Reviews (page 3 of 8)
A nice retro listen. Definitely rhythmic…
++: El cumbanchero, Choferito-Plena, Simba, Rhapsodia del Maravilloso, Tribilín cantore +: Billumba-Palo Congo, Asabache, Aggo Elegua 7,9/10
Hypnotic samba, conga, and other tribal rhythms, like afro-cuban. Too much bongoes and drums! Not for everyone.
Pleasant background music that I will never listen to again
Not my kind of music
Not a fan, listened to it 2 times. It really made me feel nervous for no reason.
Sometimes you want to laiten to incredibly complex and intricate songs that sonically create a whole universe within the world of the album. Sometimes you want to listen to people playing bongo drums and yelling in Spanish. While Palo Congo isn't an album I would laiten to all the time, it was a very fun and relaxing album that would be perfect for certain nights. Highlights include El Cumbanchero and Rhapsodia del Maravilloso.
Sabu? More like sybau
I enjoyed the rhythms. The Congo is a cool instrument in my book I’ve been playing a lot of a few Sid Meier’s Civilization games recently, and this reminded me of the early tribal music used in those games
This is great. Love a wee Cuban influence with those African rhythms. It’s joyful and makes me want to get up and join in with the celebration. Would be amazing live
Sabu – Palo Congo (1957) On Day 77, Palo Congo was a complete miss. It lacks any discernible soul or a cohesive concept that makes it worth a full listen. When I finish a project, I want to have memorable points to hold onto, but this offered nothing. Even the supposed highlights like El Cumbanchero didn't land it just wasn't a good listen. It felt like a collection of rhythms without a heart, earning a definitive 1/5.
Meh
That Cuban beat really just gets your spirits up, y'know? 4.5 bumped down to 4.
I’m at a 2.5 that I’ll bump down to a 2. I mean, look, it’s not BAD. It’s just boring as hell. So many of these tracks are culturally specific, so without the inroads of understanding why these tracks are so important (think Ravi Shankar’s ‘tutorials’ during “The Sounds of India”), a lot of them just feel very, very similar. Since the lyrics aren’t really online for a lot of these, it’s up to the vibes, and sadly, the vibes just aren’t really there. I don’t know if the style this album is going for directly forbids horns from being involved (it certainly seems to love & rely on the bongos / conga drums), but they felt DESPERATELY needed on a lot of these tracks. Past that… christ, they’re just too long. So many of these tracks could be finished after 2 or 3 minutes, but they all just go on for too long in a way that doesn’t work together as an album experience. Hence, a 2, though it could bump up to a 3 in the future if even just one more track clicks a little better. I just wasn’t that impressed, & ironically, the most compelling tracks here are the ones without any vocals to begin with, so maybe the instrumental approach would’ve worked better? It certainly worked for “Kenya”, which was released the very same year as this, and felt like a bolt of lightning compared to this. There’s just nothing here to hook onto meaningfully, and while it’s really not that bad, I can’t in good faith say it’s an album you need to listen to before you die.
Was surprisingly listenable. I find sometimes this type of music can become repetitive and get under your skin but it did not reach that level. I liked listening to it but not enough to go back.
It was fine.
I was excited to listen to this, as I enjoy world music, but this was just relentless bongo-ing without purpose, at least to me. Boring and annoying with the occasional danceable bit, sorry!
There's a lot of banging on this.
Surprised to see all the low ratings for this. It's a pretty fun record. Asabache probably drags on a bit, but the playing is consistently top notch, and while I've got no idea what they're singing it works
The rhythms are insane.
I can’t judge whether this is good or bad, but I do know I don’t like it at all
If I heard it in the background of a restaurant sure, I’d be fine with it… but I didn’t need to hear this
2.5 rounding up
Blue note in the 50s is always good
Percussive and passionate. Fun, but probably not an all the time listen. Had this on late at night, which didn’t fit with winding down for bed, but it could be cool. Definitely a lot of noise, shouting and drumming at times but it felt passionate Highlight: Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso From Musicboard (OG 1/13/26 [#21] Imported 2/26/26)
Lots of call and response, quite a fun album.
I gotta be honest, I could have used a little more bongos. I got a fever and the only prescription is more bongos! Seriously, it does not move me at all. Just background music. The kind of album that guy in college made you listen to because it was gonna change how you listen to music.
2.5. Impressive conga drums. Only have to hear it once.
Isch no gflashed, aber eifach nüt für mich. Für das was d songs sind, sind sie mir z lang. 1-2 songs sind schono cool, aber s meiste fühlt sich a wie filler
De erst Track isch no nice gsi. Ha viel weniger erwarted gha vom Album
es isch definitiv es album. meh chan ich au nöd drüber sege
3.5 stars
Drums were on
2nd day in a row of Latin jazz.
Groovy and upbeat, good for background music but maybe not a main course.
I love these albums that came out in the 50s when the western world seemed to be exploring what the rest of the world had to offer. This album makes we want to throw a luau and blast Sabu's drum beats while everyone mingles and sips mai tais. The energy and the passion!
