Search - Juan Luis 440 Y Guerra :: El Original 440

FIRST ALBUM OF JUAN LUIS GUERRA (for starters)

11/20/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Many of Juan Luis Guerra's fans don't know that his first album was a jazz album. JLG was graduated from Berkley school of music as a Jazz musician and his first album did not do well. So he went to his original roots. He then came with his second album "Mudanza Y Acarreo" after that he became known as the best Dominican merengue band. This album is still very enjoyable. I have all of his CD's and this is one of favorites. It's totally different to his everything he has... I love JLG...."

La curva de los años..

Peppino | 01/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As the 2 previous reviews touch on very good information about this recording, I think some words have been forgotten.



"Juan Luis Gorilla" ..(the apelido I gave him as I used to tease my ex-namorada, who hails from Ponce PR! and was an applied fan of JLG so to make her "angry" ! )

.. has wonderful musical concept, and his solid sense of harmonia, melodia with marriage to the infectious "famous" Latin ritmos makes this a "must-encounter" recording, even as JLG's devout fans prefer his merengue/bachata ,frankly , quite more popular incarnation as musician /performer/composer !



And cannot forget to mention,also on this cd, missing in the reviews, are the moments of instrumental solo, the improvisation is TOP SHELF on this cd, I wish there was more solo space.



JLG made to blend, as previous mentioned, a vocal concept which I also would compare to not ONLY Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 as said , but , (as I come from an appreciation of the GREAT Brasilian vocal group tradition not well recognised in the USA),very 'progressive' vocal groups as Os Cariocas, Boca Livre , Quarteto Em Cy, etc! (Give them a chance too, if I can interject!)



Many can easily overlook the breezy vocals offered in this cd as , dare say "soft jazzy " like Manhattan Transfer offerings, but you must LISTEN to the incredible arrangements on EACH composition, the vocal and HORN arrangements are not only excrucuating beautiful , but very nuanced and complex!



The CD finishes with JLG's interpretation of the jazz standard Green Dolfin Street, need I say more. The river runs deep.



A note to both the "jazz- snobs" and applied disciples of JLG's more "popular-oriented" style (which I agree is great ALSO ), I wll say "en español"..



"el jazz y las músicas creativas no son músicas "difíciles" ni para una elite de "entendidos"



That is, to dismiss this recording as just an exercise , a prelude to JLG fully realizing the style that made much fame is silly, it is just as valid as what came afterward, no? You can hear that this is not a "first time out", this is a very complex recording disguised in quase-popular clothings!



this music is more special to me than the later JLG merengues(but I love Juan Luis as a salsero and his bachatas are timeless, and I am no fan of the merengue, even to dance , so please, dont crucify me for this strong opinion, jejejejejeje!)



For the Amazon prices at this time I write (I see one for $4.99 US), you deny yourself a pleasure to miss this one!



Too bad the recording label also dismissed this one, NO information for the curious is included , no notes. The package horrible generic , not very compelling.



No wonder it is almost disappeared! . I will say, many of the compositions are "decompositions" of traditional songs..



Say no more from me, many many stars off the sky , paste them to my review of this JLG recording!



"

Don't be tricked

Enrique Torres | San Diegotitlan, Califas | 11/18/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is a curious disc that is sold as Juan Luis Guerra y 4.40 but does NOT feature Juan Luis Guerra taking the familiar lead vocals very often like on many later discs. What you are left with is a sort of chorus singing with lead occasionally by an unknown female voice or Guerra where he barely distinguishes himself from the chorus. Imagine a sort of breezy Brazil 66 sound with multiple voices (4:40)singing in unison to a Latin jazzy beat. There is really no merengue, with the exception of "Sambomba" but there is lots of group singing that sometimes does some scat singing to sound like a Latin version of Manhattan Transfer. I really like Juan Luis Guerra and remember when I bought this some years back to be very disappointed. From one person who admires JLG's works to another, look elsewhere for a good disc of his , this is definitely not it. This was probably his start before he made it big with his more well known discs like "Ojala Qe Llueve Cafe" or "Areito." You would hardly know this is a Juan Luis Guerra CD. The original band is obviously not as good as when he took the lead vocals. This is a very forgetable disc, actually annoying on certain songs and recommended for die hard fans of the GROUP only. Unless you are interested in JLG before his rise skip this disc and go for his other discs mentioned or his Greatest Hits. The booklet opens revealing two sheets of clean white paper with nothing written. It has an exploitive running time of 33: 20."