Zemog, El Gallo Bueno / RootsWorld Recording Review

Zemog, El Gallo Bueno
Aagoo Records (www.aagoo.com)

cd cover Comprised of salsa and progressive jazz players who've made names for themselves in Boston, Zemog, El Gallo Bueno takes the rhythms of deep-roots Puerto Rican plena and mixes them into a sassy stew of influences and attitude to come up with one of the freshest discs to hit the Latin scene in recent memory. Sheer chops and talent are what entitle these guys to the eccentric liberties they take while rewriting the book on salsa, jazz and all points at which they converge. Note the ease with which the band's amazing horn section can go from Afrobeat storming to Balkan bawdiness or somber dirge. Like percussion? There's conga and timbale jamming galore here that's relentlessly loose yet flawlessly grooving.

"Lares Vegas"
The often-dominant piano of conventional salsa is jettisoned here, replaced by the leaner textures of cuatro and baritone guitar riding the rubbery bass. The vocals take a likewise unpredictable path--sometimes smooth, sometimes sleazy, often serving as a stream-of-consciousness connection between the many memorable instrumental passages. This is Latin music for sure, but it also embraces bursts of creativity borrowed from rock, ska, psychedelia, electronica, global fusion and all manner of party music. But there's nothing about it that sounds sloppy or thrown together. This is a band of tight, seasoned players who know what they're doing, and I'll bet they're great live. In fact, the only thing that undermines the quality of the disc is the fact that the last track (unlisted on the back cover or within) is six minutes of chirping and croaking sounds that you keep hoping will lead into a song. Why such an otherwise great album would end on such a "huh?" note is anybody's guess, but perhaps it can be chalked up to the eccentricities mentioned earlier. So skip the last track and delight deeply in everything up to that point. - Tom Orr

CD available from cdRoots

Audio:"Lares Vegas"
(p)(c)2003 Aagoo Records and Abraham Gomez-Delgado; used by permission

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