Kind of cute novelty album that's fun for a little while.
No es mi tipo de música.
Very enjoyable.
Unless you are drunk on a dance floor, this music grates the nerves.
Really cool example of what I want from the list. I wouldn't say I liked it in the way I normally like music, but it was neat and interesting and felt like it would be foundational to a lot of Latin stuff. Maybe it's also the novelty.
Nah
A fucking drun solo track? Get to fuck.
Esoteric
Kinda cool, a little repetitive.
Afrobeat starts here!
I didn’t hate this album. I just felt that most of the songs had same tempo and this felt like the same song.
I've been staring at my screen for a solid 10 minutes trying to figure out what to write in this review. I won't leave it blank because I'm determined to write a review for every single album, but this one was just so forgettable that I feel absolutely no inspiration to share an opinion on it. Partly because my feelings on the album are so neutral, but mainly because I remember literally nothing about it so I don't really have any thoughts to share.
I was enjoying it the first few songs but then it got old and repetitive very quickly. 40 minutes of this is wild
Nothing remarkable to me, just some lively rumba music.
A perfectly middling example of the genre.
Interesting, just not something I see myself revisiting all too often
Not my thing.
I was surprised that I really wasn't blown away by this album. Kind of just okay but not overwhelmed/blown away. And I really did not like Asabache/Simba/Aggo Elegua, which were just banal. That being said, I did love Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso. 3 dipping stars.
well - not woking off mr. Good in it's own right especially for almost 70 years ago
Certainly Conga
This is wild, I like it
Enjoyable enough, competent band who I'm sure in 1956 would have the room jumping
Very repetitive, ritualistic-sounding music (I hope this is not an offensive thing to say; I know nothing about the culture it comes from). It’s not, like, slow and sparse, which is my least favorite type of music, but it felt boring. It felt too random, without a coherent idea, like people sitting next to each other and jamming out some stuff with no prior arrangements. This is not a bad thing necessarily. I guess some people can vibe to it, but I couldn’t. It had no highlights, no emotional tension. Every song sounds the same at the start as at the end.
Enjoyed the rhythm of the songs but didn't find them to be differentiated much, but did like the sound it had
Well the bongos were great. But most of the album didnt speak to me i guess.
No in depth review today. Another 4/5-GEMV (9.02.2026)
Hard to get my arms round this one
It shouldn’t be boring but is.
To save time they should have put on the credits, "assume everyone was playing congas or bongos unless stated otherwise"
One of those records that you're never going to find out about without signing up to this project. I particularly liked Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso.
This was kinda fun, whole album was just giving me the vibe of this emoji: 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻
The percussion only bits get a bit tiresome but combined with the guitar work and call and response vocals are pure joy. Favorite: tribilin cantore
Full of energy!
i love drums, i love sinking into and luxuriating in a rhythm, worth the price of admission just for Asabache and Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso. time to start my fifth listen
Cool listen! Isn’t something I’ll return to.
Not knowing much about this album I listened to it on Apple Music and first impression from a piece that is over 60 years old is the quality of the recording is very good and the group itself is great.
Tror aldri jeg har hørt så mye congas i mitt liv.
very summer vibes
Actually quite like the beat theres just not enough singing if there was definitely higher
this is like the first song on earth
2D: Not including international music is racist 3D: WASPs curating international music is racist 4D: Pretending to like international music is racist
No likey
I get that this is an older record, but it’s hard to get past just how rough the production is. There are some fun rhythms sprinkled throughout, but that’s about as far as it goes for me.
Honestly, fun. I like the rawness of so-called world music... not for a whole album though.
2,4/5
for real
That is a LOT of conga.
The website ate my review!
Good Latin groove
I don't know a damn thing about rumba music, but this was enjoyable.
Too much bongo shouty
It’s cool
Lente mot en 4er etter å hørt den på jobb, men etter å hørt den på nytt hjemme er den nærmere en 2er
Ga meg ingenting
Starte jo så jævlig bra. Like det her. Ti minutt med trommesolo i midten e ødeleggende.
Hørte på en gåtur i sentrum. Fy faen for en stressende opplevelse. Ikke hør på i bakrus.
Trivelig, men gir meg lite.
I don't know the historical relevance of this album, but I really disliked it.
un enfant qui crie dans sa canette pendant un long voyage de train
pratique pour apprendre a dire bonne nuit,
108/1001 First listen. Something out of the ordinary. So far removed from the usual listen I don’t know how to rate this. The vocals aren’t blowing me away but this has got a vibe. Maybe in a couple years when I’m done with the 1001 I’ll check back in on this. 5/10
An unfortunately devoid of feeling jazz and rumba cubana album. The record starts with one of the strongest song, "El Cumbanchero". It is very rumba inspired and has a very infectious and skillful conga playing, a guitar that adds a little bit of melody in the background and some playful voices singing in the front. The next song, "Billumba-Palo Congo" has to be the weirdest track, due to the incoherent choir ramblings that are exclusively accompanied by a monotonous conga. The following track, "Choferito-Plena", is also one of the best tracks that shows more influence of the rumba. Just as the first song, it is very infectious and tasteful with conga, voices and guitars playing. It is from this point that the album loses all the potential. The next four songs are basically the conga playing without any groove or taste. In addition, over the rhythms they play and sing some very uninspiring voices and guitars. The last song of all, "Tribilin Cantore", despite showing a bit of the rumba side that made the first songs great, doesn't recover the energy and is not as memorable as the mentioned ones. Quite a pity that I feel this way, because in my first listen I was really digging it and I believe that there is a lot of passion put behind it, but with subsequent listens, I was getting less value out of it.
