A new compilation from Soundway is always cause for excitement and this follow-up to 2006's excellent Panama! is no exception. I have no doubt that this album will finally cement Panama’s deserved reputation as the funkiest, sexiest isthmus around (tough luck, Suez!).
As with its predecessor, Panama!2 compiles a stylistically varied assemblage of tracks from Panama's golden age that have never been released outside the country. This was no simple task (it took compiler Roberto Ernesto Gyemant two years of research and travel), as this period was characterized by rapid evolution and eclectic assimilation of disparate influences. Due to its unique location and diverse population (owing to the enormous influx of canal workers in earlier generations), traditional Panamanian music was buffeted by influences from American soul and funk, Cuban rumba, Columbian vallenato, calypso, and a host of African, Caribbean, and Latin American styles. Unsurprisingly, this convoluted cross-pollination often yielded impressive and infectiously dance-able results.
Gyemant has assembled a very solid collection and there are a number of attention-grabbing tracks here. The opening "La Murga De Panama" (by Papi Brandao) combines smoldering latin percussion with clean, elegant guitar work and a melancholy accordian, while Sir Jabonsky's bouncy, lurching calypso piece "Juck Juck Pt. 1" betrays a strong ska/reggae influence. I especially enjoyed the sultry, latinized funk of The Duncan Brothers, who appear here twice (on "Dreams" and as the backing band for Lord Cobra's amusingly over-the-top vocals on the Motown-tinged "Love Letters"). Those cats sure know how to kick a sensous jam (and the lengthy accompanying photo-filled booklet makes it clear that they know how to rock matching powder blue suits as well.).
Of course, there are a handful of tracks here that I didn't particularly like (as I have a strong personal aversion to anything that sounds like Santana or seems especially frenetic and busy), but Panama!2 is generally an extremely enjoyable and eclectic compilation of ideal summer music. Gyemant has undeniably created a vibrant and informative document (his track descriptions are especially colorful and charming) of a time when Panama was most definitely the place to be. (There has been an unsettling recent flurry of world music compilations that seem quite intent on pointedly illustrating that I was born into a particularly dull time and place. I do not like this trend.)
samples
- Papi Brandao y Su Conjunto Aires Tablenos – "La Murga De Panama"
- Sir Jablonsky – "Juck Juck Pt. 1"
- Lord Cobra y Los Hnos. Duncan – "Love Letters"
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