Upon its original issue in 2007, the compilation
Bachata Roja: Amor y Amargue on iASO Records touched off an international sensation, resulting in a North American tour of musicians Edilio Paredes, Augusto Santos, Ramon Cordero, Ramon Cabrera (aka El Chivo Sin Ley), and
Leonardo Paniagua with a backing band from the Dominican Republic. These five names were the performance collective known as Lunes de Amargue, who moved bachata music from the margins of Dominican society to its mainstream. Renowned musicologist and author
Ned Sublette defines "the essential quality of bachata to be 'amargue,' literally, bitterness."
Sublette continues: "But it can be a nostalgic, melancholic pain that makes you feel better, like the blues, or what in Portuguese is called 'saudade.' Thus the literal translation here is Red Bachata: Love and Bitterness." This selection of 16 tracks recorded between the early '60s and the early '80s -- often recorded live in a room with a single microphone on very primitive gear -- captures that essence perfectly. Everything here is almost unbearably romantic, and the poetry of the lyrics is illustrated beautifully by astonishing guitar playing, guira and bongo accompaniment, and entrancing basslines. At the heart of almost every song here is either Paredes' or Santos' guitar playing, underscoring, punctuating, accenting, and challenging the lyrics and drums. The singing is emotionally expressive -- particularly from
Paniagua, Ramón Torres,
Marino Pérez, and Juan Batista. Album standouts are many, and "Con el Amor No Se Jegua," Santos' excellent first single as a vocalist and bandleader, is an entry point. The dancelike intensity of songs such as "Yo Soy Puro Amor" by Cordero and Santos is infectious, despite melancholic subject matter. Daniel Morillo's big dance hit "La Puerta Romperé" is here, as is the gloriously sad "La Cruz de Olvidado" by
Paniagua and the achingly beautiful ballad "A Donde Andará" by Antonio Gomez Salcedo. Compellingly, the set closes with a famous merengue in "El Pajarito," by Cordero and Paredes.
Carlos Santana has quoted from its guitar part in various solos. While the sound quality in some of these tunes -- taken from vinyl copies since masters were not readily available -- is not pristine, it doesn't get in the way of completely enjoying the music. This is an essential, if not the essential, introduction to modern bachata. ~ Thom Jurek