CONGAS?? HELL YEA. BANANA BREAD AT WORK?? HELL. YEAH. Such a fun listen. Reading through other comments It was funny about how divisive this album is. Maybe it's because I took percussion in high school. But man, those rhythms fucked me up in the best way possible. I would give it a 5/5. but I'm saving that for really special albums.
I get down with it. Fun beats and vibe.
The beats are pretty good. Didn’t enjoy the music, though. 3/10 Ho Hum
It started off being a refreshingly different sound then wore out its welcome quickly.
I'm very partial to latin rhythms. This album was more of the same in respect of my recent experiences working through this list. Nothing great, nothing terrible. No need to turn it off before the end, no desire to ever listen to it again. A classic 3 stars really.
Not for me. I tried to like some of the tracks and there were a few that had some catchy parts, but there just didn’t seem to be much going on throughout most of the album.
Palo Congo honestly didn’t connect with me. Listening to it during a cold Japanese winter, with light snow falling outside, the sound just didn’t sink in at all. It feels like an album that probably makes more sense in a completely different climate and setting.
Not my thing at all
vai että sambaa. Toisinsanoen sambarumpua ja laulua, suureksi osaksi. Alkuasukassaundit ovat vahvassa. Ei oma leipä purtavaksi mutta mahtavaa että tällaisiakin on tällä listalla!
Quite different, had a good jazz and Latin blend. Good listen but nothing for me to come back to.
I love how raw and intense this is. Too often people want to treat 50s/early 60s jazz as merely pleasant background music. This won't let you do that. The rhythms are too insistent.
I have the greatest respect for the Blue Note label. The fact that this lot are on it means that they must be good. So I’m wrong and they’re right but not right enough to inflate my star score. 1/5 22/1/26
This started out as a three for me, as a one off song is jaunty and fun enough to listen to. But the repetition soon sets in. Maybe this was influential at the time, but as an interesting or enjoyable listen there is little here. This is, at best, music to dance to. I don't like dancing.
A bit more fun than expected for a Wednesday morning.
Can definitely hear the influence on or by early rock - perhaps both. Good, but not enough for a higher score.
Music's fun. Vocals aren't great.
I'm gonna go out on a limb before listening to this and say this is going to be hot. I was right.
This rocks!
if i'm ever in the mood for call&response bongo music in a language I don't speak this is my go-to
Quite good. Like that Cuban/Island sound.
I feel like this would be really fun to listen to live and dance to
Tror da va greit
First torturous album I've had in a while. Boy that second song made me wish I didn't have ears, and I can even understand a little bit of what they are saying. The cacophony of drums and chanting was awful, though. A few more painful songs along the way, but some of them weren't horrible. If the only positive note I can give is that "some songs weren't horrible", it's a 1 for me dawg
Sweet sweet music.
Holy congas! A competent Cuban rumba record I guess, but wish it had a tad more variety. Don't have much interest in seeking out more of this music, but this was OK enough to listen to in one sitting.
Very cuban, great vibe. I did not enjoy the fact that some parts are 3 minutes straight of only drums. And the singer is sometimes plain bad 2.5/5
It's alright. Don't mind it
The guitar work on here is terrific. Unfortunately only three songs feature guitar. The rest of the album is not good. There’s a song that’s just a bongo solo, a bongo should not be the main instrument on a song let alone the sole instrument. The song after that is another bongo solo but there’s also someone randomly banging on a tin can and a guy yelling at you. Other than that there’s a lot of call and response songs and I just don’t like call and response. Also, don’t listen to this with headphones! The stereo mixing is so harsh. There’s a song where it’s just soft bongos in one ear and two women screeching at you in the other ear. It sounds terrible in headphones. So basically, great guitarist, awful everything else.
weniger meins: viel trommeln, wenig musik.
Fun record, don't get why so much hate.
Auch sehr aufgedreht
never heard of them before, but i liked. made me feel @ i love lucy show when her husband played cuban music.
For me, each of these tracks is great but an album of them after I've been working all day is a bit too intense. I guess as some background music, this would be perfect but as something to actively listen to, it's tiring for me.
It can certainly get a little repetitive at times, but I can't say it wasn't a fun listen.
