No other sonero has tackled the son, the guaguancó and the son montuno with the verve, musicality and sheer flavor of ponceño singer Pete Conde Rodríguez.

During his many performances with the Fania All Stars around the world, and even when he traveled to Africa with Johnny Pacheco's Tumbao Añejo group, many people wondered if he was Cuban when they heard him singing and improvising. El Conde had the same flavor that defined Cuban luminaries such as Miguelito Cuní and Beny Moré, El Bárbaro del Ritmo.

From his recording debut with Conjunto Sensación in the mid '60s, Pete Juan Rodríguez Ferrer, nicknamed El Conde, was destined to succeed. He spent most of his career collaborating with his compadre Johnny Pacheco, which suggests a uniformity of style. 1990's “El Rey,” the last salsa session recorded by the Fania label, is no exception.

Produced by Johnny Pacheco, “El Rey” was El Conde's response to the salsa romántica boom. It includes a number of bolero and ranchera covers adapted into salsa, such as "Yo Quiero Ser" and "Yo Soy El Rey" by José Alfredo Jiménez, as well as “Qué Te Pedí,” the composition by Fernando Mullens and Gabriel de la Fuente immortalized by La Lupe thanks to her interpretation coupled with Tito Puente's arrangement. Here, it is orchestrated by Papo Lucca and sounds as if it was performed by La Sonora Ponceña.

The insipid rhythm of salsa romántica did not adjust well to his style, since El Conde was more of a streetwise sonero with a passionate sense of phrasing and a peerless understanding of the Afro-Cuban clave.

In that respect, Pete's best performances on “El Rey” include Ramón Rodríguez's "Hipócrita," Tite Curet Alonso's "Reliquias," “La Rumba Es Mía” by Junior Cepeda (creator of the famous composition Químbara), the bolero con montuno “Ríe” and “Gandules” by Peter Velázquez. The arrangements were signed by Luis García, Luis Cruz and Papo Lucca.

“Hipócrita,” which includes a brief tres solo by José García, tells the story of a young girl who is engaged to her boyfriend and appears to act like a saint. And yet, she runs away with a friend for a night of misbehaving.

Tite Curet Alonso's “Reliquias” is a metaphor for absent love, in which the memories of a shared passion are preserved like a treasure in one's memory. Pete plays maracas and a bongó solo on "La Rumba Es Mía,” a guaguancó in which El Conde expresses his pride about his heritage as a real rumbero.

The record concludes with “Gandules, a son by Peter Velázquez which follows the classic style of Pacheco's Tumbao Añejo. The track mocks the abundance of friends when times are good, and their absence when, in the song's words, la piña se pone agria – (when the pineapple goes sour.)

In his recordings with Larry Harlow, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Jimmy Bosch, as well as the 1993 album Generaciones that he produced with his children Cita and Pete Emilio for his own company Marcas Records, Pete Conde proved that he could go beyond the Sonora Matancera tradition, performing in other styles. But he was never a successful bolero performer, unlike Monguito, Chivirico and Justo Betancourt. This may explain why the 1996 bolero session Pete & Papo recorded with Papo Lucca was largely misunderstood.

Pete Conde Rodríguez died on December 1, 2000. In the realm of the heavenly rumba, he is still El Rey.

Credits

Isidro Infante – Piano
Papo Lucca – Piano (“Qué Te Pedí”)
Johnny Pacheco – Güiro
Héctor “Bomberito” Zarzuela – Trumpet
Danny Jiménez – Trumpet
Johnny Torres – Bass
Andy González – Bass
Eddie Montalvo – Congas
Tony Saydal – Bongó
José Garcia - Tres
Pete “El Conde” Rodríguez – Maracas, Bongó solo (“La Rumba Es Mia”)

Chorus: Adalberto Santiago y Yayo El Indio

Producer – Johnny Pacheco
Executive Producer – Jerry Masucci
Musical Director – Johnny Pacheco
Recording Engineer – Irv Greenbaum
Arrangements – Luis García (“Hipócrita”, “Ríe”, “Yo Soy El Rey”, “Yo Quiero Ser”, “La Rumba Es Mía”), Luis Cruz (“Gandules”, “Reliquias”), Papo Lucca (“Qué Te Pedí”)
Original Album Photography – Ed Brown
Original Album Art and Design – Drago


Written by Jaime Torres Torres
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