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Now it’s probably not that long ago that after the great success of the Ian Carr’s Nucleus gig at Cargo (see review HERE), the promoters were thinking about how they could top that? What about getting the Joe “King Of Latin Soul” Bataan? What an excellent idea but after some initial enquiries, when you want the King, he calls the shots and one of them was that he wanted his band to come with him. Even in days of cheap transatlantic travel, that was never going to stack up for a one-off gig.

A few years on and we find that Mr. Bataan has mellowed a little as King Of Latin Soul has got together last year with the Spanish band Los Fulanos (from Barcelona, congratulations for winning the La Liga last night) to bring you these new recordings.

Back in the late sixties and seventies, Bataan was one of the musicians from Spanish Harlem that helped establish the Fania and Salsoul labels; for a quick 101, check the review of Joe Bataan: The Anthology and Bataan’s come back album on Vampi Soul, Call My Name that were both released at the time of that Ian Carr gig.

You can’t expect him to be top form at his age? We’ll, with a collection of his big tunes, notably the Gil Scott Heron cover of ‘The Bottle’ (now with Joe’s vocal) and a 2008 update of ‘Rap-O-Clap-O’ together with some more obscure numbers, there’s enough to please fans new and old.

Apparently, the original plan was just to record ‘Gypsy Woman’, ‘Special Girl’, ‘Subway Joe’ and ‘Johnny’s No Good’ but as there was some studio time left, they carried on with an unrehearsed “live” version of ‘I Wish You Love’. The ‘I Wish You Love’ is drenched in soul and even if Joe’s voice is vulnerable in places, it adds to the track and it’s a stand out or, as Miguel Ferre Falcon says “a magic moment”.

And talking of which (both live and stand-out), there’s a couple of bonus live tracks recorded at the Apolo; not that one, this is the Apolo in Barcelona. But it’s worth getting this album for ‘The Prayer’ alone; who else could make the Lord’s Prayer sound so good?

And strangely enough, another highlight is an almost brand new track called ‘Latin Soul Square Dance’ (Joe having recorded ‘LaSo Square (Are You Ready)’ with Jocelyn Brown for MCA in 1997).

‘Puerto Rico Me Llama’ is sung in Spanish and the Band really cook on this one; it might have helped if more had been done like this but make no mistake, ‘Mr. New York’ is back and is ready to rule for some time yet!

Ordinary Joe? No Way, The King

Reviewed: Joe Bataan - King Of Latin Soul (Vampi Soul) Cat. No. Vampi CD 111 Release date: February 2009
Tracklisting:
1. Subway Joe (3:31)
2. Mestizo (4:48)
3. The Bottle (4:02)
4. Johnny’s No Good (4:18)
5. Special Girl (2:46)
6. Rap-O-Clap-O 2008 (4:28)
7. Latin Soul Square Dance (3:56)
8. I Wish You Love (4:35)
9. Gipsy Woman (3:33)
10. Puerto Rico Me Llama (4:12)
11. The Prayer (CD only) (4:29)
12. It’s a Good Feeling (CD only) (2:46)

Links:
www.joebataan.net
www.myspace.com/vampisoul
6/ 11 (Thu) @ Cargo, 83 Rivington St. London, UK www.cargo-london.com
* 6/13 (Sat) 10PM @The Wardrobe, St. Peter’s Square, Leeds, LS 9 8AH UK
6/14 (Sun) @Hare & Hounds, High Street, Kings Heath, Birmingham, B14 7JZ ,UK
www.hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk