Latin Jazz in Los Angeles - Louie Cruz BeltranAug 21 '02 (Updated Aug 24 '03) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Louie Cruz Beltran's shows that individuality and quality can still be combined with his fusion of jazz and Latin music on It's My Time Up and Coming Rock Music is, of course, not the perfect category for this review, but it's the best place we have. It's My Time is the title of Louie Cruz Beltran's debut CD and as much as music lovers may dislike it, Beltran has to dole his out sparingly between his many other projects in life which include live performances in the greater L.A. area, social involvements and the percussion workshops he teaches. Therefore, the only real disadvantage of this CD is that it only runs close to 40 minutes. Beltran has talent and does what he wants with it. The 9 songs on this CD are distinctly different from one another even when they fall into a like category. There’s an individual charm to each of them. Being able to grant an artist the ability to do a variety of styles and still do them right is something that doesn’t happen often. It certainly applies in LCB’s case, and even just a quick glance at the artist’s website helps to understand what kind of learning process has fostered this thorough understanding of harmony and an incredible talent for flawless combination of jazz, R&B, samba, rumba, reggae, Afro-Cuban and Brazilian styles, and a myriad of others. Beltran doesn’t slide along on the mainstream track and his songs seem personal to the artist’s experiences and emotions, sometimes to the point where they evoke the feeling that he's talking to one special person in his life. Beltran’s website offers samples of each song but those do not necessarily reflect the work that’s obviously gone into this CD. It would have been interesting to see the composition years on the individual tracks, since lined up in order of composition they’re probably the dots which, if connected with a bit of imagination and thought, tell a complete story of a man and his journey through life. And if you listen closely, now and then, you’ll hear it told with an ever-so-slight, adorable regional accent. Track 7 – Special Love There isn’t much room for description on an R&B/soul love song like Special Love. It’s harmonic, it’s well filled-out with the right amount of instruments and it’s plain beautiful. Special Love is that old-style, first slow song guys like Luther Vandross or Teddy Pendergrass used to give us in bountiful supply so that, no matter how often we did that “first" dance, we can spend the rest of our lives crying out “that’s our song” when the Best of 80’s R&B charts play on the radio. Even if written more recently, Special Love is the kind of slow jam that could at least still claim the right to live on “Best of” compilations, unlike the usual assembly line pop we’ve been receiving over the past few years. For a concrete example, I would probably loosely compare Special Love to Kool and the Gang’s Cherish without background vocals. Track 4 – Tell Me What You Have to Say This track is close to Special Love in its R&B style but features female vocalist Rebecca Valadez whose voice is as strong as that of a Shirley Murdock, slightly leaning towards Randy Crawford. Forgive me if I’m stuck in the 80’s theme a bit on the comparisons. There just aren’t too many current singers I could think of who not only have such strength and clarity to their voices, but also use it to underscore the lyrics and work with the song rather than throw in an extra octave just to show that they can. On Tell Me What You Have to Say, Beltran starts by telling the woman he loves that this may be their final chance to work out their problems. He realizes there’s something that bothers her and asks her to tell him what's on her mind. The answer he gets may be one many men can relate to: She asks him if, instead of talking to everyone else, has he ever thought to talk to her? This track has a nice addition of harmonica. If you’ve ever watched the film Baghdad Café and fallen in love with the title song I’m Calling You as it’s harmonica parts describe the infinite loneliness of a desert highway, you will undoubtedly love this song. Track 6 – Have Some Fun This is another one of the songs that seems like a personal experience directed at a particular person. The mention of the human frailties overcome at this point when it is time to Have Some Fun, are so detailed that they can almost make you feel like you’re sitting at a table and, bored with your own companion, listen to the couple next to you having a private conversation. Have Some Fun is a nicely-done soul-bearing celebration of overcoming the stormy part of a relationship and working things out. On all tracks, Beltran manages to bring across his true mood through intonation; his singing convinces that he means what he says, and this truly is the time after the rain when the sun comes out and things can start out new. Most of all, he sounds genuinely happy, and that dedication to put feelings into his songs is something that makes this CD worthwhile. Track 1 – It’s My Time Anybody using “heavenly serene” in a song has to get a point for that alone. If he then sneaks in an ever-so-tiny Spanish murmur in the middle of a dedicated love song like It’s My Time, he certainly has won that match. While the background of It’s My Time sounds a little synthesized, it is overall a nice piece of soft rock/R&B with a heavy Spanish guitar accompaniment. This combination is similar to that of the Don Juan de Marco soundtrack with Bryan Adams’ Have You Ever Loved a Woman. A lyrics sheet would have helped me a lot with this