Ray
Lugo's mind is very fertile, and he's been rather prolific over the last
decade, putting out a variety of groovy sounds ranging from organic to
electronic, afrobeat to soul, Latin to Brazilian and many different sorts of
mashup/fusions in between. But just because he is creatively fecund doesn't
mean the quality suffers - each album is hand-crafted and Ray takes his time to
shape and mold it to just the right proportions.
So when
Ray told me he had some new music he was working on, I didn't know what to
expect, but I knew it was going to be sabroso, whatever the ingredients. Turned
out it was his second Latin soul record with The Boogaloo Destroyers, and
destroy the dance floor is just what they will do when you put this record on
the Hi-Fi.
The
Boogaloo Destroyers' sound is inspired by the warmth, diversity, and youthful spirit
of classic New York Latin Boogaloo of the 1960s, yet at the same time, as
composer and lead vocalist, Ray feels he is bringing some of his afrobeat
sensibilities and vocal personality to the proceedings. When I asked him to
talk about the songs, he offered some entertaining insights:
El Ritmo
De Nueva York: "I wanted to feature some real descarga tunes as we lacked
those on the first album. Also wanted to show NYC pride!" Let Me Tell Ya
'Bout The Boogaloo: I was thinking of a couple going uptown for a night of
dancing"
I want
to leave you, the listener, with this thought Ray shared with me recently: In a
hyper difficult music environment Ray has had the great fortune to bring so
many of his concepts to life, and he feels this new boogaloo album has come at
the perfect time in his career. Now is a time in his life when he's never been
more comfortable making music, and he feels blessed to be finding himself
constantly amazed by people's kind consideration of his work. After they hear
this one, I can assure you Ray, the deal will be sealed!
No comments:
Post a Comment