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| Thephoenix |
 If you purchase a copy of Soundway’s wonderful Panama! 3 — and you should — you get two things for the price of one. First, this is a carefully curated CD of “Calypso Panameño, Guajira Jazz & Cumbia Típica on the Isthmus 1960-75” that will keep you smiling — and perhaps dancing — for a healthy while.But your enjoyment will be doubled by the passionate liner notes of San Francisco–based compiler Roberto Ernesto Gyemant, who puts this rarely heard strand of Caribbean music into historical and social perspective. As Gyemant explains, the extra flavor on these tracks comes from Panama’s particular combination of races and cultures, and from the fertile chaos of its ports and slums. It seems amazing that the label could have already culled two stellar comps from such a small nation — this volume’s tracks are way above the bottom of any proverbial barrel, and they’ll surprise you with everything from bilingual calypsos (“Fire Down Below”), tropical soul (“Moving-Grooving”), and a sleeper of a monster soul-jazz track that will have you hitting the repeat button (Los Silvertones’ “Carmen”)....full text |
| Bbc |
| The little-known Central American state of Panama has become much more familiar through Soundway’s excellent series of compilations of vintage pop from its vaults. This third (and hopefully not last) volume concentrates more on the highly accessible local form of calypso, which makes it the most enjoyable so far. As with previous volumes (the second is reviewed here), there’s a fascinating 24-page booklet, with photos, scans and notes by co-compilers Roberto Ernesto Gyemant and Will Holland, which explain the cultural contexts and offer delightful anecdotes about the artists. For example, when talking about Los Invasores, by El Raton, Gyemant enthuses: “In true Panamanian style, guitars replace the piano.” Most will associate Panama with the canal that runs through it, connecting the Pacific and the Caribbean, and the diversity of its music reflects not only the proximity of so many musical powerhouses (Cuba, Colombia, Trinidad etc) but also the diversity of the immigrant labour force that arrived nearly 100 years ago to construct it, or work in the supporting service industries. And then there are the influences from further afield, which reflect styles internationally popular during the era....full text |
| Independent |
| Usualy when an album compiler is mining a limited supply of music (in this instance funk, jazz, calypso and cumbia from Panama in the 1960s and 1970s) a law of diminishing returns operates that ensures that each subsequent collection is inferior. But here we are on CD three and, if anything, it's even better than its predecessors. Another pleasure is the well-informed sleeve notes, resplendent with reproductions of the original LP sleeves which are either hilarious or effortlessly cool. The music, of course, is only the latter....full text |
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