VARIOUS ARTISTS: "Bachata Roja--Acoustic Bachata from the Cabaret Era" (iASO)
****

Merengue may be the musical style most associated with the Dominican Republic, but its bad-boy brother bachata should not be ignored — and the newly created iASO label is doing its best to make sure it isn't.

The New York-based label has issued "Bachata Roja," a compilation of 14 classic bachata tracks spanning from 1960 to 1990, showcasing such legends of the genre as Augusto Santos, Eladio Romero Santos and Julio Angel. (Connoisseurs may question the omission of bachata innovator Jose manuel Calderon, but it's still a strong lineup.)

Whereas the pulsating rhythm of merengue generally is accordion-driven, bachata (roughly translated, "backyard party") pulls back the tempo a little and brings the guitar to the forefront. It taps into such Latin idioms as the bolero, ranchera, guaracha and jibaro, while often adding West African vibes and — to spice things up — saucy lyrics.

The selections on this disc come from the period when bachata was still considered a crude music, played mostly in rough-and-tumble bars in the poorest neighborhoods of Santiago, but you couldn't tell by the sound of it: sweet melodic vocals (all male) weaving between crisp, soaring guitar lines. Highlights include the mellow-voiced Marino Perez's "O la pago yo o la paga ella (Either I pay or she does)" and Felix Quintana's slowed-down "Ladrona," which features an aching guitar-solo introduction by Augusto Santo.

And yes, there even are a couple of merengue tracks Eladio Romero Santos' "La Muneca" and Blas Duran's "Equivocada" — albeit, with guitar instead of accordion.

Since these are archival recordings, the sound quality varies wildly, but the performances — as well as the packaging and CD liner notes — are uniformly stellar.