Search - Various Artists :: Republica Dominicana

Pat S. from OAKHURST, NJ
Reviewed on 6/18/2010...

I was so happy to receive my CD that I totally forgot to review. It is excellent, everything I was hoping for.

A fantastic collection of Dominican music

G. Sawaged | Canada | 08/24/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I really don't understand some of the reviewers here who say this album is not Dominican music. Maybe it's not the music they would listen to in the Dominican Republic, or maybe they just haven't read the booklet, but this album is representative of Dominican music. Putumayo always does extensive research on their albums, and each and every artist on this cd IS Dominican. Every record label that the songs are culled from is Dominican or specializes in Dominican music. This album focuses on the guitar-based (requinto) music of Bachata, although there are examples of merengue and bachata-sons. Each song and artist has a page in the booklet devoted to them, (in English and Spanish), which explains what kind of music it is, such as "Tranquila" is a soulful Dominican bachata-son. "Lo Que Le Paso a Juan" is a plena dominicana, a variation of bachata. "Nuestros Lazos" is a rootsy traditional bachata, while "Cana Brava" is one of the most popular and best-known of the entire merengue repertoire. Yes, there are elements of Cuban son throughout, but all Latin music has a similar traditional basis to them...European and African, that there is always going to be some kind of link. But to say this album is not Dominican is an injustice to the Dominican artists represented here. It also states in the booklet that the music of the Dominican Republic is very diverse and varied, with many different types of merengue, including 'merengue cibaeno', 'perico ripiao' and 'pambiche'. And that the Dominican son is closely related to Cuban son, but has a more bouncy rhythm and uses unique melodies and song structures, and many locals claim that the 'son' is of Dominican origin and was brought to Cuba by Dominican immigrants. The music here is a wonderful representation, and on top of that, a portion of the proceeds from this cd will go to the Bayahonda Cultural Foundation which aids in the development and promotion of the traditional cultural expressions of the Dominican Republic."

Noooooooo..........................!!

Franklin a. | Reading, PA United States | 07/28/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I consider this CD as barely of Dominican nature, musically. Although the Cd is composed of Dominican artist, it seems that only rythms other than Dominican folklore were selected for this album. The only artist that artistically represents a pure Dominican rythm is Chi Chi peralta, Fernando Echavarria and him are the originators and creators of the "Meren-son" a mxture of merengue and Dominican son. Basically, all the songs are not purely of Dominican nature, they are mixture of rythms, all influenced entirely by cuban music. To better understand Dominican music, I would advise you to listen to the following artists:**Juan Luis Guerra(merengue & Bachata)
*Sergio Vargas(merengue)
Jossie Esteban(merengue);(the older the CD, the better he is)
*Los hermanos Rosario(merengue)
*Johnny Ventura(merengue)
*Luis Vargas(Bachata)
*Luis Segura(Bachata)
Anthony Santos(Bachata)These are just a few artist that you will fall in love with."