Late in the '50s,
Alegre
label-head
Al Santiago
was inspired by the loose, funky sound of the live-in-the-studio
Cuban Jam Session
LPs on
Panart
(led by
Julio Gutierrez
and
Nino Rivera
), so he organized a similar session with
friends and family, hereafter known as
the Alegre All Stars
. The music is completely unrestrained charanga and salsa, packed with excellent jamming, infectious singalongs, and, on several tracks, lengthy intros revealing the atmosphere inside the studio (pouring drinks are unsurprisingly the most-often-heard sounds).
"Estoy Buscando a Kako"
("I Am Looking for Kako") is a delightful romp; the players repeat a variation of the title preceding each soloist, working their way to the end of the line with
Kako
himself taking a solo on his timbales. Just this side of anarchic confusion, but with surprisingly few missed notes,
The Alegre All Stars
is a legendary date -- and certainly one of the few records ever released that credit a bartender. ~ John Bush