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Joe Bataan

The King of Latin Soul Biography Boogaloo, Latin Soul, Rhythm and Blues, Salsa, Disco, Latin Funk, Latin R&B Latin Jazz, Rap …. What didn’t Joe Bataan sing? Joe Bataan was born and raised in Spanish Harlem (East Side of Manhattan New York) in 1942 to an African-American mother and Filipino father. His given name was Bataan Nitollano.

His musical experience started in the street corner singing do-wops in the 1950’s. During his teenage years, Bataan associated himself with street gangs. At the age of 15 he spent five years at Coxsackie State Prison for riding in a stolen vehicle. It is unknown if he was the driver of the stolen vehicle. In prison he learned music and six months after his release, he began to record music. Bataan visualized an incredible vision that perhaps several recording artist may have said it is impossible to do. His visual modality was to combine Latin music with Rhythm and Blues. As a result of this merger, Joe Bataan became known as the first recording artist to create authentically Latin Soul music. Although Latin Soul existed in the past before Joe Bataan ‘s merger, however these recording artists were actually Boogaloo singers. They sang English lyrics in a soulful doowop style along with Boogaloo music. Hector Rivera is one example with his Boogaloo hits in 1966 ” I wanna a chance for romance ” ” At The Party” and ” Drown my heart ” Mr. Bataan didn’t coin the phrase ” Latin Soul ” The phrase was used in the early 60’s and perhaps late 1950’s with La Lupe and Tito Puente. Mr. Bataan actually created the music as it should have sounded. By merging Latin music with R&B tunes in the late 60’s, “Latin Soul” was officially born by the creator Joe Bataan.

Wikipedia Music Encyclopedia defines Latin Soul as ” a blend of mambo and pop tinged with R&B and Latin Jazz, emphasizing short, ultra-catchy tunes and infectious rhythms.” I would like to add to this definition ” authentically created by Joe Bataan” Self taught on the piano, he organized his first band in 1965 and scored his first recording success in 1967 with ” Gypsy Woman ” on Fania Records. ” Gypsy Woman ” crossed over to R&B radio along with ” Subway Joe ” The title track of Gypsy Woman was first aired by radio DJ Dick “Ricardo” Sugar, became an instant hit in New York’s Latin community. Ironically, Mr. Bataan had initially written the song ” Gypsy Woman” with Spanish lyrics for the band’s co-lead vocalist Joe Pagan to perform. It didn’t seem to work, so he started singing the song himself in English at gigs and received an enthusiastic reaction. The late George Goldner, boss of the Cotique label (a rival of Fania at the time), disapproved of Bataan’s rendition and advised him against recording it. Clearly, Joe’s refusal to take this advice proved to be the sounder judgment.

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Joe Bataan: Gypsy Woman

Joe Bataan: Gypsy Woman

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Following my post yesterday on salsa and Joe Bataan's Ghetto Records, many readers emailed me about Joe Bataan and boogaloo. As I posted yesterday, boogaloo was a funky Latin-soul hybrid geared to expressive freestyle dancers. The boogaloo began in New York, primarily in the Latin dance clubs of Manhattan and the Bronx. Among the first boogaloo hits was Mongo Santamaria's recording of Watermelon Man in 1962. Over time, the music evolved from infectious rhythm-fueled riffs built on catchy pop phrases ...

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Fania Boogaloo: It's a Good, Good Feeling

Fania Boogaloo: It's a Good, Good Feeling

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Back in the 1960s, there were the Billboard pop and R&B charts. Everything was rock and soul, Black and white, uptown and downtown. But if you lived in New York, as I did then, in Washington Heights, you knew there was a third stream—boogaloo. You could hear it coming out of the open windows of apartments on summer weekends in Washington Heights, from 140th to 175th streets, and in East Harlem. Amazing what you'd hear in the days before air ...

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