Tabaco

Carlos ‘Tabaco’ Quintana, tall, thin and brown like the cigars he was nicknamed after, was a Venezuelan percussionist, singer and bandleader. He headed a series of successful salsa bands, two of which have made their way onto this welcome compilation – Tabaco y su Sexteto and Tabaco y su Metales, the latter adding a brass section as the name suggests. He came from a poor family, and before striking out as a musician worked on the streets as a shoeshine boy; his songs were known for their social comment, ‘Una Sola Bandera’ and ‘Cuando Llora el Indio’ from this collection being examples. His voice was light, flexible and adaptable, and his vocal improvisations melodically and rhythmically subtle.

It's easy to pick out the influences succeeding one another in his music – Cuban descargas, the big band arrangements of Arsenio Rodríguez, Joe Cuba's jittery groove, the two trombone line-ups of Willie Colón and Mon Rivera among them – and little that is specifically Venezuelan (except perhaps the drumming that opens ‘San Juan de Guaricongo’) but all are played with joyous, if occasionally ramshackle, verve. There are some fine piano solos here, and the arrangements of this cheerful and well-chosen selection are consistently inventive.