AM Foreign World Cup: Round of 32 - Americas

[Stephan]

The second week, and the second (of four, one in each continent) artist who's facing himself shows up.

Bracket 4.2.1
Jorge Ben - Zumbi
Jorge Ben - Taj Mahal

Bracket 4.2.2
Compay Segundo - Yo Vengo Aqui
Trio Matamoros - Son de la Loma

Bracket 4.2.3
Ry Cooder - A Canción Mixteca
Rubén Blades - Pedro Navaja

Bracket 4.2.4
Mercedes Sosa - Alfonsina y el mar
Astor Piazzolla - Oblivion

[Henrik]

I didn't have to think a lot this week (which has nothing to do with poor competition of course).

Bracket 4.2.1
Jorge Ben - Zumbi
Jorge Ben - Taj Mahal

Bracket 4.2.2
Compay Segundo - Yo Vengo Aqui
Trio Matamoros - Son de la Loma

Bracket 4.2.3
Ry Cooder - A Canción Mixteca
Rubén Blades - Pedro Navaja

Bracket 4.2.4
Mercedes Sosa - Alfonsina y el mar
Astor Piazzolla - Oblivion

[Honorio]

Bracket 4.2.1
Jorge Ben - Zumbi (1974)
Jorge Ben - Taj Mahal (1972)
Every continent has an artist facing himself in our poll, Africa had Astatke, America Ben, Asia (Ananda) Shankar and Europe Brel.
Despite the career of Ben during the 60s being highly remarkable with peaks like "Samba esquema novo" (1963) or "Jorge Ben" (1969), both songs on our poll come from his 70s concept albums, "Zumbi" from the music alchemist "A tábua da esmeralda" (1974) and "Taj Mahal" from the Afro-Funk "África Brasil" (1976). Both great, "Taj Mahal" slightly better.


Bracket 4.2.2
Compay Segundo - Yo vengo aquí (Cuba, 1996)
Trío Matamoros - Son de la loma (Cuba, 1928)
The Caribbean big final could be no other than a final between the main names of Cuban son, Compay Segundo and Trío Matamoros (Compay himself played with el Trío Matamoros during the 1940s). Both great songs, the magnificent comeback after decades of oblivion of Compay (just before achieving worldwide acclaim with his Buena Vista Social Club) and the pioneer Miguel Matamoros with one of the first hits of Cuban son, maybe the one that took the genre from its marginal origins (it was the soundtrack of prostitution and gambling in Havana during the days of Prohibition laws in the US) to the most popular Cuban style then. I will vote for "Son de la loma" and not only for its historical importance.


Bracket 4.2.3
Ry Cooder - A Canción Mixteca (USA, 1984)
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades - Pedro Navaja (Panama/USA, 1978)
Wow, absolutely terrific bracket, both songs are favourites of mine from many many years ago. The title song of the "Paris, Texas" soundtrack is widely known in Spain because it was the theme music of a TV documentary series for many years. I fell in love with that music and I did some research (those were pre-Internet times, you know) till I found that it was a Ry Cooder soundtrack for Wim Wenders (I was already a fan of Wenders after seeing "Alice in the cities"). But when I finally got to see "Paris, Texas" in VHS the song that really knocked me out was this "Canción Mixteca" in an instrumental version on the Super 8 scene that Stephan posted and I commented here many times before (for the album version sung by Harry Dean Stanton go here). Years after it came Nic & Hon cover...
But I discovered "Pedro Navaja" even before. Salsa was very big in Spain on the late 70s when I was a teenager, after Franco's death people wanted simply to have fun. And Latin music and pachanga was perfect for open-air dancing on the villages plazas. A Spanish band called Orquestra Platería did a very good cover of Pedro Navaja in 1979 and I loved it. Some years later I recorded on a tape a special radio program made by Diego Manrique (the Spanish John Peel) about songs inspired by Bertolt Brecht and there was the original Blades song, one of my ever favourites since then. Stephan, the link cannot be seen (at least in Spain), here it is another link.
It's painful to choose between those two. Well, it's got to be "Pedro Navaja" but I won't mind at all if "Canción Mixteca" finally wins.


Bracket 4.2.4
Mercedes Sosa - Alfonsina y el mar (Argentina, 1969)
Ástor Piazzolla - Oblivion (Argentina, 1984)
I'm pleasantly surprised about the good performance on our poll of "Alfonsina y el mar," never thought that it could get that far. I think I talked enough about the song on previous rounds, this time I'm going to recommend only this impressive cover by Avishai Cohen only with double bass and voice, I get chills when he switches the beat to a jazzy walking bass at 3'41". My vote goes to Alfonsina again even if I love Ástor Piazzolla tango.

[Henrik]

Honorio, "Taj Mahal" was originally released in 1972, on Ben.

[Miguel]

Bracket 4.2.1
Jorge Ben - Zumbi

Bracket 4.2.2
Compay Segundo - Yo vengo aquí

Bracket 4.2.3
Willie Colón & Rubén Blades - Pedro Navaja

Bracket 4.2.4
Ástor Piazzolla - Oblivion

[Honorio]

Honorio, "Taj Mahal" was originally released in 1972, on Ben.

