RODRIGUEZ, ARSENIO – COMO SE GOZA EN EL BARRIO, HAVANA & NYC RECOR

Never one to stand still creatively, by the early 1960s Arsenio began introducing other experimental modes of expression taken from his new adopted home (jazz, r&b, rock)into his conjunto, incorporating saxophones and `walking’ bass, as well as amplifying his guitar and even singing a few tunes himself (in a jocular, gruff tone). True to his racial pride, he often utilised African religious terms, melodies, rhythms and sonorities. He occasionally got big gigs at the Palladium or other large venues but by the later `60s concert jobs were scarce and paid poorly. Unlike the earlier days in Cuba when his groups played live almost every day on the radio, he never received much radio exposure in the U.S., which contributed to his obscurity. Though Arsenio was not particularly interested in joining the bandwagon to record the pachanga and boogaloo crazes of the younger genration, he did record some youth-oriented songs during the mid and late 60s, some of which are represented here. However he did not particularly want to update or change his sound to fit the emerging salsa scene, much of which was shifting from Latin soul to more `típico’ sounds inspired by the Cuban son conjunto sound that he himself had helped develop and modernize in previous decades. Leaving the barrios of New York behind and moving to Los Angeles in 1969 – 1970 to try his luck on the West Coast amongst the Chicanos (he had lived there briefly with his brothers Kiki and Raúl from 1964-1966), Rodríguez unfortunately remained relatively unknown in California, and by most accounts audiences were indifferent to his by now old-style Cuban music, especially with the rise of Latin rock, which was ironic since he had often played his tres with distorted, sustained amplification not unlike that in use by guitarists like Carlos Santana and others. Throughout his life Arsenio had never been a particularly healthy man, and by his late 50’s he was over-weight and slowing down; he died soon afer arriving in Los Angeles, succumbing to a stroke brought on by diabetes. Rodríguez’s estranged wife Anadina brought his body back to New York and he was buried in Ferncliff Cemetary initially in an unmarked grave. However, contrary to popular belief he did not die poor, since he did receive a modest income from his composition royalties, and in the end his plot was marked with a suitable stone. In the late 60s and early 70s, Johnny Pacheco, the Dominican bandleader and musical director of Fania Records, had been recording versions of the conjunto and son montuno sound that Rodríguez and others like La Sonora Matancera had pioneered decades before, complete with trumpets and tres, and similar arrangements. Soon after Rodríguez’s death, pianist and orchestra leader Larry Harlow recorded a tribute album (Tribute To Arsenio Rodríguez, 1971); the following year Tico compiled an LP of Arsenio cover-tunes by various artists (Recordando A Arsenio). In addition, many of Rodríguez’s compositions (and songs by others he made famous) were re-recorded in an updated Nuyorican style by the current stars of salsa, such as Ray Barretto, Ismael Miranda, La Sonora Ponceña, Roberto Roena y su Apollo Sound, and Celia Cruz. Arsenio’s innovative techniques, arrangements and compositions have had far reaching consequences because not only was the rise of salsa in the late 60s – 70s fueled in part by his Afro-Cuban son conjunto aesthetic, but one could argue that his pioneering influence can still be felt today through the edgy deconstructionist jazz and punk inflected music of Marc Ribot’s Cubanos Postizos and Jacob Plasse’s thrillingly eclectic ensemble Los Hacheros. These two contemporary New York-based projects re-imagine El Ciego Maravilloso’s forward-looking yet rootsy approach, refreshing the music again and taking his spirit into the modern era for audiences outside the Latin tradition, people more often familiar with rock, jazz or soul perspectives than salsa or son cubano. Pablo “DJ Bongohead” Yglesias