#RecordOfTheDay “Ay Doctor!” by Bonny Cepeda Y Orquesta

Reaching back here to the golden age of Merengue, the 1980s, when Dominican music overtook Salsa on the Latin charts. Here is one of my favorites, Bonny Cepeda who was the fist Merengue artist to be nominated for a Grammy, with his 1982 LP ¡Arrasando Con Todo! He was one of best composers of the era who produced countless records for other Dominican artists. Here is on the keys with his brother Richie on vocals.

Ay Doctor!

Podcast: Kiskeya & Quisqueya

This month we visit the island referred to as Kiskeya or Quisqueya depending which side of the shared border of Haïti or La República Dominicana you live on. To lead us through a vinyl exploration of this beautiful shared musical history we are joined by former Music Director at KALX of UC Berkeley and current Latin Music Curator and Programmer at Pandora, Marcos Juarez.

marcos

Important Note: This podcast was recorded before the recent disturbing deportation of Haitians taking place in the D.R.

Pelanga en La Sala: Episode 10 – Kiskeya & Quisqueya

Pelanga Jukebox

LuisKalaff_trabajoeneso45

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Just a little Dominican jukebox 45 to get your week started. Here we have 2 great Merengue / Perico Ripiao tunes by Luis Kalaff of the Dominican Republic.

Trabajo en eso by  Luis Kalaff

Trabajo En Eso

The flip side is my favorite on here, it’s about the never ending trials and tribulations of getting and losing digits. If one day when I’m fully grey and running a little Pelanga cafe-club-bar-joint, you can count on finding a jukebox in the corner with this 45 in it. Enjoy!

El Telefono by Luis Kalaff

El Telefono

~Pozole

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Taller Pelanga

Hopefully you all aware of our upcoming Pelanga en La Peña this Saturday, May 7th. Pelangas have blessed us in many ways, one of which is the joy we get from seeing so many of you dance and lose yourself in the music. But one thing we haven’t been able to ignore is seeing so many beautiful women dancing solo. Now it needs to be said that we really love that Pelangas have a culture of everyone being very respectful — especially toward women who very much appreciate not feeling hounded and harassed by men. But men, that’s no reason to be wall flowers. We understand that dancing can be intimidating, especially with someone you may not know. But don’t worry su pelangueros are here to help, or rather Oscar De Leon (Venezuela’s most famous salsero). Here he is performing his merengue hit Juanita Morel backed by Conjunto Quisqueya. Now take note, he’s just dipping and rolling with a simple spin. Watch, repeat and practice in front of a mirror. Men, you can do this and have a line of dance partners waiting on you all night. Gold medallion is optional.
~pozole

 

El Cieguito De Nagua | La Bailadora

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I adore this track. It hails from the Dominican Republic – shout outs to Pozole, for the handsome collection of music he’s posted from there already… and to William, who might actually be able to answer my little puzzle question below.

La Bailadora by El Ciegito De Nagua

Fun puzzle question:
There are two hidden references made to birds through this song; neither of them are directly sung.

 

(Need a hint? one would be in the little song reference in the middle of the track, the other is in the genre name)

Enjoy,
– chinatumadre