Monguito
Lassissi Presente: Monguito El Unico In Curacao
GB Records New York LS 31 Sacodis
Yes you read that title right. I jumped on this newly reissued album figuring it wouldn't be round for long. Monguito, who hails from the Congo, is know as El Padre de Son Montuno. Monguito is also known as El Unico because his powerful voice is very distinctive. He's one African singer I have filed under Cuba (I file Africando under Senegal though that seems a little shaky!) because his music is purely Cuban. Real name Ramon Quian, he is a classic African salsero with a gravelly somewhat nasal voice and this is the real deal: pre-Africando fusion of the best Latin musicians New York producers can find subway fare for, along with some great vocals. Monguito moved to Cuba to pursue his passion for the music, fronting Conjunto Modelo. Then Mexico was his home, where he appeared in three movies, before he came to the US. In 1962 he sang lead on Arsenio Rodriguez' classic Primitivo (originally on Roost Records, reissued in Japan as P-Vine CD 4729) before joining up with Johnny Pacheco and settling down for a spell with the Fania label (The best of their sessions can be found on Pacheco Y Monguito La Crema [Fania JM567]). Lassissi put out some stellar music in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in the late 70s. About 1980 Lassissi moved to the USA and brought African singers like Doh Albert and Laba Sosseh to New York to record. (I could be wrong: he continued to market music in Ivory Coast and perhaps just visited New York to make salsa recordings for release back in Abidjan.) He hit on the formula of getting top session guys to jam on well-known Cuban standards, setting the stage for Estrellas de Areito and many other successful endeavours. Alfredito Valdez recalls he made about 50 dates for Lassissi. Now a dozen of the Lassissi salsa productions have been reissued on CD including this one recorded in 1980. The sound is a bit rough (especially Side 2 which is taken from a worn record) but the music is essential. It's mainly son, guajira and charanga. This album (I doubt it was recorded in Curacao) has Alfredito Valdez (i.e. Alfredo Valdez, Jr) on piano, three trumpets including Tony Marrero, and tresero Charlie Rodriguez, one of thegreats. Adalberto Santiago sings coro. It's only 32 minutes long, typical for African LPs, but it packs in a lot. There are better (recorded) Monguito albums but once you hear him you will want it all.

I dug out my other Lassissi CDs and noticed that although these have been reissued too, there's a typically greedy stunt to milk the buyer. (First, the Sacodisc website listed on the CDs doesn't exist so it may be a pretense at legitimacy.) However the painful part is these reissues are of the single LPs whereas the previous reissues I have teamed the cream of two albums on one CD so you got an hour of music for your big bucks. (These were $20 imports ten years ago!) The must-have classic is Monguito el Unico presents Laba Sosseh in U.S.A.: Salsa Africana (Sacodis 05026-2). I don't know where you might find the original CD; the albums will cost you plenty. However the CD I have seems to be taken from tapes rather than vinyl. The first two tracks are "Boniboni" and "Boranito" which came from the LP Salsa Africana Vol II. The rest constitute volume I. Now you have to buy them individually, but you will get one more track on volume I and three more tracks on vol II. Monguito sings coro and arranges. Again Alfredito Valdez plays piano, Bomberito Zarzuela is on trumpet, Mario Rivera on sax and flute, Jose Garcia on tres, and the great Pupi Lagaretta on violin. The band get quite mellow and stretch out, especially on the tracks that were from volume II. "Micorason" (sic), originally the opener of vol I, has a rap where Monguito introduces Laba to the American audience in a pidgin English exchange. You can tell it's spontaneous and the way the band pulls it back together when Monguito utters his trademark "Si senoooor!" indicating he's ready for some punchy horns, is remarkable. "Yamanek" has a great tres solo with "Manicero," "Theme from a summer place" AND "Perfidia" quoted in it! (Extra points if you tell me the other two or three lyrics he quotes.) "Yatinama" is loosely based on "Pare cochero" and signals full steam ahead.

The other Monguito CD from this time came out on Sacodis as 05081-2. It reads, in pink script, in the lower left front, "La Salsa de Lassissi." The new version has "Lassissi presente" in the upper left corner. Again the difference is in quantity. Now we find two CDs: Monguito el Unico International (all covers) and Monguito el Unico From Africa to Cuba (all originals), which were united on the previous CD issue. Here "Manicero" is credited to Monguito but I have to admit it's a different version of the chestnut as it soon mutates into "Tres lindas Cubanas." In fact the coro sing "Ven te pa'l monte" while the trumpet plays "Guantanera," plus a few other notable riffs! We also hear "Mentiras Criolla" by Felix Chappotin, Orlando Molinet's "Yo soy Congo," Arsenio Rodriguez' "Que se funan," and "Ven pa la loma" by Miguel Matamoros: a great set. You need to grab it where'er you find it.

I am so glad these are being reissued again. Partly so I can rave about some of my favourite music, but mainly so I can steer you towards a musical moment 25 years ago when all was right with the world. --Alastair Johnston