Reconfirmando

Latin Beat Magazine, August, 1997 by Rudolph Mangual

JOHNNY ALMENDRA Y LOS JOVENES DEL BARRIO

Without a doubt, one of the most versatile tropical dance music ensembles out of New York City has to be Johnny Almendra y Los Jovenes del Barrio. Enjoying the release of their second CD Reconfirmando, the band showcases its wide array of styles, instrumentation, and modes, thus the main reason for their popularity: being able to capture and appeal to a wider audience. Reconfirmando offers rhythms such as songo/rumba in the tune Todo el mundo necesita; salsa/son in Pasión sin freno; R&B/rumba in Hechicera; danzón/danza in Borincuba, and so on. The band can sound like a charanga, an orchestra with strings, or an R&B band.

Besides resident vocalists Jillian and Eddie Natal, special guest appearances on vocals include Miles Peña on the opening track Todo el mundo necesita --which makes for an excellent starting point-- Tito Nieves, Ray Sepúlveda, and Ozzie Meléndez on the track Everybody Plays a Fool, and Ronnie Baro, David Oquendo, and Oriente López on coro throughout the recording. Percussionist/bandleader Johnny Almendra does a commendable job on Reconfirmando. My personal favorites are Todo el mundo necesita, the bilingual Hechicera, and Borincuba.