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ELPALMAS 019LP
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Few have done as much for salsa in Venezuela as band-leader, composer and pianist Ray Pérez. He burst on to the scene in the mid-60s with his group Los Dementes, creating the blueprint for guaguanco, Pachanga, and boogaloo in Venezuela. When the name salsa began to be used as something of a catch-all-term he was still at the forefront, recording two hugely-popular salsa albums with Los Dementes in 1967. Remarkably, that very same year, he also recorded two albums with a brand-new group, Los Calvos, that showed how as well as being the genre's most visible band-leader, he was also pushing the nascent genre to its limits. Estos Son Los Calvos is the first of the two albums he made with Los Calvos. On it, he recruited a drummer (unprecedented at the time for a salsa ensemble, which always used percussionists), switched from the trombones of Los Dementes to the much harder, direct sound of trumpets, and he recruited Carlos Yanez, best known as El Negrito Calavén, as singer. Whereas Los Dementes had been aligned with the slightly pop sound of tropical orchestras, Los Calvos took an almost-jazz approach, allowing room for the musicians and vocalists to improvise, and they also took inspiration from the sounds of surf rock swirling around Caracas. Opening track "El Kenya" is the clearest example of that surf rock influence. They were intent on creating their own dance craze, and the song had all the credentials: rollicking montuno piano from Pérez, ingenious scatting and vocal improvs from Calavén, and a middle section where the drums and trumpets battle it out hard. It's followed by "Mi Salsa Llegó", which Pérez had already recorded with Los Dementes; here, it's a tougher beast, the sparser hits of the drums and trumpets giving a harder sound evocative of the times. Los Calvos was a group made up of some of Venezuela's finest musicians. The legendary Frank "El Pavo" Hernandez was on drum kit, with revered names like Alfredo Padilla, Carlos "Nene" Quintero, Pedro García, Miguel Silva, Enrique Vazquez, Rafael Araujo, and Luis Lewis, also involved in the group. Their versatility allowed Los Calvos to go from the slower, haunting groove of "Negrito Calavan", on to "Bailemos Kenya", another attempt by the group to create their own version of "The Twist". Los Calvos never played live, but that was always the intention. But the spirit of Los Calvos remained when Pérez then formed Los Kenya. Los Calvos would never have the same successes as Pérez's other groups, though, Pérez has revealed that the two albums he made as Los Calvos are some of the most fun he ever had recording.
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ELPALMAS 020LP
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El Palmas Music present a reissue of the second album from Venezuela's Los Calvos, ... y Que Calvos!, originally released in 1968. This second and lamentably final album found the group creating a signature sound with the musicians given free rein and a stronger push to the dance floor, this is música bailable personified. The drum kit was instrumental to their image and sound; it was an instrumental unusual in salsa at the time. So much so that their own drummer Frank "Pavo" Hernandez had said disparagingly that "salsa with a drum kit is like pasta with avocado". Kudos then to "Pavo", along with fellow drummer Alfredo Padilla, who seamlessly integrated the instrument into the line-up, allowing its heavy hits to add energy and power to the group's sound. Vocal duties throughout are split evenly, five tracks a piece in fact, between Carlos "Carlín" Asicio Rodríguez and Carlos "Calaven" Yanes. It is Calaven who surprises the most, his mischievous delivery and ability to improvise and scat placing him in the higher echelons of vocalists, and not just within salsa. "José", which is also a showcase for bandleader Ray Perez to free wheel on the piano, is a perfect example of Calaven's ability to enliven any descarga (jam) with unexpected vocal turns; but then, even on the album's original single "El Moño De Maria" he shows that with a few variations on the chorus, he can elevate any song. His partner in vocals, Carlín, is no slouch either, leading the driving "Tiene La Razón" with ease and showing that he can get down and dirty on the percussion-heavy "El Tumbeleco". Perez was one of Venezuela's finest bandleaders, also helming the legendary Los Dementes, Los Kenya, and others, and he brings a number of famous friends and allies to the party. Professional lucha fighter turned composer Gustavo "El Chiclayano" Seclén contributes the playful "El Marciano y Yo" ("The Martian and Me"), which allows Calaven plenty of opportunity to improvise, his imitations of intergalactic beings a wonderful thing, with what sounds like the rim of a wine glass being used to create Mars-esque special effects. You can also hear Perucho Torcatt, a regular collaborator of Ray Perez's in Los Dementes, adding his voice throughout the album. ... y Que Calvos! is not for the idle, it's an album which does not allow you to sit down. Powerful, inventive, and abundant of rhythm. A lost salsa classic.
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