Sue Miller reviews The Rough Guide to the Music of Cuba
Where do you start for a selection of Cuban popular music for a compilation such as this? Do you work through the history of Cuban music chronologically from Danzón, Son, Chachachá and Mambo through to the more modern styles of Timba and Reggaeton? Or do you choose a variety of artists regardless of era or genre because they are good? This rough guide compilation isn't a comprehensive guide to Cuban music nor could it be but it does focus on the descarga jam session form of Cuban music here so there is an abundance of coros, inspiraciones and solos from trumpet, violin, piano, congas, timbales, vocals, electric guitar and tres. Many of the tracks are over 6 minutes long and feature some well established artists such as Cachaíto (bass), Amadito Valdes (timbales), Maraca Valle (flute), Pedro Depestre (violin), Anga Diaz (congas), Manuel Galban (electric guitar), Arturo Sandoval (trumpet) and Niño Rivera (tres). There are some stand-out tracks here too from the Afro Cuban All Stars 'Reconciliación' from the album 'Distinto Diferente' with its tight brass and sax arrangement, catchy trumpet melodies and joyful baritone sax riffs to the brilliant Madera Limpia's reggaeton number 'Salsa' from their album 'La Corona'.
Sierra Maestra's 'El Son No Puede Fallar' (Son will not die) name-checks all the great Cuban Son musicians in their tribute to the creators and innovators of Cuban popular music such as Félix Chappotín, Miguel Matamoros, Ignacio Piñeiro, Arseñio Rodríguez, Miguel Cuni, Carlos Embale, Roberto Faz, Nico Saquito and Benny Moré. So check these guys out if you want to know more about Cuban Son! The opening track is from the album Estrellas de Areito and features Arturo Sandoval on trumpet and Niño Rivera on tres and the singer is in fact Migelito Cuní as praised later by Sierra Maestra. The fourth track is from Cachaíto's experimental solo album where he and Buena Vista Social Club percussionist par excellence Amadito Valdes provide the backbone to a sweet melodic number called 'Mis Dos Pequeñas' featuring the soulful violin of Pedro Depestre and the unmistakeable sound of Manuel Galban's blue-noted doo-wop electric guitar. The Afro Cuban Jazz Project's 'Ya Empezo La Fiesta' - 'the party starts here' is a modern sounding Charanga number where Maraca Valle gives us a Charanga típica flute solo ending in an Afro-Cuban musical quote, preceded by some neat violin pizzicato and crisp timbale soloing. After this the CD becomes timba focussed with Los Van Van ushering in the change with its international flavoured multilingual 'Que Tal, Comment-allez vous? Buena sera, How do you do's!' The following Timba tracks however are weaker with the exception of Sama y el Express de Oriente and Elio Revé's numbers which are hypnotic and nicely woven arrangements. The Pancho Quinto track seems a strange choice with its repetitive funk soul groove and its out of tune vocals and if I could change the selection a little I would have opted for maybe an extra Reggaeton number or perhaps some Rumba, Charanga Típica or Changui to even things out a little with less bias towards the timba side - but these are minor quibbles when so many of the tracks are fantastic. As Madera Limpia sing on the last track: 'Los cubanos echamos candela' which loosely translated means 'Cubans have fire' - and I would add some have more fire than others so it is good to be selective!
