Artist: Aldemaro Romero
Year: 1955
Genre: Venezuelan folk music
Grade: A-
Venezuelan composer/arranger Aldemaro Romero takes the traditional native styles of joropo and merengue and updates the approach with western classical strings. The result is a joyous record of familiar melodies and rhythms — Venezuela ain’t so different after all. You could almost call this Latino classical if it weren’t for the subtle traces of pop.
First song (“Alma Llanera”) should be the damn national anthem, while the rest all posit a semi-exotic look at Venezuelan culture and tradition. In the end, Dinner in Caracas is a foreign treat that you’ll surprisingly want to revisit. It’s better than Sones de Mexico and Legend of the Sun Virgin, at least.
Dinner in Caracas – Aldemaro Romero