I want to say I enjoyed this album, I really do. The music was great, but the call and response just seemed very repetitive after a little while, especially not knowing why they’re saying. Check your pulse of Latin jazz doesn’t make your body move though!
I’d dance to this in a bar but I can’t say I’d listen to it more casually.
Louis “Sabu” Martinez earnt his spurs as a percussionist in Dizzy Gillespie’s Orchestra in the late 1940s. His 1957 album Palo Congo was his first as bandleader, and it’s a ride, a terrific mix of driving Afro-Cuban drumming, primal chants, Santeria prayer and irresistible grooves - which feel like they directly link back to ancient roots. To be honest, I’ve no idea how to contextualize Palo Congo. Is it a unique jazz record? Was there a huge wave of wild Latin jazz in the late 50s that I haven’t heard about? I’ve no idea, but what I hear I like, and that’s probably enough. 7/10
Happy to hear more international music on this list. Snappy and bright, a fun groove.
I don’t know anything about the genre, so I can’t talk from an area of expertise, but it was pleasant background music.
Great party album, but not sure I'd listen to it outside of that
Africa. Rhythm. Drums. Nice
Funky groovy stuff. I liked it.
I thought, maybe it's just not for me but I could see the technical competence or something, but I couldn't even get past the second track. Not for me for sure
07/01/2025 1. el cumbanchero - like the maracas. like the vocals :) lots of congas.... guitar is really nice.... 2. billumba-palo congo - liking the spoken word bit at the start.... the drums are reallly nice. liking the call and response in these songs. definitely not bad to listen to, but gets a bit repetitive after six minutes and drags with not many instruments *3. choferito-plena - oooh liking this one more immediately. the guitar is reallllly nice with the drums. like the scratchy washboard-y sound? (not sure what instrument it is...) whistle is nice! bass at the end was nice. 4. asabache - lots of drums... 5. simba - drums are realllly nice in this album. liking the vocals :) whistle again! liking the cowbell? sound. not sure how if i love or hate the bird-like vocals.... *6. rhapsodia del maravilloso - immediately guitar is realllly nice. bass as well :) about halfway trhough, loving this one so far! really nice ending 7. aggo elegua - liking the vocals again :) will have to look up what the lyrics mean later.... for me, the songs just go on for too long and end up dragging after about three minutes of the same thing over and over.... *8. tribilin cantore - liking the tracks with guitar more, so hopeful for this one :) liking the female vocals especially through this album. not sure if i would listen to most of these songs again, but i will definitely give the ones i liked the most another listen, a relisten, especially without the rest of the album with it might help me to like some of the songs more? a lot of the songs went on for longer than needed, which just ended up dragging... especially on the tracks with few instruments (although i enjoyed the drumming on asabache, it got stale after a while). enjoyed it though, wasn't as bad as the white stripes!
i'm sure this is great. it is just not my thing... at least not on this listen.
This is not an album for a man who hates drums. That being said, I liked the songs where the percussion took a backseat, such as 'Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso'.
Loud and raucous, not easy to listen to, maybe ok for a loud party
Fun latin vibes
I don't care. 2/5
There's no reason as to why, but I thoroughly enjoyed this.
Lotsa hand drumming, which I don't hate.
honestly not very fun to listen to. feels. well. dated so it’s not fair bc they keep sending me all this iconic stuff without impressing on me its originality
I don't speak the language, but damn the rhythm is universal. Them hands tho
I loved the passionate spoken word at the beginning of Billumba-Palo Congo. Interesting to hear some Cuban conga, it’s not something I would have easily stumbled upon otherwise. Overall I had favourable opinions towards this album, although it got a bit samey after a while.
fuuuuun! vocals are awesome. saved: choferito-plena, rhapsodia del maravilloso.
Latin
So much percussion and not much else, except for the odd vocal and guitar wig out.
Nice beat and rhythms on this album. I did not understand any of it though.
What kept it interesting was the language
This kinda sucked. It was just uber long repetitive boring drum solos and repeated lyrics for most of the album. No bueno
enjoyed the listen & energy; however, some tracks did lag a bit. still it was an overall good listen
Very fun! Parts of it were a bit of a grind, but I do love how much they did with a few simple sounds. Recovering from surgery at the moment, I cannot get up and dance, but I sure wanted to.
I loved this. A real treat and a palette cleanser on the list. Excellent Xmas errands music - will 100 percent revisit!
The conga drumming is kinda cool but this is not my vibe. I always feel bad when I rate 'world' music because I know I don't have the cultural knowledge to actually or fully appreciate it.
