Ry Cooder- Chavez Ravine

tentoze

Twangophile
Artist: Ry Cooder
Title: Chavez Ravine
Year of Release: 2005
Label: Nonesuch
Genre: Latino?
Format: Redbook CD


Okay, I admit up front that I am a huge fan of Ry Cooder and his music. I can still remember reading a review of Chicken Skin Music in Stereo Review back in the mid-70’s wherein the reviewer said that it appeared that Cooder had decided to single-handedly document and preserve the heritage of under-appreciated genres of American music. I think Ry has more than lived up to that observation in the ensuing 30 years, with forays into Tex-Mex, early blues, dust-bowl folk, Hawaiian traditional music, and much more.

Chavez Ravine chronicles the story of that area in greater L.A. that was a Latino working class community until the early fifties, when the politicos and wealthy of the city decided to mow it all down and build a baseball stadium to entice the Brooklyn Dodgers to the West Coast. This tale of deception and betrayal was not familiar to me at all, and I suspect there aren’t a lot of folks in the country as a whole that know much about it either.

“So, Toze, shut up with all that crap and tell us about the music.” Okay, the music- this is a collection of 15 songs, some are new, some are period pieces from the era that the story took place. Some are written or co-written by Cooder, some obviously aren’t. There’s even a Lieber & Stoller tune (and a damned good one I never heard before- 3 Cool Cats) in the fray.

As should be expected from the subject of the story, the overall musical style is Latino, with about an equal mix of English and Spanish vocals. The extensive booklet that comes with the cd provides lyrics in both languages for all songs. Traditional Latin instruments are employed, along with some unexpected sampling courtesy of Ry’s son, Joachim who also plays drums and percussion on some of the cuts. The sound quality is superb, the songs are engaging, and the niche-storyline is fascinating.

This not so much a Ry Cooder album as it is an excellent cultural and historical pastiche that Ry brought out of the shadows in outstanding musical fashion. If you aren’t already a Cooder fan, this one may not be the best place to start. If you don’t care for Latino or Tex-Mex music, you might not appreciate this one much. But how anyone could listen to and not like Flaco Jimenez’ fantastic accordion playing on Ejercito Militar, or Bla Pahinui’s (A HAWAIIAN in the Barrio! Ry is a genius) vocals on 3rd Base, Dodger Stadium- my favorite cut- is a mystery to me.

This is about the best thing I’ve heard so far this year.
 
Excellent....I am too, a huge fan. I'll have to pick this one up, I've got just about everthing else.(even "Jamming with Edward")
 
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