Search - Various Artists :: La Paloma: One Song for All Worlds, Vol. 3

Digipak. On the third volume of La Paloma, the Trikont series where the classic Cuban ballad "La Paloma" is played over and over by many different artists from many different time periods in the 20th Century, things really start to get wild. For one, the 1961 Dean Martin version of the song is done without his usual lounge lizard shtick, and is rendered graciously and seemingly sincerely with the Henry Mancini orchestra backing him. This is a revelation in and of itself -- not that he knew the song, because everybody does, but that he could actually sing it. More beautiful, however, is the great Spanish alto diva Conchita Supervia's rendering where you can hear her heart breaking in every syllable. There are far more Latin artists on this volume, giving interpretations like the aforementioned, to the folk-flavored vocalizing of the Lecuona Cuban Boys from 1937, and the wacky drama of Perez Prado that is every bit as harmonically challenging as it sounds. His arrangement is mind-boggling. The most bizarre thing here is a Vietnamese blues reading by Jiao-Jim-Hai from 1980, where guitars and handmade percussion shimmy together in a kind of spectral bliss amid the bluesed-out tempo and atmospherics -- he even adds a touch of Oriental folk music to the mix in the bridge. It's more than satisfying -- it's mystifying. The most ass-kicking versions here are by the Cuban maestros Orchestra Valde and the '60s ska group the Orchids. While the former is a classic Cuban son arrangement with polyrhythms clicking all over the place -- from 1919 no less -- the latter is a groover with a Hammond organ solo, brassed-out horn section, and a chunky electric guitar. Carla Bley makes a return appearance -- she was featured twice on volume one -- with "Teenage Paloma," a brief synth/guitar/organ workout from wack-o-land. Noro Morales checks in with one of his many versions, this one the best, from 1960 -- it's the only one featured on the collection -- with a rumba slipped into the middle eight. And then there's whitest of white singers, Bing Crosby, with -- ironically enough or not -- the Paul Whitehead Orchestra. It's so damn bland it sounds like milk being swished around in somebody's mouth. The Quinteto Mexicano brings us back to the folk tradition of "La Paloma" as a tragic, bittersweet love song -- recorded in 1928. In all, volume three is very strong, better than the second but number one is still the champ.