I'm glad I heard this but I don't know if I'd listen again. It does go hard, I'll give it that
This is a tough one. The highs are great, the lows are low. I love Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso and I don't mind the call & response and such, but when it devolves into yelling... it's no longer interesting to listen to, it becomes a literal pain. El Cumbanchere: Great! Billumba-Palo Congo: eh... Choferito-Plena: okaaay! Asabache: Nice! Simba: No. A whistle? Why? Just get out. I, too, can tap on something metal. No. Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso: Fantastic! Aggo Elegua: Probably fun if you were there. Tribilin Cantore: It's fine. The female vocalist reminds me of one of the songs in West Side Story; good and bad. The guitar is strong in this one. So... that seems to math out into a three?
it has a lot of conga drums. apart from that seems a bit repetitive. seems like fine background music but not to listen actively idk
I don’t have enough bongos in my day to day life so thank you
¡Un discazo! ¡Y del '57! Sabú, un boricua de la temprana diáspora, al quién yo desconocía, crea una rumba junto a su combo que pudiese retumbar un callejón festivo al sol de hoy. Es un sonido que no me hace pensar en ningún momento a la grabación de estudio, es algo que se encuentra en la calle tropical con percusionistas en euforia. Y aquí está, tal como debe sonar, disponible para reescuchar de modo digital. No me imagino salivarme para escuchar el lado A y culminar con Asabache, que joya. Esa me recordó a El Nicoya de Santana, pero realmente tiene texturas más profundas, un sabor más auténtico. 4.1/5
I can't really say anything negative aside from the fact that I'm not a huge fan. Some parts actually go on my nerves. Some are pretty good. Overall well done, but not for me. 4/5
Lots of monotonous drum rhythms. I wanted to like this a lot but it didn't do it for me. 2.4/5
The section in the middle sounds like someone dropping a marble down a drainpipe
Some songs could've used more bongos
I am just a white guy from Western Europe so what do I know but I can not appreciate this album unfortunately. The conga drums are fine until they use it for 40 minutes straight. Terrible vocals that border on screaming (though this does make it more authentic-feeling so that's good I guess) combined with nothing really interesting going on whatsoever makes me not be able to really give it any points.
Not my thing
ugh
10/10 fricken amazing!
Favorite Track: Asabache
Wonderfully traditional afro cuban album. Very raw and unmixed I like it alot. But not as much as Stan Getz and Buena Vista.
First for me, great congo
Repetitive droning
Upbeat album, fun. 3/5
I need more than a conga drum circle and shouting, man. Like, I can tell the skill and passion behind this, but God this one isn't my cup of tea.
Holy shit bro ulted on the second song That's crazy
My first listen of this was super early in the morning… sometimes I wake up and “pre-listen” to the day’s album while I snooze. Incredible move! I haven’t had a hallucinatory experience like that since college, and this time I was completely sober! I understand all the critiques about the repetition here, there is a great deal of drum jamming here that not everyone will appreciate (if that’s you, skip “Asabache”). I’ll admit I got frustrated during “Simba” because it has a certain “guy makes bird noises with road construction in the background” quality to it that I couldn’t connect with for 6 minutes. Aside from those two notable outliers, this album is very proto-Buena Vista Social Club and I'm glad to have heard it. I also appreciate that we're holding strong on the original 1957 Blue Note recording of this and there aren't a bunch of remastered versions out there. I'll add this to my ever-growing fantasy vinyl collection.
Good
Jag har suttit och lyssnat på sånt här på Kuba, folkmusikstandards med två congas, gitarr och kanske nån flöjt och några som dansar. The real deal på nån hacienda i djungeln eller mest nån turistgimmick? Anyway eftersom maten inte va nåt att skriva hem om blev ändå de luncherna lite minnesvärda. Rytmerna är väldigt svängiga men det blir too much. Då hjälper det inte gitarristen är smått fantastisk stumdtals, det melodiösa får aldrig fäste. Allt liksom bara pågår. Men så kommer du i svänget nån minut eller så, för att sen försvinna ut ur det igen. Kanske handlar det om vanan att lyssna på sån här musik? Det får mig att fundera på annan rytmbaserad bruksmusik som t.ex. techno, som i alla fall jag är van vid. Betoningen här är ju bruksmusik, det är musik som ska få dig att röra dig, inte lyssna på. Att svänget bara pågår är en stor del av idéen. Därför är det kanske inte konstigt att man zonar ut. Det kan jag göra med brukstechno också, men kanske inte lika lätt för jag är van vid den på ett annat sätt och vet vad jag ska lyssna efter. Så jag antar att om du dansar rumba vill du ha ett stadigt sväng som inte avbryts eller att det melodiska får för mycket plats, på samma vis som på ett technodansgolv eller när ett dansband lirar på dansbanan. Och det blir naturligtvis svårt att överföra det till en skiva, inte minst 1957 när albumformatet var helt nytt. Jag vet inte, någon annan som har nån tanke? En tvåa för svänget
Den melodiska delarna är rätt trevliga i Tribilin cantore och Choferito Pleno. Men i övrigt bara ett ändlöst trummande utan mening. Svag tvåa.
Ett svängigare kromata. Det bankas friskt på slagverken. I flera av spåren blir tyvärr allt för enahanda. Låtarna pågår utan att det händer något. När trummorna backas upp av en gitarr och melodier tillåts som i Choferito-Plena och Tribilin cantore blir det däremot riktigt trevligt. Mer av den varan och betyget hade blivit högre.
