VampiSoul spotlights Colombian dancefloor heat from Medellín's INS label

180 gram vinyl pressings of Julián y su Combo's Noche de Fiesta and A gozar salsomanos con Los Afroins are out today via VampiSoul. 

VampiSoul kicks off it's promising new reissue series documenting classic Colombian salsa with the reissue of two sought-after 70s albums by Julian y su Combo and Los Afroins originally issued on the Medellín-based INS label which had the great Alfredo Linares as it's artistic director.
Note: Although the albums have a street date listed as October 4th, vinyl copies may take a few weeks to appear at your local shop.

Julián y su Combo

Julián y su Combo was founded in 1962 by left-handed guitarist Julián Angulo Ponce, who was originally from Guapi, Cauca, Colombia and made his name in Cali and Buenaventura, signing initially with Bogotá’s Sello Vergara in 1966. During a 20-year period Julián y su Combo released eight records (with several band name variations). Angulo was part of the first generation of artists from the Colombian Pacific who migrated to Bogotá in the 1970s, and his combo enjoyed popularity in his adopted city as well as in Medellín and Mexico. The band also travelled to Venezuela and the US.

Angulo described his sound as “Afroantillano”, combining Cuban, New York Latin and Puerto Rican elements with Colombia’s own tropical traditions. The combo’s arrangements were distinguished by the bandleader’s funky, jazzy electric guitar work (Angulo played without changing the order of the strings), a hot rhythm section and the potent brass line-up of two saxophones and a trumpet (much like Cortijo y su Combo).

Noche de fiesta (1975) was the first of two albums Angulo cut for the Medellín-based INS label (Industria Nacional del Sonido Ltda), and the record was distinguished by having the great Peruvian bandleader and composer Alfredo Linares guesting on piano. Linares also shared the arranging duties with the combo’s trumpet player Carlos Rivas. At that time Alfredo Linares was musical director at INS and this album bears his influence in the funky ‘mambo rock’ sections (breaks and handclaps galore!) and hot Cuban and Latin jazz piano styles that also graced his own records. The lead vocals were equally split by Julian’s long-time singer José Arboleda and the band’s drummer “Guapachá” (guest artist Clelia Ramírez joined the band on coro). “Noche de fiesta” is sought after by collectors and DJs the world over not only for its hard salsa and instrumental descarga tracks but also because of the funky dancefloor cuts “Enyere Kumbara” (covered by Quantic), “INS-Rock” and “Estoy soda” as well as the excellent original version of “Las caleñas son como las flores” made famous later the same year by The Latin Brothers. – Pablo Iglesias aka DJ Bongohead


Julian y su Combo – Noche de Fiesta
Side 1
1. LAS CALEÑAS SON COMO LAS FLORES
2. ESTOY SODA
3. INS-ROCK
4. INFIERNO EN LA ISLA
5. QUIERO SALSA NA’ MA’
6. LA FINQUITA
Side 2
1. ENYERE KUMBARA
2. AVE MARÍA QUÉ RUMBÓN
3. QUÉ ES LO TUYO
4. ALMENDRA
5. LOS CHISMES

Los Afroins

By 1974, salsa was taking Colombia by storm and so the directors of the INS label (Industria Nacional Del Sonido Ltda), based in Medellín, Colombia, decided to create a band that would appeal to “salsómanos” (salsa fanatics) and be able to compete with the area’s two larger labels, Discos Fuentes and Codiscos.

Thus was born the oddly named Los Afroins (a contraction of Afro, indicating the roots of the music, and “–ins”, for the label name), an obscure, short-lived combo that would release two albums and six 45s. The repertoire focused on cover versions of hit Afro-Antillean tunes both classic and contemporary.

Pianist Agustín Martínez “El Conde”, who would later work with Joe Arroyo and Juan Piña, led the group and did some arranging. INS artistic director Alfredo Linares “El Inca”, the famed Peruvian keyboardist and composer, oversaw the project and guested on piano for several tracks, doing some arranging as well. The vocals were handled by a pair of young as yet unknown singers, Lucho Puerto Rico and Roy Betancourt, who would later go on to more fame in the 1980s, the former with his own Lucho Puerto Rico y su Conjunto Sonero and Conjunto Son del Barrio (both in collaboration with Alfredo Linares), and the latter with Willie Salcedo, Reales Brass de Colombia and Los Caribes. Óscar Toscano “El Márquez Argentino” (whose orchestra backed Palito Ortega in the 1960s) and Luis E Mosquera arranged as well, while the rest of the band was made up of INS-related studio musicians.

Their first album, A gozar salsomanos con Los Afroins, is a sought-after collector’s item and contains ten brassy, heavy-duty salsa gems that don’t let up for the duration of the record. There are covers of salsa hits by Ismael Rivera (‘El nazareno’, ‘Orgullosa’), Los Ahijados (‘Virgen de la Cueva’, ‘Guayo, pellizco y pata’), Roberto De La Barrera (‘Sabrosón’), Cheo Marquetti (‘Apriétala’) and even the smash pop hit by the French modern classical and electronic music composer Saint-Preux (a great instrumental descarga version of ‘Concierto para una sola voz’). In addition, there are two originals "Afroinspiración" and "Cuídate" that are equally hot. The whole package makes for a very satisfying party record that deserves to be more accessible and better known by today’s salsómanos who may have heard of Fruko y sus Tesos or Grupo Niche but have yet to discover Los Afroins. – Pablo Iglesias aka DJ Bongohead


Los Afroins – A gozar salsomanos con...
Side 1
1. EL NAZARENO
2. AFROINSPIRACIÓN
3. VIRGEN DE LA CUEVA
4. CONGA “E”
5. CUÍDATE
Side 2
1. ORGULLOSA
2. SABROSÓN
3. APRIÉTALA
4. GUAYO, PELLIZCO Y PATA
5. CONCIERTO PARA UNA SOLA VOZ