Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

This disc purports to be a concert recording of the JPMorgan Chase Latino Cultural Festival. A note, here: banks like to sponsor minority festivals of this type in exchange for naming rights in the hope that the next time there’s a riot their local branch won’t be the first thing that gets burned. This never works, as their goombahs at Bank of America would be happy to tell them. Anyway, I know nothing about this festival other than Tricky doesn’t play there, apparently, nor does Control Machete, or J-Lo.

So who does show up, and what does get played? Well, there is some jazz on here, (Dervish by Avantango) though nothing particularly stirring; some folk (Amaracor by Noche Flamenca); some pop (Si Te Contara by Joe Vasconcellos and Cancion Mandala by Coba): flamenco (El Caiman by Semilla): some stuff that sounds like something that Paul Simon would just love but Art Garfunkel probably wouldn‘t (Canda Munani Ishkay by Yarina and Alfonsina y El Mar by Tania Libertad), some orchestral music (El Baile De L. Alonso by Banda Sinfonica de Vall de Uxo), and a track that sounds like one of those guys in the black suits sings at Las Margharitas on Friday nights when he’s strolling from table to table and people give him money to go away so that they can eat their flan in peace (Boricua En La Luna by Roy Brown (not the New Orleans R&B genius). There’s also an a cappella track that makes the Pipes of Pan at Jajouka sound like a forced march over hot lava El Hueso by Petrona Martinez). In other words, nothing really particularly stirring, not even enough to get the “boring but good for you” tag the elitists give to something they don’t like either, but still want to shove down your throats.

If you want to really enjoy world music, get something by Putamayo Records. They’re good people, their releases are well recorded, and you can buy literally anything they release and enjoy it. And it won’t put you to sleep. Plus, they’re not sponsored by a bank.