En bongotrumma gör inget album. Här har Blue Note, som brukar vara liktydigt med kvalitet, verkligen gått vilse i iverna att hitta nåt nytt och spännande. Det saknas låtar. Det bara trummas och ibland ylas det. När stränginstrument får vara med blir det bättre. Men inte bra.
This is an album where I can tell they are good at what they do but I don't think I could tell a difference between them and another conguero. I don't think I'd listen to this again but I am glad I heard it.
Never heard anything quite like this before. So that’s a win I guess! May not revisit but nothing wrong here
I have no way of knowing if this is good for its genre or just slop but I do know I nodded my head for 40 minutes so that's an advantage it has over many of the albums here. Never would've come across this album if it wasn't for this generator so that's a bonus.
I am in no way qualified to review this rumba album. I liked the percussion throughout, but really only jammed out with a couple of the songs.
from the first track, I knew I was in trouble. What an annoying album.
Today was my last day (working) at the prison, except it nearly wasn’t, because this album made me want to commit a murder.
Música de santería.
*Afro jazz album with lots of focus on drumming
Some really good tracks, and a few that just go on a bit, overall enjoyed it.
first listen good stuff
This one's pretty fun, although it's really all-in on the drums. There should be more call-and-response songs these days. Favorite track: either "El Cumbanchero" or "Billumba-Palo Congo"
I hope you like congos. Best Tracks: El Cumbanchero; Choferito-Plena; Rhapsodia Del Maravillsos
Enjoyed this - good energy
2.5
2.5
3.5
I listen to this several years back when I tried to listen to the 1001 front to back. I'm going to keep doubling down on the three stars it is actually to me not that bad and I don't get where people don't hear the influence on on things like Santana or any kind of Latin polyrhythms that are put in rock especially during the late '60s and throughout the seventies jam band ideals. Even on Chicago's debut at the end of the song Beginnings there is a Latin polyrhythm percussion solo. I will have to say that some of the pure percussion tracks on there which there are only two I really couldn't get into but it's usually when the music and the polyrhythms are working together that I just find this at times exciting . It does go on a little bit long for this type of music because this is not a genre I would listen to as a whole. But I will say at least the opening the closing tracks are really good and there's a couple of tracks sparse throughout that I think really show off the enthusiasm of the players. (6.6) ★★★
Too much percussion! 3 stars
I thought this was surprisingly cool. There's a couple tracks that rely a bit too heavily on percussion, but the ones with guitar and/or vocals are pretty cool. The guitar work reminds me a little of Mark Ribot. Highlights for me were "Choferito-Plena", "Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso", and "Tribilin Cantore". 3.5 stars.
Interesting that this came out on Blue Note Records because it’s more like ‘brown note’. It’s a very dank, claustrophobic listen and the restless conga and chanting makes it feel like I am being held prisoner in some jungle village and they’re about to get the cooking pots out. Occasionally there’s some nice guitar bits that break up the conga monotony but that’s a small solace. 1.5 stars.
A gate way into sound, into that Cuban rumba for the soul.
this was not made for me
An interesting listen for about 15 minutes when it begins to feel too repetitive. I’m inclined to score a 3 to encourage a revisit but doubtful. 2/5
Funky and refreshing
I vibe with this different stuff. I don’t like the term “world” music, but alas I do find myself more likely to like the non-US/UK/Western albums
Quirky and fun record. Would have been more fun to listen to with a margarita in hand instead of my coffee this AM but here we are!
Came for the congos, stayed for the guitars 4/5
Stereo imaging was really cool on this album, but not really my style. Strong 2.5
Love when we get a bit more zoomed out on the world of music on this list. This was a very energizing listen
5 seconds in, 5 stars, GIMMIE MORE!
The more I listened the worse it got. Not horrific but not enjoyable.
Ugh, I was on the fence here. One one hand some of the guitar work and beats are kind of nice, on the other some of the other songs are annoyingly repetitive. I especially didn't like the second song which sounded like a lesson in Spanish 101. Overall less impressed. 2.4/5 -> 2/5
Despite being a genre I usually like, this was too frenetic for my taste.
3/10
Cool album with some bangin' songs. Old school percussion, not much else to say. Will be coming back.
Way too much conga. 1/5
Lets make a recipe Polyrhythm courtesy of the percussion Ocasional call and response vocals Sprinkled guitars at times The panning of the stereo brings down a bit, but it was something that was natural at the time 4/5
some good parts but I couldn't really get into this, some parts just a little too basic and repetitive for me
Overall: 1/10 I don't enjoy listening to some people who can't keep a tune yell over some percussion. I don't see why this would be essential listening. Fav Song: El Cumbanchero
Cool bongos, interesting beats, and love the panning. Very musically coherent album. But not necessarily my vibe.
That good rhythm had me grooving. Stuff this old still gets passed around for good reason.
good, not my thing
“Oops! All Congas!”
Really didn't do anything for me! But probably serves some purpose, so 2 instead of 1?
