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First off, let's get the cryptic title of this LP re-release of a 1976 album out of the way. As the liner notes explain, it refers to Carlos "Patato" Valdez' wind up phrase, used before counting in a song. Are you ready, indeed, for one of the world's finest conga players performing in an emphatically traditional Cuban ensemble?
The first song, "La Ambulancia", complete with sirens, belongs to singer Mario "Papaito" Muñoz: he is composer and singer. His masterful style of singing in the son style is heard all too infrequently these days. Before we leave this mid-tempo number, we must give credit to Alfredito Rodriguez for a flighty, eccentric solo -- a sort of prophecy of what Cuban Gonzalo Rubalcaba would do two decades later in jazz circles.
Perhaps the African influence is most evident in the traditional religious song "Canto a Chango". Here the voice (coro) engages in call/answer with the LP Bata Drums. The mood is celebratory. In the absence of other instrumentation, the timbres of the traditional drums project clearly.
"Quedate Sin Amor" will become your favorite. It begins with the plaintive chording of the Cuban guitar-like Tres, very legato. Then by some unseen signal, it leaps into a rumba with Patato carrying lead vocals in his inimitable style. Before the horns kick in, we hear a guaguanco rhythm executed in pristine form with Virgilio Marti, Julito Collazo, and Mario "Papaito" Muñoz sharing the conga parts. All the while, Orestes Vilato keeps persistent cascara going on the shell, virtually unstoppable. This is followed closely by "Canto a Chango", another rumba in fast tempo.
Students of Latin percussion ought to check out the cascara rhythm that introduces "To y van Hecho" and pervades the song. The tone of the traditional clicking against the shell and the note value, somewhere between 4/4 and 6/8 time, harkens back to Africa.
Ready for Freddy closes with a cha cha, in which many of the musicians join in a vocal refrain. The spirit is loose and happy, right down to the bending of Bobby Rodriguez's bass strings, at times almost pleasantly out of tune! Here, Nelson Gonzales has a chance to stretch out on Tres. He shares Rodriguez's penchant for wacky phrasing, alternating quirky syncopated lines with traditional strumming, making this a delightful end to a delightful snapshot of Cuban folklore.
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