Various Saoco! Vol.1 (2-LP)

(Vampi Soul) 30 tracks

"Saoco", one of the most famous and long unavailable Vampisoul compilations, is available again - with new remastered sound, different color versions of the artwork and in 2LP format. This re-release is a co-production with Puerto Rican label Ojo de Tigre.

A comprehensive look at the fascinating musical diversity of Puerto Rico in the 50s and 60s that would pave the way for the later salsa scene worldwide. The selection focuses on the rhythms of bomba and plena, island traditions that achieved enormous popularity and enriched the field of tropical music with a distinctly Puerto Rican character. Extensive liner notes by composer Yannis Ruel, illustrated with original artwork and memorabilia. Cortijo y su Combo with Ismael Rivera and Mon Rivera with his tongue twisters and trombones are the pioneers of a story that paved the way for the salsa movement. With an unprecedented blend of flavors and Afro-West Indian rhythms, their dance proposals competed with the best tropical orchestras of the 50s and 60s.

However, the legendary legacy of these Puerto Rican orchestras has not yet been the subject of a proper retrospective. This compilation highlights the importance of Cortijo and Ismael in the context of the time, contrasting their recordings with those of other contemporary artists with more or less similar styles. It also includes the important figure of another great "plenero" and salsa pioneer such as Mon Rivera, known as "El Rey del Trabalengua" (King of Tongue Twisters) (because of the comedic way of playing with syllables to change the rhythm and meaning of a phrase) and because he founded the "trombone sound", in which trumpets and saxophones are replaced by trombones. This was an important innovation in the emergence of boogaloo and salsa, inspiring Eddie Palmieri and Willie Colón in particular.

Although Mon spent much of his life in New York (where he emigrated in 1950 and where he recorded all the tracks included in this compilation), he had his first hits with a group, Los Ases del Ritmo, that he formed in his hometown of Mayagüez on the west coast of Puerto Rico. These three legends, Cortijo, Ismael and Mon Rivera, are accompanied by other tropical ensembles of the same period - Orquesta Panamericana, Sonora Ponceña, Mario Ortiz & His All Star Band and the singer Chivirico - but also by groups and singers belonging to the "jíbara" tradition or country music, whose repertoire includes plenas, bombas and guarachas in addition to seis and aguinaldo.

The typical instrumentation of strings and accordion, as well as the peculiar style of singing, make an interesting contrast with the way the tropical orchestras played the same rhythms.