Search - Fania All Stars :: Live at the Red Garter 1

Super cool and funky!!

R. Derieux | Ann Arbor, MI | 03/07/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Heavy salsa with a big slice of NY City on this set. This and the companion vol. 2 are really excellent. Also look for the earlier Alegre All Star recordings."

Hot

Bill | New York, NY USA | 03/17/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tito Puente's solo on the first track alone is worth the price of the album. This is seriously hot NYC salsa from a period where the music was moving in amazing directions."

Instrumentally, SUPERB!!! For me, it REALLY puts to shame th

S. | 07/15/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 1st Volume of Fania All Stars, recorded live at The Red Garter in New York on a Monday of spring of 1968, is an ABSOLUTE musical MASTERPIECE for the real listener of Latin music for the sake of what music really is! This is not just a singer's thing like the MEDIOCRE (in MY opinion) Tribute To Tito Rodriguez Fania All Stars album from 1976, or even the 1980 one titled Commitment (which is still good) but where the singers are "on the 1st plan", and musicians a bit "on the second"...



This is heavy, rich, and powerful INSTRUMENTAL and slightly jazzy style of Latin music particularly on the OUTSTANDINGLY OUT OF THIS WORLD tune Guatacando with 12:50 mins of SHEER musical class!

You begin with an EXCEPTIONALLY outstanding rhythmical and slightly jazzy style of piano solo by Eddie Palmieri which you don't want to finish, then good Vibraphone solo riffs by Louie Ramirez, then some arrangements that lead us to a TREMENDOUS Roberto Rodríguez Jazzy Trumpet solo (Ray Barretto Trumpetist [1967-1975]) which isEXCEPTIONAL, and if you thought that he was just a Son-Montuno oriented style of trumpetist, here's your proof of how well he can express himself as a Cuban in Latin Jazz; and boy he delivers! His solo also goes WELL OVER a minute!...

As if it wasn't enough, YOU THEN GET RAY BARRETTO ON CONGA-DRUMS doing what he knows best!...

THEN, After his solo, you get a Trombone solo and the brass section making HIGH AND LOUD accompaniments, finishing the tune off!...

Just that tune alone, FOR ME, is worth the whole price of the Cd, BUT, the nice Cha-Cha-Chá tune Sabor Sabor which features some quality flute playing from Johnny Pacheco and a very good Eddie Palmieri piano solo is also a VERY nice tune to listen to. Again, it's instrumental with no singing (just choruses in this case).

The only big shame I found shocking was when I found out that the original people in charge of the recording decided to cut the volume progressively to finish that song off in the middle, just when Eddie Palmieri was finishing his piano solo!

The song is still 5:20 mins, but WHAT A LACK OF APPRECIATION from those people to think that we would have heard enough from SUCH a GREAT tune!

It always leaves me to wonder what the follow up on the day must have been like!...



Then, make sure you skip quickly the 4th song Country Girl - City Man to get to the great 8:15 mins song Me Gusta El Son singed by Ramon Quian "Monguíto"!

Great style of Cuban Montuno sort of song, great solo of piano by Eddie again, and after Eddie's solo we get a yet again a heavy brass section of arrangements slightly 'flirting' with boogaloo type of arrangements (not the rhythm! Just the sound of the horn arrangements) featuring horn solos, and Monguíto wrapping the song up... GREAT STUFF!...



Then, we get a repeat of the same song, but with nor more nor less than Tito Puente on Timbales taking a solo, then in the same track, there's a nice sort of bye-bye music theme, and the album (and very probably the concert on the day also finished...)

I wonder how many good things the owners of the time must've left out from the vinyl!...







NONETHELESS, This Cd is MORE THAN WELL WORTH YOUR MONEY making it 35 mins of GREAT music, excluding that awful 2:15 mins tune in English...



(BUT THE "LATIN SPECIALISTS" FROM V2 MUSIC THOUGHT THAT IT WAS MORE WORTH IT RE-MAKING A U.K/EUROPE VERSION OF THE MOSTLY AWFULL VOL.2 OF FANIA ALL STARS LIVE AT THE RED GARTER, AND NOT RE-MAKE THIS ONE!...

What a lack of appreciation for REAL Latin music they have!....





Remastered By: Sound Booth. 9/10. ANOTHER GREAT job from the people of Sound Booth!... As good as it can get from a 1960's Live recording with GREAT volume level, sharpness and clearness of sound. SUPERB sound quality!

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