980) con letras
románticas y arreglos homogenizados.
Es lo que algunos llaman despectivamente “salsa monga”, un
estilo que busca
resaltar el trabajo de los vocalistas.Por otro lado, la salsa clásica,
también conocida como
“salsa gorda” o “salsa vieja”, se caracterizó por su
ritmo agresivo y atractivo para los bailadores.
En
el siglo 21 han sido los sellos independientes y los trabajos de
algunos músicos desconocidos
los que le han extendido la vida a la salsa que se hace para los
bailadores en la
tradición de la salsa clásica. Un ejemplo elocuente de esa
salsa brava que mueve el cuerpo
lo es el disco más reciente del cantante Luisito Rosario
titulado “Rumba del Barrio”. El
disco se titula “Rumba del barrio” y presenta once temas
netamente bailables. Se destacan
las composiciones del pianista de la banda Jesús “El Niño”
Alejandro y de Evelio Fuentes.
Títulos como: “Son pa` Puerto Rico”, “La salsa buena”
“Camina ahora”, “Mi rico mambo”
y “Homenaje a Celia Cruz”, “El guiso” y “Rumba de
Barrio” dan una idea de los temas
livianos, guaracheros y pegajosos que se escuchan en este
trabajo.
Los
arreglos proyectan energía y afinque con un buen balance de
sonido que no opaca al cantante
ni esconde la orquestación. En cuanto a la voz de Luisito,
tiene buen timbre. El
disco “Rumba del barrio”, la segunda producción discográfica
del cantante, fue editado por el sello Mambo
City y distribuido por Discos Fuentes. Es un disco para los
salseros que aún siguen buscando
el sabor, la energía y la cadencia de la salsa gorda “pal
bailador”.
Nuestra
calificación en una escala de 0 a 5 radios: 4 radios.
Por
Élmer González
*****A
modern "Salsa Dura" essential.,
September 8, 2005
Luisito Rosario is
an excellent sonero who takes pride in having been heavily
influenced by yesteryear's legendary salsa soneros. This
excellent CD is a throwback to New York salsa's golden era (the
1960s and'70s) and Luisito's improvisational skills are nothing
short of phenomenal. If it's true that "Salsa Dura"
is making a comeback then this cd must be considered an
"ESSENTIAL" for all serious salseros.
Reviews
Written by
Justo
Roteta
(Los
Angeles, California United States)
Con
salsa dura...ed è proprio cosi!
11
traccie per il cantante L.R. ad aprire il cd è rumba del
barrio, davvero un ottimo brano, carico di ritmo ( come lo è,
del resto tutto il cd)...impossibile stare fermi su una canzone
del genere..segue un bel Son- cha-cha, quarta traccia è
1-800-quiereme che
troviamo anche in versione remix di Ricky Campanelli, tutte le
traccie sono ballabili, un buon cd che merita di essere suonato
e ballato.
Rumba
Del Barrio Con Salsa Dura.
-
Luisito Rosario is an experienced singer who worked with the
Fania All Stars, Los Hermanos Moreno and Hechizo; he also
recorded a solo album titled "Luisito Rosario" with
arrangements by Cuto Soto (Marc Anthony), Lucho Cueto (Tito
Nieves) and the late Martin Arroyo (Los Soneros del Barrio) and
still makes appearances with Harlow’s “Latin Legends
Band", Rumba del Barrio Con Salsa Dura has most of its
tracks arranged by Jesus El Nino Alejandro (Edwin Bonilla) and
is filled with straight forward old school hard salsa, charanga,
son, mambo and guajira. Musicians: Jesús "El Niño"
Alejandro, piano/tres/flute/percussion; Edward Maldonado, bass;
Kiko Osorio, timbales & coros; Gregory Moya,
congas/bongos/cowbell; Edward Sánchez, trumpets; Serge
Arseneauld' 1st trombone; Jordan Martínez, 2nd trombone;
Richard Boudin, baritone sax. ++Rumba Del Barrio ++1-800-Quiéreme
++Homenaje A Celia Cruz ++Mi Rico Mambo ++Mala Mujerr;
++1-800-Quiéreme (Remix).
mrbongosalsa.com
Laser
luster
Latin
Beat Magazine, August,
2005 by Vicki
Sola
Laser
luster ...Luisito Rosario's new CD Rumba del Barrio (Mambo City)
shines wherever the laser beam hits, and as a graduate of the
"Larry Harlow University of Salsa,"Rosario
demonstrated at La Maganette, on April 20, that his orchestra is
every bit as tight and dynamic live as it is on disc. Rosario is
not just another youthful, handsome face fronting a band--he is
a gifted sonero and an able and serious bandleader who has
traveled throughout the world with Larry Harlow's Latín Legends
band, sharing stages with Yomo Toro, Adalberto Santiago, Ismael
Miranda, Junior González and Cano Estremera.
Rumba
del Barrio, Rosario's second release, caters strictly to
hardcore salseros with its hard-driving, no-nonsense approach,
and contains a great deal of original material arranged by the
production's pianist Jesús "El Niño" Alejandro, with
Edward Maldonado (bass), Kiko Osorin (timbal), Gregory Maya (conguero/bongocero),
trombonists Edward Sánchez, Sergio Arseneauld, and Jordan Martínez,
and Richard Bandin (baritone saxophonist). Alejandro and Osorio
handle the coros.
Written
by Vicki Sola
Cantante
Latinoamericano cresciuto in New Jersey, esce alla ribalta con
questo nuovo Cd salsero 100%. Già Hit su QueRitmo
Webradio con "Rumba del Barrio", potrebbe essere un
prodotto per gli amanti della "Salsa Dura" ma,
francamente, non ci sentiamo di considerarlo un chicca del
genere; l'importante è che tutti i restanti 10 brani del cd
sono superballabili ed accattivanti. Non è stato ancora
licenziato in Italia ed esce, quindi, come Cd di importazione.
Il prezzo
QUE
RITMO LATIN RADIO WEB ITALY
Luisito
Rosario è un nome che probabilmente molti amanti della salsa
non conoscono ancora: è un buon cantante di scuola newyorkese,
che vanta già numerose ed importanti esperienze, e che con
quest’album è alla sua seconda uscita come solista. Riuscirà
a diventare un vero protagonista del mondo salsero?
SalsaBrescia.it
Editor's
Pick: DESCARA.COM
Rosario, best known for his work with Larry Harlow’s Latin
Legend’s band, can swing, and he does it old-school. Working
with the producer Jesus “El Nino” Alejandro, who helped
Edwin Bonilla on his fine records, Rosario has put together a
modern salsa record that exemplifies the salsa gorda movement.
The percussion doesn’t hide, and the arrangements, full of
hard horn riffs, drive the music. Rosario can sing, and the
music gives way to let his voice make its statements. The tempos
change a bit, giving the record both dance floor appeal —
it’s a natural for djs — and living room value.
So: Highly Recommended. (Peter
Watrous, 2005-05-23)
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