Really enjoyed this album
Another interesting world album, this one heavy on the bongos(?) and call-and-response chanting, with some cool electric guitar on some tracks. It did get a little repetitive, but it served well as background music while working on some reports. 3.5
Lots of drama.
Nett. Aber mich nicht sonderlich ansprechend
It's obvious "Sabu" was one of the quintessential Congo players of his time. He has played sessions with some of the era's best jazz musicians and was even given the opportunity to front his own band. How exactly a Congo player can be a band leader is a bit of a curious situation but I think it only adds further intrigue to this album. While I enjoyed this, I am not completely sold that this album on particular stands out amongst other similar Latin Jazz recording of the time. After listening to this I ventured down a short rabbit hole of vintage Latin Jazz and thoroughly enjoy the sound, as a jumping off point this album makes sense but I do think there are probably other recordings that could be considered just as significant or influential.
Now this is what I wanted to hear when I had the Incredible Bongo Band generated a while back! Incredibly interesting, almost trance like rhythm and percussion, and unique guitar playing that reminds me a bit of Khurangbin. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to this album and will absolutely come back for more!
The reviews made me think that this would be terrible. I quite liked it!
Enjoyed, not memorable.
This is #day469 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… there are always things in life you get to do for the first time, right? Like, this is my first time listening to Cuban rumba, and what can I say? Not much. It was certainly worldly, but I'm not sure I'm that open-minded. Let it be a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day470.
That's a lot of bongosof, but it's fun.
it was ok
Sabu no era ningún advenedizo, había estado con Dizzy Gillespie y Benny Goodman, y aquí con otro legendario como Arsenio Rodríguez (creador de temazos como Bruca maniguá). Bilumba-Palo Congo o Simba tienden un puente entre Cuba y África mucho antes de que Stevie Wonder, y luego en los 90 retomaran ese camino (más estético que otra cosa en este último caso). La inicial el Cumbanchero o Rhapsodia del maravilloso son inicios del mejor son ( esta última con notas de Maní). Fiesta para todos los sentidos.
ThIs is the kind of weird little hidden gem that really makes me love this project. If the album had a smidge more variety I may have rated it even higher.
Borders of relentless at times, but it certainty got me bobbing up and down like bird of paradise trying to get laid
Definitely would've enjoyed this more without the vocals
Super fun Cuban rumba with congas
Fun groovy record
Not really for me
Nice background music
Never heard this before….never will again hopefully.
I try to be as open minded as possible with the albums we get to listen to but this just sounds like me practising on my congas while some random bloke shouts bollocks at me! Not impressed.
Ok, standard defence - I have no cultural connection or touchstone to this kind of music so cannot objectively say if it’s good or bad, just what it makes me feel. Firstly, the stereo mix is fucking horrible on headphones. Saying it is a mix is being generous, it’s almost like one set of mics went into left channel, and another went into right channel, and never the Twain shall meet. Horrid. Secondly, it is so repetitive. I like percussion as much as the next man, even if the next man is Neil Peart. I gave Bongo Rock five stars. I don’t think Moby Dick is the skip track on Led Zep II. But, fuck man, come on - give me a bit of a break, please! Please? Please.
Certainly joyful but the repetition didn't do it for me, it's entertaining but I can't see myself putting this on again.
sevojno gif
Listening to this while in a hospital.
Not my thing
This was a fun album, not something I would have searched out but a nice change up. 3/5
Очередные нигеры с нищим блюзом/джазом
I was taught by adverts, "Um Bongo, the drink it in the Congo". Sounds simple, but today I realised things may be more complex. It seems that just about everyone on this album is playing a "Conga", an instrument that originated in the "Congo", where "Um Bongo" is allegedly drunk. However, one performer also plays the "Bongo". I believe the main artists are from Cuba, nowhere near Africa. From some quick research, it seems Bongos are smaller than Congas. I'm confused. Just how many Conga/ Bongo players are needed on one album? It seems that they spent all of their money on Conga/ Bongo kit and forgot to have singers, or any other musical accompaniment. So they had to let the poor Conga players double up by shouting random stuff and twiddling on guitars here and there. Maybe they told them that this noise would be fixed in the production, but then they forgot to do this? I can't believe it was intentional to release this album in this form. Actually, it sounds like the only production was to randomly pick conga drums and assign them to the right or left channel. One star, maybe if they had brought in a few singers it could rise to the dizzy heights of two stars.
While I do wish the 1001 albums to hear before I die list had more foreign representation, I am really glad there is at least some. One of those pieces of representation is the album I want to talk about today, Sabu's Palo Congo. For this project being made in the 50s it still has a lot of charm that can be felt through the musicianship on display from Sabu's band. Some of the songs here are a blast and feel very lively and quite engaging with the mixtures showcased in the compositions. Unfortunately not every song here gets the same amount of praise as there are a lot of songs here really missing an "oomph" element that helped drive some of the first songs on this album. The solo bongo bits are cool but get a bit tiresome by the end of the 4+ minute runs. There is a good bit of potential in this project but I feel it only gets tapped into every once and a while rather than across the board. Would definitely listen again but I definitely feel there are far better Afro-Cuban Jazz albums out there to enjoy.
