|
Below are details of the CD re-issues from Cesta Records. All
have been digitally re-mastered from the original analogue tapes.
|
Joe Quijano And His Orchestra
'Salsa-Natra In Clave'
(CES-34000)
|
|
Frank Sinatra In Clave! Songs Made Famous By Frank Sinatra Given A Salsa Workout |
|
Joe Quijano Y Su Conjunto Cachana
'Asalto Navideņo'
(CES-32000)
|
|
Joe Quijano Y Su Conjunto Cachana - Asalto Navideņo (CES-32000) CD
|
|
Various Artists
'Rarezas En Una Cesta'
(CES-31000)
|
|
Recordings By Joe Quijano Y Su Conjunto Cachana, Charlie Palmieri Y Su Orchesta La Duboney, Raphy Leavitt Y Su Orquesta, And Willie Pastrana Y Su
Orquesta.
|
|
Joe Quijano And His Orchestra
'Presentando Mi Gran Orquestas'
(CES-30000)
|
|
Joe Quijano And His Orchestra - Presentando Mi Gran Orquestas (CES-30000) CD
|
|
Joe Quijano Y Su Conjunto Cachana
'Mambo Jazz Vol. 7'
(CES-27000)
|
|
"Dedicated to New York City
and the Mambo Jazz 60s!" |
|
Joe Quijano Y Su Conjunto Cachana
'Los Aņos 60 Vol. 4'
(CES-24000)
|
|
Joe Quijano Y Su Conjunto Cachana - Los Aņos 60
Vol. 4 (CES-24000) CD
|
|
Joe Quijano Y Su Conjunto Cachana
'Boleros A Lo Quijano'
(CES-23000)
|
|
Boleros, Bolero-Cha, Balada Y Bachata |
|
Joe Quijano Y Su Conjunto Cachana
'Vuelvo Otra Vez Con La Pachanga'
(CES-22000)
|
|
Joe Quijano Y Su Conjunto Cachana - Vuelvo Otra Vez Con La Pachanga (CES-22000) CD |
|
Joe Quijano Y Su Conjunto Cachana
'La Pachanga Se Baila Asi'
(CES-21000)
|
|
JOE QUIJANO Y SU CONJUNTO CACHANA Title: LA PACHANGA SE BAILA ASI |
|
'Hey Everybody, Quijano's back!'
by
CHICO ALVAREZ PERAZA
|
Joe Quijano And His Orchestra
|
Band-leader,
crooner, composer and percussionist Joe Quijano knew how to
keep the salsa dancers happy in the 1960s and 70s; surrounding himself
with some of the finest latin musicians and arrangers in New York and
recording songs that people just couldn't stay still to. For many
years Charlie Palmieri, Barry Rogers etc worked in Joe's Conjunto
Cachana, recording some of the best salsa ever! Now the entire Cesta
Records label (owned by Joe) have now been digitally re-mastered
onto thirteen CDs. Here Chico
Alvarez Peraza puts Joe's place in latin music history in
perspective.
This article is re-produced with the kind permission of Cesta
Records.
(www.cestarecords.com)
The history of Latin Music is pretty much like
all other musical history, in that it resembles a beautifully
quilted mosaic of chance events that serve as catalyst for
innovative events and ideas, both at home and outside of its
domain. Throughout the music's long trajectory there have been
moments that love happened only by chance, but which have
inevitably influenced the way most people feet about it, for
years to come.
It was no quirk of fate that brought legendary vocalist and
musician JOE QUIJANO stateside in December of 2002.
Actually, he arrived in Little Ferry, New Jersey in late
November to begin work on a project that would reunite him with
some of his cronies from the old Bronx neighborhood on Kelly St.
