ยกCocinando! Fifty Yea rs of Latin Album Cover Art
PABLO ELLICOTT YGLESIAS FOREWORD BY IZZY SANABRIA
PRINCETON ARCHITECTURAL PRESS NEW YORK
PUBLISHED BY PRINCETON ARCHITECTURAL PRESS 37 EAST SEVENTH STREET NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10003 F O R A F R E E C ATA L O G O F B O O K S , C A L L 1 . 8 0 0 . 7 2 2 . 6 6 5 7 . V I S I T O U R W E B S I T E AT W W W. PA P R E S S . C O M . © 2005 PRINCETON ARCHITECTURAL PRESS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRINTED AND BOUND IN CHINA 08 07 06 05 5 4 3 2 1 FIRST EDITION N O PA R T O F T H I S B O O K M AY B E U S E D O R R E P R O D U C E D I N ANY MANNER WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHER, EXCEPT IN THE CONTEXT OF REVIEWS. E V E R Y R E A S O N A B L E AT T E M P T H A S B E E N M A D E T O I D E N T I F Y O W N E R S O F C O P Y R I G H T. E R R O R S O R O M I S S I O N S W I L L B E CORRECTED IN SUBSEQUENT EDITIONS. PROJECT EDITOR: MARK LAMSTER A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R : S C O T T T E N N E N T DESIGN: DEB WOOD
SPECIAL THANKS TO: NETTIE ALJIAN, NICOLA BEDNAREK, J A N E T B E H N I N G , M E G A N C A R E Y, P E N N Y ( Y U E N P I K ) C H U , RUSSELL FERNANDEZ, JAN HAUX, CLARE JACOBSON, JOHN K I N G , N A N C Y E K L U N D L AT E R , L I N D A L E E , J O H N M C G I L L , K AT H A R I N E M Y E R S , J A N E S H E I N M A N , J E N N I F E R T H O M P S O N AND JOSEPH WESTON OF PRINCETON ARCHITECTURAL PRESS — K E V I N C . L I P P E R T, P U B L I S H E R L I B R A R Y O F C O N G R E S S C ATA L O G I N G - I N - P U B L I C AT I O N D ATA Y G L E S I A S , PA B L O E L L I C O T T, 1 9 6 4 C O C I N A N D O : F I F T Y Y E A R S O F L AT I N A L B U M C O V E R A R T / PA B L O E L L I C O T T Y G L E S I A S . P. C M . INCLUDES BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES AND INDEX. I S B N 1 - 5 6 8 9 8 - 4 6 0 - X ( A L K . PA P E R ) 1 . S O U N D R E C O R D I N G S — A L B U M C O V E R S — U N I T E D S TAT E S . 2 . P O P U L A R M U S I C — U N I T E D S TAT E S — H I S T O R Y A N D C R I T I C I S M . 3 . P O P U L A R M U S I C — L AT I N A M E R I C A — H I S T O R Y A N D CRITICISM. I. TITLE. NC1883.U6Y49 2004 741.6’6’09045—DC22 2004006366
FOREWORD: IZZY SANABRIA. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 MAMBO MANIA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 C U B O P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2 ORIZA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 V I VA S O U L . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2
Contents
É C H A L E S A L S I TA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 2 O Y E C O M O VA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 5 0 OH, MEU BRASIL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 BARRIO NUEVO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
D I S C O G R A P H Y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3 0 B I B L I O G R A P H Y. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 CREDITS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
menaces her from on high. Dynamic layout and bold colors save this from the heap of laughable “lounge” covers so in vogue in the 1990s. The starkly affecting Pachanga con Puente shows percussionist extaordinaire Tito Puente heralding a would-be dance craze (the pachanga) with his futuristic
echotone, the first fiberglass conga. Joe Cuba was par ticularly pleased with the adjacent cover, an Embajador Records bootleg that shows him with his
POPULAR DANCE MUSIC
trend-setting, homemade conga rack which, with the ingenious help of some household plumbing, allowed
1940s–1960s
the conguero the freedom and visibility afforded by playing in a standing position.
During the 1940s and 1950s, independent labels that
In the early days, Latin independents used an arse-
catered specifically to Latino audiences tended to fea-
nal of graphic (often racist) caricatures and nostalgic folk
ture stiff por traits of musicians or color ful illustra-
references to poke fun at Latinos in a naive yet visually
tions that condescendingly harped on the perceived
arresting way. (See the depiction of the blind Afro-Cuban
primitive nature of the music. Though they may have
composer Arsenio Rodriguez on his album Sabroso y
cheapened the product, in retrospect we can be
caliente.) There were also plenty of cheesy deluxe pho-
thankful for the window into the past these covers
tos, such as the one used on the exploitative Charlie
now provide.