review since trying to find a part of it to quote is an admirable goal, but it doesn’t work when you keep getting lost listening to the entire piece and forget that you wanted to sternly pick a representative part of the lyrics. Basically, boy meets girl, falls in love, wants to marry her. Now let me go back to listening to this and stop asking so many questions. Track 2 – Samba Lady Speaking of Bryan Adams (and yes, I admit to still own several vinyl albums featuring his make-up chiseled head), when Bryan picked up his guitar and tore into it, he was worth every dime spent on him and so are the guitar solos on Samba Lady. They're every bit as good as old Bryan's, if not better. To stick with the Latin theme, the guitar in this piece has a Santana touch as it takes turns with the acoustic guitar. The lyrics to this song are simple: No matter where she goes Everybody knows her name She leaves a trail of lovers Like a burning flame Samba Lady dance with me … However, the musical aspect of this song should stay before the lyrics and it does so. What the lyrics do include are a few references to Monte Carlo lights, Rio de Janeiro and Portuguese nights envoking the imagery of a pristine yacht harbor in Monte Carlo or the skyline of Lisbon in the mellow golden glow of its street lights. Another highlight of Beltran’s CD is that songs which aren’t about a relationship manage to induce imagery that’s generally tranquil and elegant or lighthearted and fun. Track 5 – Senorita Mia One of two songs in Spanish, I can not begin to guess at what it is about. I hear the words senorita and bongo, something about la vida and mi madre, and I curse my Spanish program for not bestowing a miracle upon me where I could understand the language a mere week after installing the computer course. To me, this song is a purely Mexican piece, a little like the Tejano I heard on a Selena disc once, but if there’s one thing this Teutonic gringa will not claim it is to have any professional way to really categorize this song or compare it properly. What I do know is that the imagery from this song is that of a summer night fiesta where unfamiliar scents of dishes I can’t pronounce permeate the air; where candles flicker on colorful table cloths and everyone ducks under the light strings on the way to the dance floor which brims with people laughing and swinging to music like this. On the sideline somewhere sit I, with the sort of merry grin of the observer who wouldn’t have a clue if everybody around currently insulted her, but I keep smiling. I may be an ignorant fool, but a blissful one. Track 3 – Cha Cha Tango de Paris The only piece on this CD that makes me cringe when it suddenly makes a very harsh change in style towards the end. For this song I’ll borrow from an interview published in the Orange County Register: Beltran says: “[This song] is about using straight jazz progressions and scales with the concept of mixing it with Afro-Cuban rhythms.” Like Samba Lady, this song has the mysticism of foreign cities and nights filled with jazz and love, but with an undercurrent of dooming passion. The song is in English and Spanish and Beltran lets loose on the Timbales. Also featured prominently in this piece is the piano. Track 8 – The Ring The Ring is samba with a jazzy undertone and the type of lyrics that’ll either make you laugh or make faces, depending on whether or not you are (or know) the type of woman this song is about. He wants her, she wants to see a ring before doing anything – some of you guys probably have been there. Beltran’s rascally delivery of this song gives it that disarming charm that keeps critics like me from sniping at it or hitting the Skip Forward button when getting to this track, and Beltran does start the song with an energy that can make me forgive anything else anyway. Track 9 – Cu Rumba The LCB website’s sample for Cu Rumba covers the first 40 or so seconds of the song which is really a disservice to this piece. According to the artist himself, he used Cuban and Mexican rhythms in combination with the old Mexican folk song "La Paloma" for this piece, bringing together two Latin cultures. One of the greatest German actors from the 㣌s and 㣖s, Hans Albers, once sang a song called La Paloma in one of his many films. It’s not even the same song, but simply a German harbor pub tune for the actor. But ever since gaping at Albers films with the awe only a pre-teen can expend on him, the song is forever stuck in my mind as a distinct reminder of harbor pubs, freighters and the salty waves of the cold Nordic ocean. After 25 years, Cu Rumba has replaced this image with one of hot, shimmering air through which one stares mesmerized at the wildlife of the Serengeti. There’s an African tribal sound to this piece which renders the lions and antelopes frozen in nervous awareness of the brooding clouds that slowly draw across the sky. Everything in the darkening vastness becomes still. Then, an occasional flinch or the flicker of an ear as their heads raise high, as they judge the feel of the threat. Until finally, an invisible force suddenly propels all, and every being flees the force of nature that makes all equal for the time it takes to find safety and shelter from the storm. The symbiosis of differences. A befitting note to end this album on. For music clips and order information as well as a fascinating biography of the artist, go to: www.louiecruzbeltran.com Keep in mind that the sound clips do not bring across the quality of this album. If you find the samples just remotely pleasant, you will most likely really enjoy the entire CD.  |
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