The Dominican community in the New York area is the biggest outside the Caribbean, and its musical traditions are a big part of its vibrancy. Its annual festival in Washington Heights features Dominican music, and some of the artists who perform at the festival appear here, covering not only the native high-energy
meringue
, but every aspect of Dominican music, be it the palos of
Conjunto Folklorico de Alianza Dominicana
or the
son
of
Coco Merenson
. A lot of this music is folkloric, as befits the
Smithsonian Folkways
label, but it's never less than marvelously entertaining, like the salve of
Francia Reyes
, where the vocals rise effortlessly above the drums.
"La Multona,"
from
Neri Olivares
, features a scintillating, delicate play of melody, showing how Dominicans have developed the Cuban
into their own art form. But don't be misled by the
techno
-
bachata
tag on
Luis Dias
'
"La Manguera"
; it has nothing to do with
electronic
music (although
Dias
does also play
rock
in addition to this slower, gentler sound). There's no doubting the dance appeal of the accordion-led
tracks.
Franklyn Hernandez
is masterful on them, leading an ensemble (with a terrific sax player) through the adrenalized workouts. This album doesn't claim to be a complete representation of the Dominican musical experience in New York, by any means -- but it'll do for a start. ~ Chris Nickson