Christmas Latin Music begins with Asalto Navideño

Posted on 02. Dec, 2009 by Hector Aviles in Blog

Last Friday (Black Friday), while my wife went to work, I had the daunting task of cleaning up the kitchen after having hosted the Thanksgiving dinner to our 5 invited couples with the children the previous evening.  Having had several glasses of wine with our friends the night before, I wasn’t all that peppy for the cleanup task ahead. To make the task more palatable, I connected my Zune to the kitchen home stereo shelf system, and selected my “Christmas” genre in “shuffle” mode. Happy Christmas Latin music began playing, but I still felt something was not right. Something was missing. Finally I realized I had the wrong music. Since I was 13 years old, Willie Colon’s “Asalto Navideño” was the 1^st album I played to celebrate the arrival of the Christmas season.

Asalto Navideño: My Favorite Christmas Classic

Willie Colon & Hector Lavoe Asalto Navideño Vol. 2

Since then, Asalto Navideño became my way of welcoming Christmas! But of the two Asalto Navideño albums Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe recorded, my favorite is the 2^nd one. Asalto Navideño Vol. 2 captures Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe at their best! Its almost too bad it was a Christmas album, because Willie’s band was at its peak, and so was Hector Lavoe. Hector’s voice and whit were at their best expression in this recording. The recording shows the clarity of Lavoe’s voice, the witty “soneos”, the humor he can bring to any recording. You can feel how Hector Lavoe can sing Salsa almost effortlessly, and do so better than anyone.

The album also showcased Puerto Rican cuatro guitar player extraordinaire Yomo Toro. Yomo’s ability to play the cuatro harmonically at lightning speed can win over the hearts of heavy metal rock fans. Yomo Toro can make a cuatro scream, but harmonically, not just loudly. Yomo had integrated the cuatro to Salsa like no one had ever done in the original Asalto Navideño album. Since then, he stayed with Willie Colon’s band, and by the time they recorded Asalto Navideño Vol. 2, he had his cuatro playing so solidly integrated to the band, it fit like a glove. There is no sense of him forcing the instrument into a musical genre it was never meant to be played in. Yomo’s cuatro seems to fit the Willie Colon’s band just as well as Milton Cardona’s congas or Willie’s trombone.

The song selection was also impeccable. As always, Hector and Willie wrote a few of songs. The other songs were mostly originals with the addition of the classic “Arbolito”. The musical arrangements where masterful. Willie Colon figured a way to add samba in a Christmas album in its first song “Pescao”, and make it sound natural.  Willie’s love for Brazilian rhythms always comes through in his recordings.

Perhaps the biggest contrast between the original Asalto Navideño and Vol. 2 is the recording’s sound quality. The difference in quality is huge. The band sounds much better as well, and it only was a difference of about a year or two.

Another thing that to this day distinguishes both Asalto Navideño recordings from the rest of Christmas recordings is the songs lyrics. These albums do feel like Christmas recordings because the lyrics are made for Christmas. In the original, you have songs like “Aires de Navidad”, “Canto a Borinquen”, and “Potpurri Navideño”, which if they don’t make you get into the Christmas spirit, then you belong in Team Scrooge. It also has “Esta Navidad” and the plena “Vive tu Vida Contento”, to round up the album. On the other hand, Vol. 2 has “Cantemos”, “Pa’ Los Pueblos”, “Arbolito”, “Doña Santos” and “Recomendacion” which can get anyone in the sprit as well. Both albums have a song that can be played year-round; the original has “La Murga”, and Vol. 2 has “La Banda”.

Willie Colon’s “Asalto Navideño” is my way to start Christmas

These Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe Chritmas classics should be in your collection. Chances are that if you are a true Salsa fan, you have these. For me, they represent the start of the happiest time of the year. People are more happy, we spend more time with family, and seek those we have not seen in a while. Friends share food and drinks, and those are followed by memories and laughs. People are a bit more friendly; kids a bit more happy. And we bring out some good old classics that sound just a bit better than some of the stuff around today.

I’m glad Christmas is here!

Related posts:

1. Thanks for all Latin Music
2. Latin Music: our rich culture to learn, enjoy and share!
3. The legacy of Ralph Mercado, Part 2

Tags: Asalto Navideño, Christmas, hector lavoe, latin music, salsa, willie colon