Panamanian Música Típica is an entire gorgeous world unto itself. Thankfully, Toronto’s Dr. Sean Bellaviti (see his PHD thesis here) has a forthcoming book on the subject, which I can’t wait to read.
Interestingly, as Panama’s discography amply shows, many Típica musicians knew and loved the AfroCuban canon. Just looking at the Soundway Panama! series, we comped Ceferino Nieto’s “Ceferino en Salsa”, his hot version of “Zum Zum Babae”, Papi Brandao’s incredible versions of “Bilongo” and “La Murga”, Chilo Pitty’s swinging version of Rafael Labasta’s “Piculina” and Ormelis Cortez’s cover of Willie Colón’s “Si La Ves.”
Many Panamanian Típica versions of AfroCuban songs swing harder than straight ahead versions by groups from other Latam countries. When I asked Papi Brandao how it happened that he recorded his smoking version of “Bilongo”, he smiled and said “Yo era Salsero.” That simple.
In the early ’70s, Música Típica took a delicious detour deeply into Salsa music, and I’ll post a number of examples in this and forthcoming posts. First, here is Ceferino’s take on the AfroCuban classic “Tumbando Caña”:
Note that Cefe didn’t just slap a “D.R.” on the song credits – he knew the song originated with the Cuban “Comparsa los Alacranes!”
Next is another personal favorite, a stunning version of Willie Colón’s “Guajira Ven” by Chiriqui’s own Chilo Pitty:
Here is a clipping from Panama’s La Prensa, advertising the Toldo “La Salsa Tipica” from the 1972 Carnavales:
Finally, here is Típica titan Osvaldo Ayala doing a version of the Hector Lavoe/Willie Colón composition “El Dia De Mi Suerte”. Ayala, who also recorded an LP with Bush y Su Nuevo Ritmo in the ’80s, would have been hanging out with Colón and Lavoe at their shows in Panama around this time. He also recorded a hot version of their song “Juana Peña” (youtube it), and can be heard singing out “La Salsa de Paritilla” on this track: