Avísale a mi contrario que aquí estoy yo is the new album by Jerry Gonzalez, the New York trumpeter and conguero who currently fronts a group called Los Comandos de la Clave. The album is Gonzalez's fourteenth as a soloist and front man, but the first with the new label founded by Diego El Cigala, Cigala Music. It and others were presented on 17 November at Casa America in Madrid, as a result of an agreement with Warner Music to release projects that link flamenco and Afro-Cuban sounds. The album is a little gem in which Gonzalez has had free rein to bring out the rich vein of "Central Park Rumba" (a popular tradition dating back to the 1970s) and includes the participation of Alain Pérez on bass, Javier Massó "Caramelo" on piano and Enrique Ferrer "Kiki" on drums, who just have to be swept along by the energy of their leader for everything to flow in its natural environment. The title track is sung by El Cigala, providing a texture that in Spain sounds great but in America could be defined as exotic. This album is the highest point of Jerry Gonzalez's second life, which began in 2000 when he settled in Madrid to explore flamenco close to its roots. It has not always been easy, of course, due to various circumstances, many of them personal. In fact, it would not have been for anyone, much less for a man who had left everything behind: fame, awards, money and a huge talent for Latin jazz; as well as an illustrious history: Paunetto, Palmieri, Gillespie, Totico, Hanrahan, Oquendo & Libre, and his faithful Fort Apache Band.
And now to the history of the title song. According to the history of Caribbean music, the song was written in 1927 in a son rhythm by Ignacio Piñeiro, who called it "Donde Andabas Anoche". Through word of mouth (Cubans call it Radio Bemba), it became famous for its first verse: "Avísale a Mi Vecina" (Tell My Neighbour), and that is how it arrived in New York. There, in the mid 1950s, the rivalry between Tito Puente and Tito Rodriguez was at its height and the Palladium, known as the temple of mambo, was the place to go for Latin music, largely because that rivalry was played out in the performances of the artists. When Puente left the Palladium after being tempted by another club, Rodriguez adopted Pineiro's song but changed one word and it became "Avísale a mi contrario" (Tell My Opponent). And it went down a storm. Not content with that, he also changed it to a guaguancó rhythm and included Bantu greetings (sala malekun tana) and Regla de Ocha prayers (Iroco, rumba is calling you). And the rest belongs to salsa history and its New York and now universal legend. Avísale a Mi Contrario is currently featured in Gladys Palmera's Future Beats.
