WILLIE COLÓN — Siembra (review)

WILLIE COLÓN — Siembra album cover Album · 1978 · Afro-Cuban Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Amilisom
When it was released back in 1978, "Siembra" became the best selling salsa album in history and would stay that way for over twenty years (only to be topped by "Cuenta Conmigo" by Jerry Rivera in 1992). According to Wikipedia, almost all of its songs would eventually become hits in different Latin American countries.

I'm not sure exactly why the album cover has pictures of babies suspended over brightly drawn flowers, but I should say it makes for a pretty unique design.

Overall I think this is a fantastic album. Not only does it contain a variety of songs that are unique in themselves, but they each work together to give the album a sense of completion. The songs themselves are not only catchy, but have well-written arrangements for an accompanying piano, brass, and percussion that extend the lengths of the songs to a point that none of them become too repetitive.

First-time listeners will be thrown off by the introduction to the first song, "Plastico", where a string arrangement with a strong electric bass riff clearly indicate a disco feel. The song quickly transitions to salsa and fortunately stays for the rest of the album. The strong disco electric bass sound returns, however, later in the track "Plastico" as well as in "Maria Lionza", the sound bringing an excellent addition to the brass arrangements. The strings return as well in tracks such as the title track "Siembra". The powerhouse track of the album is "Pedro Navaja" which, inspired by the famous tune "Mack the Knife", is about a murderer. It became such a hit that a movie was made in Mexico in 1984 based on it.

Overall I greatly recommend this album for any fans of Latin. However, I wouldn't approach this album with expectations of many jazz influences. The amount of improvisation here is minimal, if any.
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