Anybody who is at least marginally familiar with the breathtaking catalogue of Puerto Rico's La Sonora Ponceña will tell you that one disc is simply not enough to include all of the orchestra's greatest hits. The 13 songs in this collection are the cream of the crop, the best of the best.

Usually, great commercial hits showcase the least artistic side of a band, its lighter and most accessible traits. Not with La Ponceña. Tropical anthems like "Prende El Fogón," "Moreno Soy" and the irresistible "El Pío Pío" reveal a level of sophistication that is rare in the history of popular music - an unusual combination of art and commerce.

It all began in 1944, when a Puerto Rican musician from Yauco by the name of Enrique 'Quique' Lucca Caraballo was inspired by his love for the rustic sound of Cuba's Sonora Matancera and created his own version of it - Conjunto Internacional, which in 1954 would evolve and change its name into La Sonora Ponceña.

Most importantly, Mr. Lucca had a son with a prodigious talent for the piano. Born in 1946, Enrique 'Papo' Lucca grew up listening to the orchestra's rehearsals. He recorded in his pre-teen years, and was named the outfit's musical director and piano player in 1968.

Like many masters of Afro-Caribbean music, Papo loved jazz. His velvety piano style is often reminiscent of Bill Evans - and his musical taste brought a level of refinement to La Ponceña that is unmatched in the annals of salsa.

Still, Lucca remained close to the roots of this music: the importance of melody above all elements; the treatment of the percussion ensemble as a visceral fighting machine that leaves no one untouched in its wake; lyrics peppered with rough barrio narratives; and a celebration of Latin culture's piquant sense of humor.

Rugged and sophisticated at the same time, La Ponceña's sound is a powerful blend of extremes - boasting the complexities and depth that define the salsa genre at its apex.

Interestingly, La Ponceña (and Papo himself) remains sadly underrated. Yes, the orchestra is celebrated as one of the few outfits from the golden era of salsa that remain vital to date. But the band has yet to be embraced by the mainstream as the priceless institution of Latin American culture that it is.

The songs included in this collection span three distinct chapters in La Ponceña' career. First we have the early hits, the rugged covers of Arsenio Rodríguez standards ("Hachero Pa'Un Palo," and the raucous "Fuego En El 23" that closes this collection with a bang). The 1974 anthem "Juana Bayona" (from the transitional Sabor Sureño LP) also represents this tendency. Between the late '60s and the mid '70s, La Ponceña was an expertly calibrated salsa band, exhibiting a ferocious sense of swing, but without the progressive tendencies that would appear later in the game.

The superb trio of "Ñáñara Caí," "Bomba Carambomba" and "El Pío Pío" brings us to 1976 and the historic Conquista Musical album. This is the moment when Lucca reached the pinnacle of his artistic expression. The following year, "Boranda," the opening track of El Gigante Del Sur, showcased La Ponceña as the cutting-edge practitioner of progressive salsa - borrowing liberally from Brazilian music, progressive rock (the grand statements of bands such as Pink Floyd), and the breezy psychedelia of jazz-rock (think Weather Report and Chick Corea's Return To Forever).

There is something exhilarating about these two albums, perhaps because Lucca's artistic ambition is expressed without any restraints here. "Boranda" picks up a lilting Brazilian song and turns it into a salsa epic and ecological allegory - including the bandleader's famous scatting interlude, the exploration of new electronic sounds, and the chocolaty lead vocals of Ponceña hitmaker Luigi Texidor.

From the late '70s to this very day, La Ponceña's sound has remained mostly unchanged. Unlike other competing orchestras that succumbed to the pathetic salsa romántica trend, or simply ran out of ideas and began repeating themselves, Lucca's combo settled into a distinct groove - supple, a bit more delicate and elaborate than in previous recordings, but still with plenty of fire burning at its core.

This is the time when the band generated not its most inventive anthems - but certainly the most beautiful ones.

Four tracks in this anthology are culled from the 1978 album Explorando, including the singalong homage to Lucca's piano artistry on "Suena El Piano." "Moreno Soy" found lead vocalist Tito Gómez (of future Grupo Niche fame) cherishing his heritage with pride. It is one of La Ponceña's most memorable tracks - a dancefloor scorcher.

The inclusion of former La Terrífica singer Yolanda Rivera in the band was a touch of genius, adding depth and variety to La Ponceña's repertoire. Rivera's artistic peak with the group happened in 1980, on the LP Unchained Force. Her take on "Borinquen," a tribute to the mystically tinged beauty of Puerto Rico, has an almost religious quality to it - her soulful voice backed by the solemn wailing of the trumpets, and Lucca's elegant piano flourishes. It is not an exaggeration to state that "Borinquen" is one of the most gorgeous moments in the Latin American songbook.

The most recent of our greatest hits is "Ramona," from the 1981 album Night Raider (I dare you not to laugh with its wickedly hilarious lyrics about a misfortunate spinster). Which doesn't mean that La Sonora Ponceña did not experience its share of memorable hits in the intervening decades. The band released a new studio effort in 2008, and continues touring throughout the world.

We hope that this brief anthology of Sonora Ponceña gold will inspire you to catch the band live, and explore the richness of its discography. Once you discover La Ponceña's energy and warmth, it's hard to let go.





Liner Notes by Ernest
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