{"id":3715,"date":"2013-02-21T03:56:16","date_gmt":"2013-02-21T11:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinomusiccafe.com\/?p=3715"},"modified":"2022-06-27T12:10:01","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T16:10:01","slug":"johnny-conga-oye-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinomusiccafe.com\/2013\/02\/21\/johnny-conga-oye-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnny Conga\u2019s \u201cOye\u201d CD Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Johnny Conga<\/a> spent 3 hard years putting together this album, from 2010 to 2012. When he finally completed it, he wanted to grab your attention so that you would at least take notice to listen it. That\u2019s why JC told me he titled this album \u201cOye\u201d (which means \u201cListen\u201d).<\/p>\n

If you want to skip the reading, I have a video review of “Oye” at the bottom of this blog. However, I think you’ll get more of it if you read through it.<\/p>\n

The road to releasing an album is not easy, especially if you are doing it all on your own. It takes talent, patience, and persistence to release a recording that reflects the music a musician has in his\/her head. For New York native, and Seattle resident Johnny Conga, \u201cOye\u201d represents his 3rd recording as a bandleader.<\/p>\n

In those 3 years, Johnny Conga\u2026
\n\u2022 selected and put together the music for \u201cOye\u201d
\n\u2022 arranged or co-arranged 7 of the 10 tracks in the album
\n\u2022 selected the musicians\u2026
\n\u2022 and slowly and patiently did the recording, first laying the music front to back, and then back to front.<\/p>\n

He hand-picked his musicians mostly from the Pacific Northwest, where he has resided for the last several years, with the exception of Mario Moreno, his main piano player whom he flew in from Miami.<\/p>\n

All in all, in \u201cOye\u201d JC plays the congas, bongos, timbales, vibraphone (does a nice job at it, something I didn\u2019t know JC could do), caj\u00f3n, clave, cowbell, guiro, and vocals.<\/p>\n

\u201cOye\u201d was released in November 2012 with Johnny Conga being the Executive Producer for \u201cA Hand to Drum Productions\u201d.<\/p>\n

What I Liked About \u201cOye\u201d<\/h3>\n

The main thing I like about \u201cOye\u201d is that here Johnny Conga showcases the music, instead of the music mostly showcasing JC, as seemed to be the predominant trend with his previous release \u201cBreaking Skin\u201d. This time the music is at center stage and Johnny Conga does a great job of making a good music selection. Some are his originals interlaced with classics like \u201cMambo Diablo\u201d from Tito Puente, and \u201cFootprints\u201d from Wayne Shorter.<\/p>\n

\"Johnny<\/a>
Johnny Conga’s 3rd CD “Oye” is a nice collection of Latin Jazz songs with 2 rumbas added for variety.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The arrangements play an important role in making the album enjoyable. Johnny Conga puts into play his 48 years of experience in the music business to make the arrangements a nice mix of mostly progressive Latin Jazz songs.<\/p>\n

The songs have a good variety of jazz tempos, keeping the listener engaged through the songs and through the album with mixed faster and slower Latin Jazz tunes.<\/p>\n

Johnny Conga adds in 2 street-type rumbas; \u201cMullaly Park-Bronx Rumba\u201d, which comes in as the #4 song of the 10-song recording, and it\u2019s almost an interlude at under 3 minutes duration, and \u201cRumba y Guarapachangeo\u201d at the #8 spot.<\/p>\n

My favorite songs are Johnny Conga\u2019s \u201cChablue\u201d, and Wayne Shorter\u2019s \u201cFootprints\u201d. Both are great songs that use the band’s talents with a good mix of rhythms during the songs.<\/p>\n

My Recommendation of \u201cOye\u201d<\/h3>\n

For me \u201cOye\u201d is a very good Latin Jazz album. The music is just really good; JC\u2019s percussion does not dominate the album, and the songs and arrangements are really good. I enjoy listening to \u201cOye\u201d much more than \u201cBreaking Skin\u201d, and \u201cBreaking Skin\u201d is not a bad album.<\/p>\n

The recording, mastered by Julio Jauregui, and mixed by Julio and Johnny, is of very good quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cOye is a very enjoyable album to listen to for any Jazz fan, and especially for Latin Jazz fans. I can say that the 3 years that it took JC to put \u201cOye\u201d together were worth the effort. You can\u2019t go wrong with this album.<\/p>\n

Video Review of Johnny Conga’s “Oye”<\/h3>\n

Here’s my video of the review of the Johnny Conga album “Oye”.<\/p>\n