Night Raider
Sonora Ponceña

For the fanatics of la Sonora Ponceña, the re-release of the production “Night Raider” evokes feelings of nostalgia because the two main singers among whom don Quique Lucca and his son divided up the repertoire of this record have now passed away.
Toñito Ledee, substitute for Tito Gómez upon his second departure from the orchestra, died in the middle of the 1980s in a stunning car accident after falling asleep at the wheel following a singing engagement at a party with la Sonora.
And Miguelito Ortiz, who substituted for Tito after his first departure from the band so he could record with La Terrífica and Ray Barretto, recently died due to complications related to diabetes from which he had been suffering for several years.
The nostalgia is accentuated if we recall that other musicians from the recording session, like the contrabassist Tato Santaella, the timbalero Jesse Colón and the trumpeter Humberto Godineaux, have also left for other stages in Heaven.
For those of us who witnessed la Sonora of the ‘80s we agree that, time after time, the orchestra has guaranteed the dancer the highest level of flavor and quality which has distinguished the arrangements of Papo Lucca during almost five decades.
“Night Raider”, nevertheless, will be remembered as one of Miguelito Ortiz’s most circumspect albums. He was the main singer of the recording session, but his performance – due to the diabetes which already undermined his energies – was far from many previous interpretations such as Sabor Sureño, Tiene Pimienta and Conquista Musical (Musical Conquest), in which he popularized selections such as Las Lenguas, La Vida Te Doy, No Muere El Son and La Pollerá Colorá, among others.
Ironically, the most commercial tracks of the recording session were delivered into Miguelito’s hands. In 1981, the first single to be released from “Night Raider” was the song “Ramona”, the story of a woman destined to solitude and perennial spinsterhood due to her ugliness.
‘Son 40 Navidades, sin ninguna noche buena’, recites one of the soneos while the chorus repeats the refrain: ‘Jamona, te vas a quedar’. Papo Lucca’s solo on the piano, linking compasses from the melody from the classic María Cervantes by Noro Morales, compensates for Ortiz’s poor vocal performance, who – notwithstanding Papo’s excellent arrangement and the shouting ‘scats’ that accompany the version by Venezuelan Simón Díaz – could not perform with same the excellence as in the old days of “Caballo Viejo”.
His best interpretation from “Night Raider” is the bolero “A Lo Mejor”, complemented with another solo by Papo.
Nevertheless, in the best moment of his ephemeral career as a singer, Toñito Ledee made himself known with “Borrachera”, “Umi-Layé”, and “Nada Para Ti”, three superb interpretations, with an abundance of cadence and rhythmic richness.
Originally by Roberto Angleró, in “Borrachera” the scene is recreated of the person who drinks in order to forget an unrequited love. The theme of the macho man who prefers to drown his sorrows instead of confronting reality is also taken on by La Ponceña in other records by means of the songs “Barra Limpia” and “No Bebo Más”.
With “Umi-Layé”, with touches of batá drums and a bongo solo by Angelito Hernández, Toñito was able to repeat the success of Yambeque and Mi Lindo Yambú. After his death, these African- style songs have been magnificiently cultivated by Héctor Pichie Pérez.
“Nada Para Ti”, another original work by Roberto Angleró, combines rhythmic annotations of the danzón, the son montuno and the guaracha in his arrangement, where Papo stands out with another solo along with trumpeters Heriberto Santiago and Tony Rodríguez El Cordovés.

The success of Canto Al Amor, recorded by Yolanda Rivera, Miguelito and Tito Gómez on the LP Explorando, was capitalized on in “Night Raider” by way of “Cuestiones de Amor”, a composition by the then director of Son 14, Adalberto Alvarez and which Miguelito, Yolanda (the only song she sings on this album which also marks her departure from La Ponceña) and Toñito made popular in South America in 1981 and 1982.
Just as in previous albums, the touch of jazz was provided by the track “Something Easy” by Dave Burns, with Papo’s virtuosity on the piano and accompanied, by way of an overdub, with drum rolls his solo as well as the solo of trumpeter Humberto Godineaux.

Credits:

Enrique “Quique” Lucca – Leader
Enrique “Papo” Lucca – Piano
Ramón L. Rodríguez “El Cordovés” – Trumpet
Delfín Pérez – Trumpet
Humberto Godineaux – Trumpet
Heriberto Santiago – Trumpet
Antonio Santaella – Bass
Efraín Hernández – Bass
Jesse Colón – Timbal
Vicente Rivero “Johnny” – Congas
Angel Hernández – Bongo
Miguel Ortiz – Güiro, Maracas

Chorus - Yolandita Rivera, Miguelito Ortiz, Toñito Ledee, Edwin Rosas

Producer – Papo Lucca
Executive Productor – Jerry Masucci
Musical Director – Enrique “Papo” Lucca
Recording Director – Quique Lucca
Recorded at - Estudios Borinquen, P. R.
Engineers – Richard “Tex” Stanley, Gerardo Ríos
Mixed - La Tierra Estudios, N. Y. 1981 by Alfredo Li
Original Album Design – Ron Levine

Written by Jaime Torres Torres
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