Along the sidewalks cafés acoustically send musical invitations to stop awhile and listen carefully and maybe even dance a bit, with a horn player sometimes joining along in a manner reminiscent of the mariachis strolling through San Antonio. The lyrics send out pleasant dreams and understandings toward me – making me wish a day trip to this island was not deemed illegal by the US Government. I’m hoping that someday soon someone will investigate the folly of that decision and allow us again to travel in freedom around the world. Till then Putumayo is doing a fine job keeping us abreast of the music around the world.Rene Ferrer in Como a Cada Mañana enlivens me with this: “I feel every morning and I have to shout – to give thanks to life and getting to see it pass by”. José Cónde with El Chacal makes me dance freely through the yard, “through a path of violence we will never arrive.” Lena Ferrer with Ay, Mi Vidita investigates sharing culture with the poem “when you decide to give a bouquet of yourself things will change.” Amen to that. Let’s hope we learn that lesson sooner than later. German Obregón in his song Pincel Campesino sings “I have a place of my own in front of a beautiful palm tree.” Asere brings several horns into the café to play the beautiful Corazón, a song to a lover who is “my most precious and beloved happy distraction.”
The music is very important here, but I’d like to mention my grateful eartaste shoutout to Putumayo for graciously including a recipe for Salsa de Mojito to make the music taste even better, especially with a drop or two of rum. Thanks! I should also take a moment to mention the musicianship and songwriting on this CD are superb. While the songs have definite flavors of the island and beyond (I tasted a bit of Brazil for example), there are some very interesting arrangements that expanded my musical horizon. For example, the ending of Corazón enters a musical realm that is satisfactorily surprising, and the musical break in Pincel Campesino is pure ecstasy.
Putumayo Presents - Café Cubano
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