Regular readers know, that I am also a big fan of European and especially the Italian "Latin Music". Among many other bands, La Maxima 79 is a constant for almost 10 years and moving people worldwide with excellent music!
in 2019 the band had released the album "Resilienza" before the pandemic. Unfortunately, they were hardly live on the road (on Youtube you will find a few recordings! Link below), because the lockdowns, concerts were not possible worldwide for a long time.
I found that very unfortunate, because the album was in many ways a brilliant, mature and diverse, which had many very excellet hits. For the first time, Marco Puma was involved and the album covered many of the La Maxima 79 typical styles, such as Guaguanco, Mambo, Cha Cha Cha, Boogaloo, Pachanga, Son and Timba.
However, Fabrizio Zoro, the head of La Maxima 79, was really busy in recent months and has continuously produced new music. Two months ago, the instrumental track "Phyra" was released with a really cool music video showing the fun in the studio. Of course, many known musicians are on board again, which you know from the last albums. First and foremost the Cuban "El Guille".
Two weeks ago now came the newest piece "Mucho Guaguanco", this time with singer Dairo Todd. The Song starts out as a "normal" La Maxima-Guaguanco, but then turns out to be a homage to the Dominican Johnny Ventura and his song "Mucho Guaguanco". This piece was originally composed by Antor Daly, who also worked for Hector Lavoe. The refrain "Aguanile mai mai - Asesu yemaya yemaya asesu" is a prayer, which was also used by Hector Lavoe and Willie Colon in the Song "Aguanile". This fits perfectly with the serious theme of the video, as "Aguanile" means "spiritual cleansing" in the language of the Youruba.
So, La Maxima 79 have covered a song that is deeply rooted in the Santeria, the Yoruba religion (still practised in the Caribbean today).
El Guille this time has only the backing vocals, which shows that he also is able to step back for another singer. Thats greatness!
The music video is very funny, but has an ironic-serious background. Have a look, you can also find santeria- and yoruba-typical elements there. (If you want to know more about the Yoruba influence, I recommend the following two german articles: "Rhythmen and dances of Latinamerica", "Background on Salsa: Rumba - a usually misinterpreted dance".)
With this complexity, which is hidden behind the fun and cheerful music, La Maxima 79 once again manages to link important history, present and Salsa tradition with each other in an almost simple and playful way. All this gives hope that a new album is coming soon. I cannot wait!
In a conversation yesterday, Fabrizio Zoro told me that it will take a while with the new album, but that the next single will not be very long in coming. I think in 2022 we will get lots of new music from La Maxima :-)
By the way, if you want to read more about the spiritual background of the song Aguanile, I recommend this text analysis: Hector Lavoe - Aguanile
Fabrizio Zoro publishes the music of La Maxima under his own, very successful label "ILatin Music". There you can find a lot of good music from other artists.
Links:
- Instagram ILatin-Music, La Maxima 79
- WebSite ILatin Music
- Youtube: Mehr Musik von iLatinmusic
- Facebook La Maxima 79
- Interview with Fabrizio Zoro
- Wikipedia: The Origin of "Aguanile"