Some Traditions Are Worth Upholding

Like most Latinas her age, 18-year-old Natalie feels equally comfortable listening to ‘N Sync and Enrique Iglesias, Eminem and Ricky Martin. And she definitely enjoys the salsa records her parents spin at their North Hollywood home.

Mention some popular traditional Mexican artists such as Los Tigres del Norte, Los Temerarios and Conjunto Primavera, however, and Natalie will laugh in your face.

“That stuff is sooo not cool,” she says.

Natalie is not alone. The touted conquest of the U.S. mainstream by Latin music is limited to three genres: pop, Afro-Cuban and rock en espan~ol. Even within the Latino community, there’s a perception that regional Mexican music is of marginal, picturesque interest only.

As a result, many will miss out on some of the most satisfying and intriguing Latin albums of the year.

While critics have been busy gushing over the new Gloria Estefan and Omara Portuondo albums, excellent collections by Los Temerarios and Conjunto Primavera have gone largely unnoticed--unless you count their millions of fans, that is.

Both albums have been certified gold (shipments of 500,000) and reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Latin chart. But their following is mostly limited to Mexican and Central American immigrants, for whom these groups offer an emotional connection with the homes they left behind.

You don’t need to be a nostalgic immigrant to enjoy Los Temerarios, however. “En La Madrugada Se Fue,” the Mexican quintet’s new album, is a lilting set of ballads. The material lacks the sophistication of a Ruben Blades, but it compensates with sheer musicality and emotional content.

The record forsakes the slick, layered sound favored by most high-profile Latin pop artists of the last decade, relying instead on a simple, unassuming production style that puts priority on the songs.

The strategy works, because of the group’s uncanny ease coming up with memorable hooks. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear stylistic echoes of the ranchera and norten~o worlds. Mainly, though, these sweet, syrupy melodies subscribe to the Armando Manzanero and Juan Gabriel school of balladry. Not surprisingly, the group’s keyboardist and producer, Adolfo Angel Alba, cites Manzanero and Gabriel as well as Jose Alfredo Jimenez and Agustin Lara as his main sources of inspiration.

“Every composer that transcended within the [romantic] genre has inspired me,” Alba says. “The key to writing good love songs is to live hard. I’ve gone through the most horrible times and also experienced moments of extreme happiness. These vivencias [life experiences] are reflected in my songs.”

Los Temerarios released its first album in 1983, and according to its label, Fonovisa, it has since sold more than 12 million copies. Its specialty is the dreamy, tender love ballad. In fact, only one tune on the new album is upbeat. Alba clearly enjoys exploring the darker textures of love and desire.

“I have a weakness for the ladies,” he says. “I lock myself in the studio all night long, with a piano and a guitar. The songs just keep coming up.”

Like many Latin artists, Alba has been stung by Rickymania and would like a shot at the English-language market. In fact, he will soon enter the studio with producer Rudy Perez and record an English version of Los Temerarios’ current hit single “Te Hice Mal.”

The chances of a massive crossover are small, but the band has already achieved a much more interesting feat in its native country: getting Mexico’s snobbish upper class to listen up.

“In essence, our music is supposed to be geared to el pueblo [the working class],” Alba explains. “But something changed in the last five years. We go to upscale discos and see that they’ve programmed our songs into the mix. We are not perceived anymore as your typical working-class band. Everybody’s listening now.”

Unlike Los Temerarios, Conjunto Primavera has no qualms about making music for and about el pueblo.

“We make music for the lower social classes, for people like us,” says Primavera musical director Juan Dominguez. “Wealthy people don’t like what we do. There’s certainly a prejudice there.”

“Morir de Amor,” the group’s latest album, demonstrates the inherent richness of those Latin genres that are usually dismissed as facile and prosaic. The group’s brand of sentimental balladry and norten~o inflections--like Colombian cumbia, Dominican merengue and Argentine folk--is a populist style charged with catchy choruses and evocative lyrics.

The title track from “Morir de Amor” is a smoky ballad marked by an irresistible melody, velvety keyboards and an old-fashioned sax solo that could easily fit in a ‘50s doo-wop side. At a little over three minutes, it is one of the most flavorful Latin songs of the year.

THE YEAR SO FAR: Last year, everything indicated that rock en espan~ol was the style to watch, with groundbreaking collections by Cafe Tacuba and Fabulosos Cadillacs. But in the first half of 2000, pop--the least reliable of Latin genres, artistically speaking--has emerged triumphant.

Latin rock has failed to provide any significant excitement this year, with the exception of “Miami,” a slice of retro electronica by Argentina’s Babasonicos.

On the other hand, Spain’s Enrique Bunbury and Ana Torroja released adventurous albums of intelligent pop, “Pequen~o” and “Pasajes de un Suen~o,” respectively. The genre was also enriched by Bebel Gilberto’s debut disc “Tanto Tempo.”

In the tropical genre, the best efforts belong to relatively new names. Los Angeles salsero Ricardo Lemvo released “Sao Salvador,” his third and best album, cementing a highly personal style that owes equally to Cuban son and Congolese rumba. And Colombia’s Sonora Carruseles continued a streak of winning albums with the danceable “Con Todos los Hierros.” Although she’s far from a newcomer, veteran singer Omara Portuondo entered the mainstream with “Buena Vista Social Club Presents Omara Portuondo,” an irresistible collection devoted mostly to velvety boleros.