Summer Jams: Sonero goes funky

Willie Colon ft. Hector Lavoe-Che Che Cole


Antibalas-Che Che Cule

So the last summer jam post inspired me to do a little series of delicious rhythms that remind me of summer. In Spanish Harlem, no summer would be complete with out listening to Willie Colon and Hector Lavoe a couple hundred times. This super duo was more badass than Batman and Robin-putting out consistent hits for the Fania label back in the 60's and 70's.

In my opinion, there is no Sonero (salsa singer) better than Hector Lavoe. He is the Bob Marley and Fela Kuti of Spanish Harlem salsa. His voice is by far one of the most powerful when it comes to New York City Soneros-and the funny thing is, he wasn't even full Puerto Rican. He was actually half Jewish. Who says white people have no rhythm?

This song in particular is a funny one. It's called Che Che Cole. The song lyrics are actually about the song itself-Lavoe sings about how tasty the song is and how people dance to it all over the world. Funny part is this: While in Ghana I dropped this one on my weekly radio show. My co-host flipped out when he heard the lyrics, because Che Che Cole is actually a song from Ghana. He wasn't sure what language it was from, but he was sure it was Ghanaian. In fact, Osibisa made a song with the same title. Not sure how Lavoe knew this-but in the lyrics he pays homage to the track's rhythmic African roots.

Up next to it is Antibala's remake of the Lavoe track. This tune is one of the group's funkier hits, a break from the usual Afro-beat/Afro-Rock style. I used to think that no one could do it as good as Lavoe, but whoever sings on this track comes pretty close. Not only that, but they completely re-interpret Willie Colon's original composition and turn an otherwise tasty salsa hit into a super funky dance floor killer.

So here it is kiddies-perhaps one of the best salsa songs you will ever hear funktafied to make you move your hips even faster. Disfrute.