Catalog Number: ELPALMAS 038LP
Format: LP
UPC: 4040824093372
The recovery of this Sexteto Fantasia album is another event that El Palmas Music is proud to promote. The leader of that Venezuelan group that released this album in 1968 is Virgilio Armas, a pianist with a truly enviable record of service. To confirm it, just skim the list of artists he once worked with: Tito Puente, Paulinho da Costa, Stan Getz, Nancy Wilson, Sergio Mendes, Elis Regina, Leslie Root, and more. Estamos en Algo captivates and surprises with its heterogeneity: there is guaracha, pachanga, mambo, boogaloo (attention to the soulero groove and boogie-woogie of "Panchita"), cha cha cha, and bolero. As was well explained on the back cover of the first edition of this magnificent album, it is "a dynamic and versatile group made up of young musicians, wishing to contribute a new style in order to establish themselves in the competitive field of sextets." The spirit is salsa, but here there are nuances of Latin jazz and bossa nova that color the landscape. The Sexteto Fantasia was connected to the tradition of Latin American popular music and its time, focused especially on expanding the limits of its own work, as befits any modern artist. The staff of this album was headed by pianist and musical director Virgilio Armas. It was completed by Domingo Moret (flute and guitar), Rodolfo Buenano (bass), Guillermo Taribe (drums), Hugo Liendo (tumbadoras), and Gabriel Ruiz on vocals.