BACHATA ROJA

Anyone who has visited the Dominican Republic comes away with the latest bachata hits ingrained in their brain as a memorable part of their trip. It's speedy and electric but like anything else, it came from somewhere, and this disc celebrates the acoustic origins of the music. During the Trujillo regime, accordions played merengues all over the right half of Hispaniola. After the assassination of the dictator in 1961, guitar-backed songs gained in popularity. It's campesino music but as the farmworkers migrated to the cities with their guitars, the songs started discussing drinking, women and prostitution. So the evolution of bachata into party music also meant its descent into the bar room, and when things are loud, like there's a brawl going on, the musicians get overlooked, so naturally they had to electrify! By the late 1980s the speedy electric music we all know and love had come to dominate the sounds of la Republica. This brings to mind an anecdote from a trip to the island with my brother. One afternoon we were walking around the port in a seedy part of town when it started to rain. I saw a dark doorway and heard bachata within: "Quick, in here!" I said and ducked inside. We went down steps into a tiny dimly-lit bar & ordered two beers. We made desultory conversation with the barman and then my brother said, Check this out. I looked around and could see two women we hadn't noticed on arriving. They were dancing on a spotlit miniature dancefloor at the back of the bar. More women came downstairs and approached us to score a beer. Hey, we just walked into a brothel, I said. We made a break before we got too involved. Juan Bautista's "Estoy aqui pero no soy yo (I am here but it's not me)" is a ballad on the "Perfidia" changes. Among other gems you have to hear are Leonardo Panigua's "Mi secreto (My secret)." This album is beautifully packaged, & a real labour of love. (The title, obviously, a play on "Bachata Rosa," a huge hit for Juan Luis Guerra.) The music is consistently great and you won't have to buy a round or leave before it's over.

Alastair Johnston