Excellent, 1950’s yet still sounds fresh could have been released at any time. Bit of a gem.
I accidentally listened to this on shuffle. I don’t think it mattered.
I don't like congas enough to enjoy this. I liked the guitar work more than I did the congas. Pass.
Meh
The rhythm simply got me
50s latin music. interesting, not my bag
It's weird that such an old album made the list when there is so little information about it on Wikipedia. You would expect a long list of influenced artists or whatever. But it looks like it just is here to give people an idea about old Cuban music. It's fine for what it is, but why is this on the list.
Anyone who plays the congas, bongos, timbales, cajon, etc., is a goddamn sorcerer. How do they do it? How does it sound good? How do their hands not scream at them?
Made My day
Interesting. Good background music
Pretty cool
Couple of cool tracks.
5/10 Favourite: El cumbanchero Least Favourite: Simba
Meh
Dancey and repetitive. At times I grew weary of the repetitiveness, but overall, not a bad album to listen and dance to.
Look, conga-forward afro-cuban rhythms are probably not my vibe, but I love when things like this come up that are completely unique and plethora of countless mediocre British 80s/indie bands that have no business being on the list… 2.5⭐️
Can see returning to this one a bit. No surprise, Arsenio Rodríguez’ octave chord guitar work is an immediate attraction for me, slight Wes Montgomery vibe. As usual my immediate reaction with rhythm-forward music is that it’s very primal, trancelike stuff, which feels demeaning in some way, because it’s not sophisticated or something, but it’s not sophisticated to *my* dumbass.
Backyard Cuban / Puerto Rican parties
1- Star (1/15)
The music is great. The Spanish singing leaves something to be desired as an American listener. But the Afro-Latin based music is so fresh it’s hard to believe this is 1957.
ok
Good! Very good musicianship, I can definitely see how this rocked people's shit in the 1950s.
This is fantastic. The drums, the chants. Can't understand a single word but put the album on repeat. Got flashbacks to old Tarzan TV series soundtrack, and did my daily steps dancing to the beats. Listened before? N Saved to library? Y Favorite track(s): Asabache, Simba, Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: Loved it!
Some good guitar parts. Otherwise very repetitive. Reminds me of hearing the all-night drum circle at my local music festival while I'm in my tent trying to go to sleep. At least it's not wailing British dudes? Listened before? N Saved to library? N Favorite track(s): N/A ⭐⭐: Didn't like it, didn't hate it. Saved no tracks.
I enjoyed this well enough, but it left no lasting impression.
A lot of noise, a lot of congas and random shouting. Some ok bits, track 6 best of the bunch, sounds quite exotic and a lot calmer than most of the album.
An OG for sure, some interesting through lines to modern Latin music.
This album is pretty good, I've enjoyed it so much. It's not much interesting sometimes, to be honest, but it's a nice listening. And some instrumental parts are fantastic.
Surprised to see quite so many low reviews. Fun to listen to such different music and whilst it is a lot of percussion, the guitar parts are great and the chanting is pretty hypnotising. Fun listen 6/10
Not for me.
Very enjoyable.
Aufgenommen am 27. April 1957 im Manhattan Towers Studio, New York. Sabú Martínez war ein US-amerikanischer Conga-Spieler puerto-ricanischer Herkunft. Genre: Afro-kubanischer Latin-Jazz / Cuban Rumba. Besonders bekannte / stilprägende Stücke: El Cumbanchero, Billumba – Palo Congo (Titelstück), Asabache. Palo Congo rückt Perkussion und traditionelle afro-kubanische Rhythmen in den Vordergrund. Die Arrangements sind absichtlich sparsam aufgesetzt: mehrere Congas, Stimme, Bass und gelegentliche Tres/Gitarrenfärbung bilden den Klangkern. Das ergibt eine unmittelbare, ritualhafte Klangwirkung, die Authentizität und Rhythmusgewicht in den Mittelpunkt stellt. Gleichzeitig führen die ähnliche instrumentale Besetzung und der Fokus auf rhythmische Fortführung dazu, dass manche Tracks in ihrer Dynamik nah beieinanderliegen — Hörer, die Abwechslung in Melodie- oder Harmoniearrangements suchen, könnten das als Einschränkung empfinden. Für diejenigen, die eine direkte Verbindung zu afro-kubanischen Traditionen und perkussiver Intensität bevorzugen, ist das Album eine klare Empfehlung.
Sometimes you get the Incredible Bongo Band and sometimes you get the Not So Incredible Conga Band.
Best Track - "El Cumbanchero"
such a fun album, especially the songs further in. listened to it while admiring the fall foliage from the water
This is the first "world music" album that didn't really do it for me.
Trying to be objective but this album has nothing for me. Live albums, world music, no attachment to lyrics. This makes it something I will never come back to because it’s just not my vibe.
too much