After a half-dozen albums recorded with Fonseca Records, Ricardo Ray and Bobby Cruz proved that their foray into the New York music scene was neither an accident nor an after-effect of the boogaloo craze. El Comején, El Mulato, and Colorín Colorao earned the pair a lucrative contract with the Alegre and Tico record labels, both headed by Moris Levy, who sent the famous Pancho Cristal to work with his partner Moris Pelsman to direct and produce Richie and Bobby’s early recordings.

The duo’s first album, Se Soltó, was released in 1967. Bobby shared his repertoire from Señor Embajador, Azucaré y Bongó, and Lookie Lookie with Santurce, Puerto Rico native Rafael
Chivirico Dávila.

At the end of the year, when boogaloo fever was at its peak, the jala jala, created by Roberto Roena, began to stake its claim all the way from Puerto Rico. Pancho Cristal could see the writing on the wall, and told his protégés to embrace the new craze.

The duo did so with style. Directed by engineers Fred Weinberg and Rodrigo Zavala, Richie and Bobby rose to extraordinary heights with the album "Jala Jala Y Boogaloo,” which was such an enormous success that it demanded a sequel in 1968.

Ricardo, born in Brooklyn, and Bobby, a native of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, comprised one of the most explosive bands of the era, challenging mambo dancers of the 1960s with their refreshing, dynamic, and innovative music.

The popularity of big orchestras directed by leaders such as Puente, Machito, and Rodríguez was diminishing. A new generation of fans was swooning over the fusion of the son and Cuban guajira with pop, soul, funk rock, and rhythm and blues.

But the most popular single from the album was not a boogaloo number: It was the contagious, irresistible number “Richie’s Jala Jala.” In the first few notes, Ricardo uses his piano to reproduce the beat Roberto Roena created with his bell. The arrangement –a splendid achievement of harmonics in which Pedro Chaparro and Doc Cheatham’s trumpets play a leading role– ennobles and purifies the genre popularized by the Gran Combo in Puerto Rico.

The second track on the album is the boogaloo number “Baby Don’t You Cry.” Here, Richie and Bobby –whose duets are out of this world– sing in unison, with Ricardo playing up the go-go and African-American soul phrasing. Doc plays a solo, keeping time with a boogaloo and shingaling beat.

“Colombia’s Boogaloo” is one of those songs that were inspired by South America. “Stop, Look & Listen” is another energetic duet that marries the son montuno with the boogaloo.

The irresistible guaguancó number “Lo Atara La Arache," was penned by Hugo González in the ñañiga language, and alludes to the saints. The song was a hit, launching the duo to heights above and beyond other boogaloo artists of the time. Richie and Bobby were proving that they were capable of playing the contemporary New York scene and fusing traditional Cuban music with the jala jala – with their own twist.

The jala jala beat appears again in “Cabo E,” which alludes to Chango and other deities of the Afro-Cuban religion. After the arrangement's first montuno, Ricardo disguises the mambo with a classic melody that grows into an established solo.

“Gentle Rain,” a bossanova penned by Luis Bonfa and translated into Spanish by Pancho Cristal, is like a super-charged bolero number, in which Bobby demonstrates his jazz sensitivity. Pedro Chaparro and Ricardo Ray accompany the melody with sublime solos.

Mozambique was another rhythm that emerged in the 60s from the fusion of mambo and the conga. It didn’t last, but Richie and Bobby proved that they could pull it off in the composition they dedicate to Clubs 3 and 1. The album ends with "Bomba Camará," another of Richie and Bobby's specialties.

Nearly 40 years after its original release, “Richie’s Jala Jala” is still unforgettable. The boogaloo went in and out of style, and other bands like Pete Rodríguez and Ralph Robles disappeared from the scene. But in 2006, Ricardo Ray and Bobby Cruz are still known as the Kings of Salsa.

Credits:

Ricardo Ray – Piano
Pedro Chaparro – Trumpet
Adolphus “Doc” Cheatham –Trumpet
Russell “See” Farnsworth – Bass
Mike Collazo – Timbales
Jose “Candido” Rodriguez – Timbales, Drums
Manuel González – Bongo
Harry Rodriguez – Bongo
Joaquín Dillonis – Congas

Vocals – Ricardo Ray, Bobby Cruz, Chivirico Davila

Producer – Pancho Cristal
Engineer – Fred Weinberg
Engineer - Rodrigo Zavala

Written by Jaime Torres Torres
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