HOT SALSA : Afro Cuban All Stars

Sample from
Amor
verdadero
in
A todo Cuba
le gusta
(World Circuit ; 1997)

CD selection :

A todo Cuba
le gusta
(World Circuit ;
1997)

Listen to the CD's first bars of A todo Cuba le gusta : Rubén González actuates the starter in a few piano bars, launches the machine, and there it goes for 55 minutes: the son is there, and the whole record ravels with happiness and success.

The bass of Orlando " Cachaïto " López, some percussionnists of talent - of which the young wonder Julienne Oviedo on timbales - support the singers who align the standards of guajira-son, son montuno, danzonete, guaguanco, with a disconcerting ease.

And when the brass section is brought in, it is to irrigate this traditional repertoire of a new blood: the precision of their attacks is articulated on an installation at the same time obvious and complex.

Four musicians generations coast along in Afro-Cuban All Stars, under the direction of Juan de Marcos González, also leader of Sierra Maestra ; between the juniors and the veterans of the Old Guard, it is little to say that the power is on, and without cuts.

As for production, which one owes to Nick Gold and Juan de Marcos González for the excellent English label World Circuit, it makes a faultless success: the recording carried out in Havana in the Egrem studios preserves authenticity, while profiting from actual sound engineering techniques.The jubilation of the musicians and their pleasure of playing together are palpable.

The impact of the record brought the band to the scenes of the world, and showed that on stage, the group runs as smooth as a Rolls :
¿ A todo Cuba le gusta? In the rest of the world too!