Santiago Sessions Soars

It’s hard to imagine a style of music so big and embracive that it can consume whole cultures and nations.  Latin dance music is one such beast and the renowned Fania Records in NYC has been celebrating its explosive energy since the mid 60’s.

The label ended up with its own tribute a couple of years after Jose Marquez deejayed the Manana Festival in Santiago de Cuba.  Marquez, who began building his name as a formidable DJ and producer in 2010 by kneading his love of Afro-Latin, Caribbean and other World music into electronic and dance formats, introduced his remix of Hector Lavoe’s and Willie Colon’s classic Aqualine at the festival. Fania had originally produced the piece.   Marquez was stunned by the crowds resoundingly positive response to the remix.  And so impressed were Fania representatives in attendance that the label eventually offered Marquez a full remix EP deal that culminated in Santiago Sessions.

Sara Skolnick, Fania’s director of music experience, elaborated.   “That was a special opportunity to connect with Jose, as so many of the sounds in his productions and also in the formation of the Fania sound originated in Cuba and in the African diaspora that is reflected there.”

An homage to the label and the cavalcade of exemplary talent nurtured by it, Santiago Sessions is a sizzling accumulation of joy.  Not only is Marquez’s remix of Aqualine splendid during its entire 10:49 minutes, his reimagined Herencia Africana, originally performed by Celia Cruz, shines just brightly.

Nearly all of the tracks reflect how easily Latin and African rhythms blend to become the other’s natural complement.  The vocal solo in Un Bembe Pa’Yemaya has the sense of echoing through time and space before being absorbed in a scintillating dance beat.   Indestructable constitutes the most traditionally rendered cut on the album and opens with a sweetly suggestive piano intro before sliding into a decidedly buoyant melody with a uniquely Latin spin.

Beautifully reinterpreting past classics into a more contemporary dance idiom, Marquez’s Santiago Sessions is a master lesson in how to seamlessly fuse dynamic musical forms.