!t was a project which he felt was long overdue, and one that
contrasts highly from his earlier recordings. l had the pleasure
of interviewing him on my show on WBAI the day before his
one-night engagement at New York City's SOB's, where he
envigorated many an old-time 'pachanguero' with his renditions
of such hits as 'La Pachanga Se Baila Asi'. On that night
QuIjano reunited various former members of the famed Conjunto
Cachana, after which he assumed the chores of putting
together his 'dream recording'. I caught up with him in
Bellevile, New Jersey a couple of days later, at the Skylight
Recording Studios. With a nostalgic gleam in his eye, he
recalled how in 1948, at the tender age of fourteen, he first
set foot into a Manhattan studio to belt out such fast-paced
guarachas as Antar Dahy's 'La Toalla' and Tito Puente's 'Abaniquito',
along with his pals Eddle Palmieri and Orlando Marin. The three
were just barely into manhood at the time. Then I watched him
work his magic in the studio and afterwards we talked a bit, his
voice melancholic as he recalled with fondness his association
with the great Charlie Palmieri, and how he first began
collecting 78 RPMS of Berry More and Orquesta Aragon back in
1951. The men has same fascinating anecdotes. By the time he was
24 years old, Quijano had already traveled to Cuba and it
was there that he began formulating in his mind the kind of
Cuban conjunto that he wanted to form. He perceived it as an
amalgam of Sonora Matancera and Orquesta Aragon, with the swing
of La Banda Gigante de Barry More. The rest as they say is
history.
Joe Quijano Y Su Orquesta
When Joe Quijano debuted in 1957 as e bandleader, his
showmanship and fine musical taste were already evidenced in his
selection of songs, his choice of musical arrangers and
outstanding musicians, and of course his own skillful leadership
and playing. During the subsequent years, the 'swinging sixties'
as he calls them, Quijano achieved his greatest national
prominence as a band leader and percussionist, but his
remarkable show business versatility extended well beyond the
confines of that arena. He worked for various record labels, in
various capacities and learned the ins and outs of the record
business. Then came the U.S. Trade Embargo on Cuba and the well
dried out. 'La Mata' as he calls it, was no longer there for the
picking.
But there was still a vast reservoir of Cuban material which he
had collected and which he was now ready to put his own personal
stamp on. With Paquito Guzman on vocals, the conjunto hit
really big with Parmenio Salazar's 'Yo Soy El Son Cubano' and
Abelarda Barroso's 'En Guantanamo'. A succession of hits
followed and in 1962, with more than fifteen years of
accumulated experience as an entertainer in night clubs,
carnavales, film, ballrooms, radio and television, the young
pailero began delighting his audiences with his own renditions
of standard boleros such as 'Nosotros', 'La Media Vuelta' and
'Es Por Tu Bien'. He recorded on the Coblmbia and Spanoramic
labels before launching his own label, Costa Records. The
Initial release of 'The World's Most Exciting Latin American
Orchestra And Revue' sold one thousand copies in the first six
months alone, and subsequently went on to sell over fifty
thousand copies (between LPs and CDs) during the next 40 years
(not counting of course all the pirate versions). This recording
ultimately became a cult classic and is to this day referred to
as 'The Nosotros Album'.
The Nosotros Album
Surrounding himself with young, vigorous and adventurous
musicians Quijano expanded the conjunto format, turning Cachana
into a small big band and one of the most sought after within
the dance hall circuit. Out of that dynamic incubator there came
many of the outstanding voices of the new 'salsa' movement. He
remained at heart a modem traditionalist, and stood his ground,
to the vexation at many of his contemporaries. Firmly
established as a bolerista, to continued to sing uptempo
material, and offered many a rising, sonero schooling in how to
play and sing with energy, dexterity and lyricism, without
losing the sense of the clave or adhering to sophisticated chord
changes. In response to the so-called 'sonido nuevo' he
vehemently adhered to a straight ahead, no nonsense, no
complicacion tumbao and a swinging mambo feel. And during this
time of political correctness the only 'message' to conveyed was
that this music was made for having fun. His base was simple,
tonica y dominante, montuno y sabor. When Quijano's band
played, a good time was had by all.