You're right, Henrik, I just listened to it and there is a previous version that I never heard before (here it is a link for the 1972 original version). I edited the year of release but not the comment because the 1976 version is the one known (and loved) by everyone of us. But the 1972 version is excellent too.

[Dan]

I feel like I’m getting to know these songs and artists rather well by now. And that’s a very satisfying thing to feel.

Jorge Ben - Zumbi
Jorge Ben - Taj Mahal

Compay Segundo - Yo Vengo Aqui
Trio Matamoros - Son de la Loma

Ry Cooder - A Canción Mixteca
Rubén Blades - Pedro Navaja

Mercedes Sosa - Alfonsina y el mar
Astor Piazzolla - Oblivion

Stephan, I won’t have access to the internet for the next 10 days or so. Please include my votes next week:

Tokyo Jihen - Kurumaya-san
Shigeru Umebayashi - Yumeji's Theme

Ananda Shankar - Streets of Calcutta
Ananda Shankar - Dancing Drums

Various Artists - Hudjan Mas (Golden Rain)
Sinn Sisamouth, Ros Sereysothea, Pan Ron and Dara Dam Chan - Mou Pei Na

Alfred Aholo Apaka - Na Moku Eha
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu- Wiyathul

[DaveC]

Bracket 4.2.1
Jorge Ben - Zumbi

Bracket 4.2.2
Compay Segundo - Yo vengo aquí

Bracket 4.2.3
Rubén Blades - Pedro Navaja

Bracket 4.2.4
Ástor Piazzolla - Oblivion

[nicolas]

Bracket 4.2.1
Jorge Ben - Zumbi 4.5
Jorge Ben - Taj Mahal 4.25

Bracket 4.2.2
Compay Segundo - Yo Vengo Aqui 5
Trio Matamoros - Son de la Loma 5
Those songs are indeed very close to each other, it's almost a derby like the bracket above. Traditional son. I prefer Compay.

Bracket 4.2.3
Ry Cooder - A Canción Mixteca 5
Rubén Blades - Pedro Navaja 5
Great songs, but here again I have a special and personal preference for Cancion Mixteca

Bracket 4.2.4
Mercedes Sosa - Alfonsina y el mar 4.5
Astor Piazzolla - Oblivion 4.5
It is just today that I am strucked by the emotional power of that song.

[Honorio]

Tough competition this week. We have so far a triple tie on the first three brackets and a slight advantage of Piazzolla on the last one.

[jamieW]

With school really bearing down on me (three more weeks until graduation), no time for comments this week (which is just as well, since I’d probably only be repeating what I’ve said in the past). My most difficult moment was voting against Sosa, my second favorite of the week, which just happens to be going against “Oblivion,” one of my favorites of the entire World Cup.

Bracket 4.2.1
Jorge Ben - Zumbi
Winner: Jorge Ben - Taj Mahal

Bracket 4.2.2
Winner: Compay Segundo - Yo Vengo Aqui
Trio Matamoros - Son de la Loma

Bracket 4.2.3
Ry Cooder - A Canción Mixteca
Winner: Rubén Blades - Pedro Navaja

Bracket 4.2.4
Mercedes Sosa - Alfonsina y el mar
Winner: Astor Piazzolla - Oblivion

[Poliuks]

Bracket 4.2.1
Jorge Ben - Zumbi
Jorge Ben - Taj Mahal
One of the most energetic songs in World Cup. By the way, I'm a bit ashamed that I hadn't noticed that Rod Stewart similarity before I read the YT comments. Seems pretty obvious now.

Bracket 4.2.2
Compay Segundo - Yo Vengo Aqui
Trio Matamoros - Son de la Loma
Pass

Bracket 4.2.3
Ry Cooder - A Canción Mixteca
Rubén Blades - Pedro Navaja
Pedro Navaja feels a little bit overlong to me; on the other hand, sweet, melancholic A Canción Mixteca is definitely a grower and may end as one of my favourite songs of World Cup.

Bracket 4.2.4
Mercedes Sosa - Alfonsina y el mar
Astor Piazzolla - Oblivion
The easiest choice of the week; if I'm right, in the previous rounds my votes were for Alfonsina y el mar and against Oblivion. No changes here.

[Stephan]

My votes are for Zumbi, Compay, Rubén, and Astor.

The results:

Bracket 4.2.1
Jorge Ben - Zumbi - 4
Jorge Ben - Taj Mahal - 5

Bracket 4.2.2
Compay Segundo - Yo Vengo Aqui - 5
Trio Matamoros - Son de la Loma - 3

Bracket 4.2.3
Ry Cooder - A Canción Mixteca - 4
Rubén Blades - Pedro Navaja - 5

Bracket 4.2.4
Mercedes Sosa - Alfonsina y el mar - 3
Astor Piazzolla - Oblivion - 6

[Honorio]

Just like the week before only one of my "candidates" for winning every part of America finally won, "Pedro Navaja" (nominated by me). Mercedes Sosa's "Alfonsina y el mar" (also nominated by me) was eliminated on this last round by Ástor Piazzolla. The other two candidates didn't have any chance because they were eliminated on Round 3 and Round 2 respectively: Elis & Tom with their "Águas de Março" and Trío Matamoros with "Lágrimas negras."
Goodbye to La Negra...