The Place Where Dodger Stadium Was Built

Today’s record review is Ry Cooder’s Chavez Ravine, which was released in 2005 on the Nonesuch Records label (home to many artists, including one of my current favorites, the Black Keys). A word on Ry Cooder—he’s a great guitarist. He has recorded with many, many different artists. I remember dad talking about his playing years and years ago. The first record I know I heard him on (meaning I knew he was a player on the album) was Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band’s Safe as Milk record, which was unique (to say the least). His playing was already lyrical then, but his style expanded significantly as he tackled numerous other genres from rock, including Latin jazz, folk, blues, soul, gospel, and others. Cooder has created and produced many critically-acclaimed records over his career. He continues to play today.

# 136 - Ry Cooder, Chavez Ravine (Metascore = 86)

To iron out some preliminary details about the album, this is a concept album based on the Chavez Ravine Latino community, a neighborhood that was destroyed for government public housing projects and other projects. Ultimately, Dodgers Stadium was built on top of the site of the Chavez Ravine neighborhood. Throughout the record, there are snippets of commercials, TV broadcasts, etc that are included within the songs. You hear things such as Joseph McCarthy diatribes, news broadcasts discussing the plans, etc. All of these things, in addition to the lyrics, are interwoven to the songs.

Musically, I found this record very entertaining. It did get long in the tooth at times, particularly at the end of the record. But other than those few instances, the rest of the record put you in the Chavez Ravine community. Latin jazz and Latin pop is the running musical theme within the songs, but Cooder and his band insert their own musical influences of jazz, blues, and samba that enhance the musical experience. Musically, all of the songs had unique elements that interlocked with the Latin jazz/Latin pop theme that made them very interesting.

Lyrically, the words were sung in English and Spanish. While I didn’t totally understand what was being said, some of the sound bytes helped point me in the right direction. I almost felt at times like the record had a spaghetti Western feeling to it…you could visualize the characters on the block, with tumbleweeds rolling by and some random whistling at the corner. You understood the hardships that some of the neighbors were feeling, how they were being forced from their community. You understood the atmosphere politically and socially they were living in.

My favorite songs from this record were “Onda Callejera” (mostly acoustic), “Muy Fifi”, “Los Chucos Suaves”, “3 Cool Cats” (made me think of the Beatles version on Anthology 1), and “In My Town”. If you are interested in Latin jazz, learning pieces, or just trying something new, I would recommend Chavez Ravine.