Joe Quijano and his Conjunto Cachana at the Village Gate
NYC
By 1970 Quijano was in complete command of a unique and
powerful sounding. He fronted an identifiable and highly
energetic orchestra and possessed a range of showmanship that
was much wider than ever before. And Quijano was the
proverbial hitmaker too. Long before there was anything remotely
resembling 'saisa romantica', Quijano's haunting
interpretations sent out an undefinable electricity that touched
female audiences everywhere he played. And while he was quite
happy being his own man, he still wanted more than anything else
to be accepted by his peers and to become a successful
enterpreter and not just a commodity. Often, his ideas were met
with hostility. What happened was that instead of imitating the
great boleristas which he idolised, Quijano interpreted
the bolero in his own way, with humor, warmth and intimate
tenderness in every phrase. His voice was richly baritone, and
like Tito Rodriguez, very sexy, with a clearly discernable
vibrato which became part of a highly recognizable timbre. Once
you heard it you could hardly ever again mistake it for anyone
else's. He projected this vibrato with a great deal of mood
(within its limitations of course) and within the framework of
his unique voice there was a shrewd and unstated intelligence
which come through as a kind of 'attitude'. A 'New York
attitude' if you will. And when it come to picking material, Quijano
was 'on the money' as they say. He never seemed unsure or
intimidated by a tune, on the contrary, he was always in control
of it. There was often this combination of romanticism and good
humor that seemed to work well together Tonality, timing,
attitude, dramatism, humor, inflection (to a certain degree) and
an uncanny knack for picking the tight tunes were all part of
Joe Quijano's plot for success. This formula worked for
him like nothing else ever did. By 1970, he had 'made it big',
as they say an Broadway, in a surprisingly swift time. He
continued to work and record until the late seventies, when his
music started becoming less accessible to the public,
Joe Quijano in the studio
When the emerging popularity of the merengue began to threaten
so many other bandleaders, he broke out with the dramatic
Chilean ballad 'Maria', which was probably the first bolemengue
(bolero/merengue). In that respect, Quijano was surely
ahead of his time. Throughout this period he continued to
project a very 'latin image' while secretly dreaming of
recording something in a more 'sophisticated' vein, an album of
popular American standards, like the ones made by Frank Sinatra
and Tony Bennett, set to the big band sound of Machito, Count
Basie and Tito Puente. Although he did not actively pursue the
idea at great length, deep down inside he knew that someday he
would tread on that sacred ground.
Ultimately, Joe Quijano began to feel the impact of the
changing times, so much that by 1991 he had relocated to his
native Puerto Rico. Still, his 'dream' recording did not
disappear from his mind. He acquired same big band arrangements
which had originally been commissioned for a very ambitious
project that began in the late sixties, one that was to have
united the 'chairman of the board' with the 'king of latin
music. Needless to say that project never sew the light of day.
So here was Quijano, with these monster charts, all
dressed up, as they say, and no place to go. His last attempt at
recording a successful CD had been in 1999, when he returned to
the mainland to record 'A Catano'. Good recording, but alas, no
one really noticed it. Although his contributions had never been
fully documented, his music was now preserved in a 13 volume CD
set. They were all there, the boleros, the guarachas and the
mambos. The guajiras, pachangas, sones, merengues, cha cha cha's
and the 6/8 bembes. Latin jazz too, and bossa nova as well. Joe
Quijano remained a true Latin American artist with a
distinctive Cuban / New York sound, an illustrious career that
spanned 54 years and a voice that stood the test of time. Still,
there was something missing.
Joe Quijano in the studio
Fast forward to the year 2002, to the studios of New Jersey's
hardest-working 'hit makers' John and Guido Diaz, where
fate moved its finger to unite Joe Quijano with pianist
Edy Martiinez, bassist Andy Gonzalez, and
percussionists Manny Oquendo, Mike Collazo, Willie Villegas
and myself, and where the ghosts of Frank Sinatra, Barry More
and Nat 'King' Cole have somehow conspired and inspired Mr. Quijano
into knitting a symbiosis of musical threads which may yet offer
the public a new and genuine groove. Slowly the dream began to
unfold, and Quijano's tribute to Sinatra became a
reality. The man who had put 'Nosotros' on the musical map had
miraculously put together a brand now CD, complete with big band
arrangements and a selection of standards that all seemed to
have been tailor-made to fit his unique voice and style. As I
sit here and write these notes, I feel confident that this
recording will someday (soon) provide inspiration far many an
up-and-coming vocalist. In spite of a resurgence of the more
traditional or 'tipico' styles of music, crossover dreams are
still very much on everyone's mind, from Cubanismo to Susie
Hansen, and it appears that Mr. Quijano is not quite
finished as a trend-setter. This new recording will in my
opinion, stand as a living testament to Joe Quijano's
endurance and even provide a few skeptics with an insight into
the man from Puerta de Tierra. The icing an the cake, without a
doubt, is personalized in Quijanos' own lyrical message,
dedicated to Mr. Sinatra, with music by Armando Manzanera. It is
the last track on the CD. If it doesn't move you to tears then
you are either made of stone or have accumulated a considerable
amount of wax in your inner ear.
Having had a sneak-peak at what this project is all about I can
safely and unambiguously proclaim: 'Hey everybody, Quijano's
back!'
CHICO ALVAREZ PERAZA - New York City - April 28, 2003 |
End
back to top
|
