King of the Cuban beat
In Saturday's mail, BMG sent me Babalu, the best of Desi Arnaz. Yes, Ricky Ricardo. No, it was not my featured selection. I requested it.
The liner notes by author Will Friedwald have two high points for me. The first is the opening.
"I know exactly the kind of orchestra I want," Desi Arnaz explained to his agent in 1945. "Latin American music in this country (until now) has always had a fault. When a band like Machito in New York plays Latin music, the rhythm is great but the sound is not melodically good enough — it's tinny. On the other hand, when (Andre) Kostelanetz plays 'Amor,' it's lush but it has no balls."
The second is Friedwald's description of Babalu, the song, the I Love Lucy showpiece.
"Babalu" was the band's killer-diller showstopper, their counterpart to Tommy Dorsey's "Well Git It" or Harry James' "Two O'Clock," a no-holds-barred flagwaver with all the stops pulled out. Arnaz later described the Margarita Lecuona piece as a savage prayer to Chango, an African god of war. First recorded in the US by jazz giant Benny Carter, it was initially popularized in a milder version by Cugat and vocalist Miguelito Valdez, while Arnaz first latched on to it at Ciro's in 1946.
"Babalu" begins with almost 30 whole seconds of all three of Arnaz's percussionists individually laying out a Latin polyrhythm unaccompanied — sort of the polyrhythmic equivalent of rubato — building up suspense for the star's entrance. Arnaz and the rest of the ensemble then arrive with a dramatic cadenza. Using all the vocal tricks in his bag, including a sly laugh and those motorboat r's (also heard on "Carnival in Rio"), Arnaz's own chorus erupts in volcanic fury.
After another a cappella percussion passage, Arnaz uses a call and response pattern to lead the band-as-chorus into a conga line far longer and wilder than anything Hollywood could present on the screen. And as you get caught up in the dizzying euphoria of "Babalu," space and time gradually become irrelevant. It's as if the conga line stretches all the way back to the horizon, a line that you wish would go on forever.
The album is only Arnaz solo work — no performances from I Love Lucy — but I think that approach is probably superior. If you're looking for work from the show, Babalu Music is what you want. The producer? Weird Al.
