Jose Alberto “El Canario”; More Romantic Salsa, Less Voice

Jose Alberto “El Canario” new Salsa album “Romantico y Rumbero” is full of swing, romantic lyrics, and some hard core Salsa. Although his flavor and charisma are intact, his voice is not.

The veteran Dominican Salsa singer started his career with the Salsa Dura of the 70’s with the Tipica 73, and has kept his usual swing and charisma through his long solo career of over 35 years in the “Salsa Romantica”.

“Romantico y Rumbero” has 9 songs, 6 of a romantic themes, and 3 harder Salsa songs that will appeal to the hard core Salsero. The album is a fine effort to remind Salsa music fans of his legacy as a true “sonero”.

Jose Alberto brings Salsa Romantica with Swing and Charisma

In “Romantico y Rumbero” Jose Alberto El Canario delivers a well-produced album with good Salsa tunes of mostly romantic themes. “El Canario” likes his Salsa on the heavy side with the dancer in mind. Therefore, “Romantico y Rumbero” is made for good listening and good dancing.

The musical arrangements are tasteful and they make good use of the band format of trumpets, trombones, and baritone sax.

“El Mulato Rumbero”, “Vengo Con To'”, and “Bailando” are songs with heavier Salsa. The latter one is a Brazilian fusion rather than the typical “son-montuno”.

Jose Alberto’s “soneos” are on point and effective, and he continuously infuses the music with his unique yells of “Cachimbo”. The innovation in the album comes from the version of the Beatles song “And She Loves Me”. The Salsa version in Spanish “Mi Gran Amor Le Di” (whaaaat?) has a good swing even if the title translation reminds me of the crappy translations to Spanish of American movie titles back when I was a kid.

“Romantico y Rumbero” Could be More Varied

As I listened to the album I realized most songs have more or less the same sound. Yes, they do attempt to have some variation. However, it’s not enough to avoid the predictable repetition of the formula of ballads converted to Salsa. This tends to dampen the interest throughout the album.

The other notable thing about “Romantico y Rumbero” is the decaying voice of Jose Alberto. In his live presentations (for example, check the Salsa Giants recording or live YouTube videos) it’s evident he is getting more hoarse. In the album “El Canario” conceals well his decaying vocal range by singing at a lower key than what he used to in years past. As I said before, “El Canario” still has his flavor and charisma when he sings. However, his voice is not the same it once was.

Good “Salsa Romantica” for Dancers; Albums Needs Rhythmic Variety

“Romantico y Rumbero” has good Salsa songs that will be great for dancers and fans of Jose Alberto “El Canario”. I found that the album songs follow the same format. They may seem appealing when you listen to them individually, but when listening to the album as a whole, you notice the monotony of the same formula used over and over.

I think the Salsa music and songs are mostly good in “Romantico y Rumbero”. Nonetheless, Jose Alberto needs to take his albums to the next level by adding more rhythmic variety.