TITO ALLEN Untouchable Alegre Records (JMAS-6020) He has one of the sweetest voices of salsa & one of the most melodious lyrics of the genre. His name is Roberto Romero, however, since his entrance as a bassist & singer into the rock movement & Puerto Rican New Wave, he has been known as Tito Allen. His interpretive versatility favored his encounter with Ray Barretto at the beginning of 1973, who recruited him for a session of the album Indestructible, for which the new singer popularized between 1973 & 1974 the simple homonym & songs like El Hijo De Obatala, La Familia, Llanto De Cocodrillo, & Ay No, a cha cha cha hit in the 1960s by Tito Rodriguez. There were differences & El Niche, nicknamed like that by Barretto, had to abandon the orchestra, but he left with good fortune of knowing that he was closing one door only to open another very important one; a lucrative contract with Alegre Records, a label that the president of Fania Records Jerry Masucci acquired. The Tito Allen star; who would also record with the late great Louie Ramirez, Tipica 73, Pupi Legaretta, & Tito Puente, was so brilliant, that he was never overshadowed by the great voices of Fania. And the best proof of this is the half dozens albums that he recorded as a solo artist with Alegre, among which are found Maldades (1975), Feliz Y Dichoso (1976), & Untouchable recorded in 1979 all on Alegre Records. This production of Untouchable was coordinated & supervised by the versatile musician & arranger Louie Ramirez, emanating from an enormous appreciation of jazz, just like Tito. And this is immediately evident in the interpretation of the original composition Vivan Tus Ojos Verdes, a guaguanco whose lyrics Allen redresses with a feel of the blues & in whose montunos vocalized some of the cleanest & most natural scats heard on salsa records, so much so that they eclipse the trombone solo of Sam Burtis. The bolero El Deseo De Amar places El Niche in the league of salsa boleristas of great renown. Nevertheless, Titos boleros did not transcend due to a lack of promotion on the radio, contrary to the work cultivated by Vitin Aviles, Chivirico Davila, Cheo Feliciano & Santitos Colon. Written by Tito Puente, Allen delivers the flavorful guaguanco Guancona, tribute to a frenetic partygoer & dancer that, due to its tireless sandunga, turns into the delight of the New York club scene. This number is complemented by a conga solo by Papo Pepin. In Para Los Bravos, a mambo by Felix Castrillon, a singer in the Rafael Munoz orchestra, distinguishes Louie Ramirez with a vibraphone solo. It is an irresistible song for the dancer due to the forcefulness & rhythm of big band, in which, under the tutelage of Louis, legends such as Ronnie Cuber, Mario Rivera & Larry Spencer demonstrate their virtuosity as performers. In Flores Blancas Y Flores Negras, a salute to the color & greenness of the Caribbean flora, an original by his brother Jorge Luis Piro Romero, we listen to Louie Ramirez take a pailas solo. In his own style Tito Allen presents a version of. El Sabio, the Tito Rodriguez hit that Hector Lavoe also recorded. The cha cha cha Como Tu Ninguna is another one of the successes of Untouchable due to a vocal interpretation colored from beginning to end by the feel of soft rock if the 60s. The swinging Busca Ambiente, another guaguanco that Tito approaches with his habitual flavor, is the story of a man who, resigned to his failed love affair, is able to move on. With tenor, alto, & baritone saxophone solos by Mario Rivera, Bobby Porcelli, & Ronnie Cuber, & Dick Mesa comes to an end the masacote of salsa & jazz that in 1979, backed by a big band, Tito Allen produced, evoking the sonority of Machito & Puente. Then, El Niche fully demonstrated that he was the Untouchable of salsa!!! Enjoy! Side A 1. Vivan Tus Ojos Verdes 2. El Deseo De Amar 3. Guancona 4. Para Los Bravos Side B 1. Flores Blancas Y Negras 2. El Sabio 3. Como Tu Ninguna 4. Busca Ambiente Personnel: Jimmy Frisaura: Trumpet Tony Cofresi: Trumpet Hector Bomberito Zarzuela: Trumpet Larry Spencer: Trumpet Dick Mesa: Tenor Saxophone Mario Rivera: Tenor Saxophone Ronnie Cuber: Baritone Saxophone Bobby Porcelli: Alto Saxophone Sam Burtis: Trombone Guillermo Edgehill: Electric Fender Bass Paquito Pastor: Piano Juan Papo Pepin: Conga Mike Collazo: Timbales Jose Madera: Bongo, Cowbell Lead Vocals: Tito Allen Coro: Tito Allen Adalberto Santiago Special Invited Guest Star: Louie Ramirez: Vibes solo (A4), Paila solo (B1) Musical Arrangements by: Louie Ramirez Mandy Vizoso Marty Sheller Jose Madera Mario Ortiz Produced by: Louie Ramirez Executive Producer: Jerry Masucci Recording Director: Louie Ramirez Album Cover & Liner Photos: Lee Marshall Album Cover Design: Ron Levine Recording Engineers: Irving Greenbaum Mario Salvati Recorded @: Good Vibrations Sound Studios, NYC ALEGRE RECORDS, 1979 A FANIA RECORDS PRODUCTION
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 02:30:08 +0000
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