Palmieri bootleg, Lo Ultimo. Meanwhile, major labels
Debonair Cuban heartthrob Desi Arnaz embodied
that featured Latin music, notably RCA and Capitol,
the Hollywood ideal of the Latin Lover: light-skinned
switched from the cartoon illustration-style used on
enough to be non-threatening to white American wom-
albums for Beny Moré and bandleader Xavier Cugat to
anhood, but good enough at covering darker-skinned
the modern “glamour” photographic shots that swept
Miguelito Valdés’ hit “Babalú” to be convincing on
the advertising world in the 1950s. Havana, 3 a.m. epit-
stage. On the cover of this 78 RPM record of the song,
omizes this approach. While conveying received notions
a “primitive” font zig-zags across a black field as Desi
of Latin primitivism, flamboyance, drama, and sensuality,
stands improbably freeze-framed in the midst of a drum
it effectively sets a mood and assures the prospective
solo. More exotic is Voice of the Xtabay, in which the
buyer that a spicy, taboo-breaking evening is in the
“Peruvian Princess of the 20 Octaves,” one Yma
offing. Watermelon Man!, featuring the eponymous
Sumac (Amy Camus backwards, anyone?), strikes a
crossover hit penned by Herbie Hancock and made
dramatic Technicolor pose while a savage stone idol
famous by Mongo Santamaría, was a precursor to the
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heady combo of soul and Latin that became “boogaloo”
ring Latin musicians. The narrative, about a missing
in the late 1960s. The intimate portrait of the glamorous
tape, was “a goof,” according to Sanabria, but was
white cover girl is pure Madison Avenue swank, the title
ingenious in that it demanded that the buyer acquire the
racist kitsch, but somehow this juxtaposition manages to
other volumes from the series to resolve the story. Another young and multi-talented designer followed
convey the thoroughly modern mix within. Izzy Sanabria burst into this naive, patronizing, and
soon after, helping to raise the stakes in Latin album
tacky design world like a cleansing flood. His desire was
aesthetics. Ely Besalel, originally from Colombia but
to banish the generic spot illustration covers (see the
raised in Brooklyn, trained himself to draw figures on
billboardlike Discoteca Latina) and boxing-style dance
the long subway rides to school, ultimately studying
posters that were the norm. As a child, Sanabria was
graphic design in college. He owed his start to a lot of
always copying product labels in his mother’s kitchen and
hard work and a little luck: “I was a waiter in the Catskill
putting on plays with boyhood friend and fellow artist and
resorts as a teenager. One night I was hitching a ride
designer Waler Velez. After a stint in the army and as a
and a station wagon comes by just filled with Latino
professional dancer in barrio-area clubs, Sanabria worked
guys and instruments. It was Joe Cuba. We drove
in the advertising world, honing his skills as a packager.
around a bit, had a laugh, then they dropped me off and
His first cover, Pacheco y su Charanga con Elliot
Cuba said ‘Listen man, every night after we play the
Romero, designed in 1961, was for Al Santiago’s fledg-
Pines, we go jam at Grossinger’s. Other musicians fall
ling Bronx label Alegre. Bold in orange and black, that
by, it’s a gas.’ Some years after the Catskills incident,
seminal cover elevated the level of artistry in Latin
when I was showing my work at [the record label]
record design. Here, Pacheco’s silhouette brings to
Roulette, Joe Cuba walks in and yells ‘You!’ He remem-
mind an African sculpture in ebony. Sanabria con-
bered me! That’s how I got to do work for his label,
sciously chose to use fine art over photography, driven
Tico.” Commissions for stalwarts like Celia Cruz, Jimmy
by his belief that a crafted symbolic representation of
Sabater, and Tito Puente followed. For these artists,
the bandleader would stand out more than a photo-
Besalel provided a unique vision that had the comfort of
graph: “The album cover was like a woodcut of Pacheco,
familiarity but also something of an outsider feel—
and it captures him perfectly in all his skinny, energetic
Cuban Dance Festival is a vibrant example of his artistic
essence. To this day, he wears that image made in gold,
sensibility. “I never accepted things at face value, I
around his neck. . . . The little imperfections and extra
never ‘designed down,’” says Besalel. “I liked to experi-
lines in it gave the whole thing an electrical movement,
ment. I never lived in el Barrio, and I didn’t feel obligated
which is the way he moved on stage.”
to buy [the prevailing Latin aesthetics of the day], or to
Other assignments for Alegre followed, including
crossover into the mainstream either. I was unencum-
The Alegre All-Stars Vol. 3: “Lost & Found,” which fea-
bered by those expectations.
tured an unprecedented full-cover comic strip story star-
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