Luis Kalaff Pérez (October 11, 1916 – July 2, 2010) was a Dominican composer, guitarist and singer, born in Pimentel, Duarte Province, in 1916. Known as one of the “godfathers” of the merengue, Luis was the son of a merchant of Lebanese origin, Juan Kalaff, and Bernavelina Pérez, who was Dominican. At fourteen, while working as a carpenter’s apprentice, he happened upon a broken guitar in the street, and after patching it up, he began to play it. Soon he was adept at many different styles and began his artistic career in 1939, joining Pablo Molina and Bienvenido Brens to form the famous Trio Los Alegres Dominicanos. The trio moved to the capitol city (then called Ciudad Trujillo) and dedicated themselves to rescuing and disseminating the folkloric music of their country in the 1940s and 1950s, first performing on radio station H.I.Z. and recording numerous 78 RPM singles backed by various conjuntos, often with reeds, percussion and accordion. Los Alegres Dominicanos became popular by performing on programs hosted by the radio station run by José “Petán” Trujillo, the brother of the country’s then dictator, Rafael Trujillo, called La Voz del Yuna, which was based in the city of Bonao in the northern region of El Cibao, where the típico Dominican merengue is said to originate. In 1950 the radio broadcaster was moved to the capital Santo Domingo and became La Voz Dominicana, the official propaganda organ of the dictatorship. With Trujillo in full control of La Voz Dominicana and the country, Trio Alegres Dominicanos, who were signed as exclusive artists of the station in 1946, enjoyed even greater diffusion and fame, though they were jokingly referred to as “Los Sabios” (The Wise Ones), which was a dig at their provincial, lower class backgrounds, as opposed to the supposedly high society status of the big band leaders supported by Trujillo like Luis Alberti. They also participated in the cultural activities promoted by the poet Héctor J. Díaz of Trujillo’s El Partido Dominicano. During this time, the composer Armando Cabrera became a sort of intellectual mentor for the group, and was seen as an unofficial fourth member who sometimes used the trio to back him with his own compositions. Octavio “Tavito” Peguero would sometimes sing with the trio as well, and famous radio host and producer Radhames Aracena joined the trio on a humorous guaracha 78 RPM recording.

By the 1950s, Kalaff had taken full leadership of the trio, renaming it Luis Kalaff Y Sus Alegres Dominicanos and expanding it permanently into a full-time sextet. More economical and easier to manage, his conjunto consisted of heavy electric bass, saxophone and accordion, and the required pulsated backing of typical merengue percussion (tambora drum and güira scraper). Kalaff himself continued to play guitar and sing chorus (and occasional lead, though his voice was somewhat rough). In the early years, Pablo Molina, Bienvenido Brens and “Tavito” Peguero from the Trio Alegres Dominicanos stayed on and shared lead vocals. Much like Cortijo did with folkloric Puerto Rican music through his innovative combo in Puerto Rico, Kalaff’s new sound took elements of the rural, accordion-based merengue típico and combined it with the urban style forged by the saxophone-led, big band merengue that came into style during the years of its efflorescence under Trujillo. During the latter half of the 1950s, the group’s relationship with the music publisher Peer International was key to the placement of their songs throughout the then flourishing record industry. Kalaff’s entrepreneurial vocation stimulated his productivity, giving him a good sense of the market as to what types of songs and rhythms would sell. In the 1950s, Kalaff received the estimated sum of $1,500 dollars as an advance from Peer in payment of royalties, given the success of his numbers, while other authors received $75, at most $100. After this exciting turn of events, Kalaff relocated to New York in 1958, seeking greater connection to the market and soon began a prolific three decade recording career there, releasing a flood of albums with many labels including Seeco, Riney, Alma, Ansonia, Gema, Patty, Kubaney and All-Art.

With all this in mind it’s no exaggeration to say the man’s most recognized talent was as a successful and prolific songwriter who composed more than 2,000 songs and ventured not only into diverse Dominican genres such as merengue, mangulina, salve and carabiné but also bolero, cumbia, plena, guaracha and boogaloo. Many important national and international artists have interpreted songs by Kalaff over the years with great success, for example Alberto Beltrán, Celia Cruz, Oscar D’León, Julio Iglesias, Ismael Miranda, Charlie Palmieri, Adalberto Santiago, Johnny Ventura, and a host of others. Kalaff’s most famous and popular tunes were “Aunque Me Cueste La Vida” (a bolero first interpreted by Alberto Beltrán with La Sonora Matancera in 1954), several merengues (“La Empalizá” and “Si Tú No, La Otra”) and the guaracha “Juancito Trucupey,” first popularized by Celia Cruz with La Sonora Matancera in 1954. Among his many awards Kalaff won the prestigious Bobby Capó Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. Just before the venerable Kalaff died at the age of 94, equally long-lived vocalist and composer Joseíto Mateo recalled in an interview the the two were close friends who were “the only ones still standing of the first generation of original merengueros,” adding that his amigo Luis was deservedly “the most famous composer of the Dominican Republic.”

Kalaff started recording for Ansonia Records in 1959 when he had only recently relocated to New York and had just toured the city and Puerto Rico, having largely relinquished his dominance of the radio and hotel circuit in Santo Domingo to other groups willing to take his place. That first volume would be Pablo Molina’s last as he would sadly die quite young later that same year. During the 1960s Kalaff would return to the studio and record a second volume for the label, and then a final third LP for them in 1976.

“Merengues Vol. 2” was recorded November 16, 1970 in two-track stereo at Jaysina Sound Studios in New York (where a lot of Dominican and Puerto Rican artists were recorded in the late 1960s), and then mastered, like all Ansonia vinyl, at Beltone Recording Corporation, being released in the winter of 1971. The sessions had some very strong arrangements with the added bass heft of the baritone saxophone on several numbers, an element not often found in merengue of the time. As usual, Los Alegres Dominicanos managed to traverse a fine line between “lo típico” (the typical, folky vibe of the countryside) and “lo urbano” (the citified big band sound). Of the dozen tracks, eight are merengues, three are salves, and one is a cumbia. However, they are all related sonically with similar arrangements, and though the rhythm and pace varies somewhat between them, the over all feeling is of a cohesive whole. With no boleros to be found this time, it’s a non-stop dance fiesta, proving that for Luis Kalaff, “el merengue soy yo” (I am merengue). Ten songs are Kalaff originals, and the record’s lyrical themes range from party lyrics to social satire and bucolic vignettes to romance and men’s troubles with women. The tune “Los Borrachones" paints a dramatic scene of when the (presumably New York) police come to arrest and take away the immigrant Latino “borrachones” (drunks), while “Wilfredo” describes a powerful guy in New York who seems to financially control a lot of women (is he a pimp?), and even the singer admits he owes a lot to Wilfredo including the rent, the grocery bill, and trips to Venezuela and Puerto Rico. Though no musicians or vocalists are credited, it’s a good bet that for the most part the lead vocals are handled by Kalaff, who sounds a bit like his good friend Joseíto Mateo, but a little more raw and folksy. Just like the first and third volumes, “El Merengue Soy Yo - Vol. 2” is an essential and high quality entry in Luis Kalaff’s prolific catalog. Thankfully it has now been rescued from oblivion, remastered, preserved and presented for today’s global audience.

-Pablo Yglesias