La Baja / La Baja Remix (7″)

El Palmas announces the release of his new single, “La Baja.” The song, written and sung by Maurice Aymard, DJ, producer, and founder of the El Palmas Music label, was recorded live in New York with production by Cheo Pardo.

Who is El Palmas?

Born in Caracas in 1977 and based in Barcelona since the early 2000s, Maurice Aymard is known in the music world by the pseudonym El Palmas. He founded and runs the record label El Palmas Music, dedicated to reviving Venezuelan popular music and contemporary releases.

His career also includes renowned work as a music curator. In his persistent editing work, Maurice rescues musical gems from past decades and also produces new music. His first self-published album, Between Stars, is house-oriented and released in 2013. He signed it as Maurice Aymard.

What “La Baja” Is About

“La Baja” fits perfectly with El Palmas’ aesthetic, which fuses social, tropical, and festive elements. The use of classic Latin percussion (congas, timbales, bongos) creates a rhythmic base reminiscent of Central American and Afro-Latin genres.

The lyrics address the frequent conflicts between employers and employees in Spain, a social tension that has challenged Aymard’s sensitivity, and he was motivated to write this song by his own experiences with situations related to unemployment policies in this European country.

The single “La Baja” is a release by El Palmas Music, a Barcelona-based label that combines reissues of unknown or out-of-print material with contemporary productions. As part of its offering, El Palmas seeks to create a music that resonates with both collectors and new audiences.

“El Palmas Music,” as its founder explains, “works around a diverse yet clear sound: soul, funk, salsa, cumbia, merengue, joropo, son, guaguancó, boogaloo… Music from warm climates that invites you to move your body.”

The Key Contribution of Cheo Pardo and the Dragón Criollo Remix

Cheo Pardo, whose full name is José Luis Pardo, is a musician, producer, DJ, and composer with a distinguished career in Latin music. He was a co-founder and member for over 20 years of the iconic Venezuelan band Los Amigos Invisibles, a group renowned for its funk and Latin pop style that has had a major influence on contemporary Latin music. Following his departure from the band in 2014, Cheo Pardo has continued to develop his solo career as a producer and artist, with a wide variety of notable works and Grammy Award nominations.

He has lived in New York for almost 30 years and combines roles as a Black musician, producer, and DJ, contributing his versatility and creativity to multiple international projects. In addition to his musical career, he is a social communicator and has adapted to changes in the music industry, maintaining a strong connection with his roots and with the Latin audience. In recent years, he has released solo albums that reflect his artistic evolution and reinvention.

“When Maurice called me to work on this single, it was a very pleasant surprise,” Cheo says. “For me, he’s a great DJ and a very discerning music curator. But we had never talked about making music together. The whole process was a lot of fun. I like to record live, like the orchestras he and I like used to record. And so we did: the musicians rehearsed the song and recorded it all together in the New York studio where I usually work, and it turned out really cool.”

In addition to the original track, a remix has been recorded, which is more than just that, according to El Dragón Criollo (the musical project of Colombian Paulo Olarte Toro). “What I did was a cover, my own version,” he explains. “I played everything from scratch; I didn’t use anything from the original song, except for El Palmas’s voice at the beginning. And even for the final part, where it takes off and the mambito kicks in, I used my voice, something that doesn’t exist in the original version. When I started, I was torn between making a son, a cumbia, and a boogaloo, but I ended up combining all three styles into a single song.”

What “La Baja” Is About

La Baja is a single recorded in New York. These are the credits:

El Palmas: vocals and lyrics

Cheo Pardo: guitars and backing vocals

Neil Ochoa: congas and minor percussion

Felipe Fournier: timbales and bongos

José Benjamin: Rhodes piano

Fernando Colombet: bass

The song’s lyrics say:

“No me gusta trabajá, no me gusta trabajá, a mí no me gusta trabajá /

Yo lo que quiero es la baja, yo lo que quiero es la baja, yo lo que quiero es la paga /

Le gusta mandá, no quiere pagá, le gusta mandá, no quiere pagá”

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Tracklist:

SIDE A: 1. La Baja

SIDE B: 1. La Baja (El Dragon Criollo remix)