By Richard Harrington, Washington Post Staff Writer. Sunday, February 6, 2000; Page G10
Afro-Cuban Follow-Up to 'Buena Vista' Takes a Modern Turn
The Buena Vista Social Club saga continues to amaze: Tomorrow's Constitution Hall concert is sold out. That's shocking only because the show's stars--pianist Ruben Gonzalez and singers Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo--are gracefully aging Afro-Cuban musicians whose names would have drawn
baffled looks here just three years ago. That was before the Ry Cooder-produced, Grammy-winning "Buena Vista Social Club" album had been embraced around the world, its popularity further propelled by the box office success of Wim Wenders's inspirational documentary of the same name.
Once neglected at home, the 82-year-old Gonzalez, 72-year-old Ferrer and 62-year-old Portuondo have become international favorites, and Cooder has rightfully earned accolades for his contributions to the project. But another key figure has yet to be given his due: Juan de Marcos Gonzalez.
He is listed on the Buena Vista Social Club album as "A&R consultant." In fact, it's hard to imagine any of this happening without the 46-year-old Gonzalez. Twenty years ago, when this traditional Cuban son had fallen into disfavor with young Cuban musicians, Gonzalez started a
group, Sierra Maestra, to revitalize the music, which they did through dozens of recordings and countless performances. In 1996 the English label World Circuit encouraged Gonzalez to make a big-band recording, spotlighting neglected stars of the '50s, long considered the golden age of Cuban music.
Along with a trio of seventy-something singers (Manuel "Puntillita" Licea, Pio Leyva and Raul Planas), Gonzales recruited the long-retired Ruben Gonzalez, who at that point did not even own a piano.
There would be two projects recorded in Havana's Egrem Studios: The first was the Afro-Cuban All Stars' "A Toda Cuba le Gusta," which was recorded in the same two-week period as "Buena Vista Social Club." The latter was supposed to be a cross-cultural collaboration between
Afro-Cuban and West African musicians, with Cooder guest-producing. When the African contingent didn't show up, the focus shifted, along with the All Stars rhythm section and such key musicians as Ruben Gonzalez and trumpeter Guajiro Mirabal. When Cooder desperately sought a classic bolero stylist,
it was Gonzalez who found Ferrer, who had not performed in 20 years and was eking out a living shining shoes. It was Gonzalez who conducted the "Buena Vista" recording sessions and served as musical director for the New York and Amsterdam concerts featured in Wenders's film.
Now, the Afro-Cuban All Stars have released a second album, "Distinto, Diferente" (World Circuit), which continues to meld the hard-won experience of old masters with the energy and enthusiasm of a new generation of Cuban musicians. But where "A Toda Cuba le Gusta" paid
homage almost exclusively to the '50s, the new album's 10 expansive dance tracks explore the vibrant link between traditional Cuban music and its modern variants, from the ancient tribal rhythms of abakua heard on "Warariansa" to son montuno and boleros, big-band guajira and Afro-Cuban
danzon, with splashes of timba, the new wave salsa that's so hot in today's Havana. It's a sizzling sonic stew laced with sleek rhythms, searing horns, sharp percussion and sensuous vocals.
The title track, which translates as "unique, different," bemoans the lack of musical originality "in these times of imitation" before a series of soneros (singers) engage in a round of spirited boasts about the richness and distinction of Cuban music:
"Every art should have its own style/ Something to make it stand out/ Create beauty with imagination/ And make it unique, different." Another song that juxtaposes young and old soneros to good effect is the Gonzalez original "Reconciliacion," an impassioned plea for national
identity beyond emotional borders and the politics of mutual suspicion.
Buena Vista's Ferrer, pianist Gonzalez and laud player Barbarito Torres are all in fine form on the irresistibly soothing "Al Vaiven de mi Carreta," while Omara Portuondo and Lino Borges serve up a gracious medley of boleros in tribute to their composer, "Homanaje a Martha Valdes."
Among the rhythmic standouts: "Tumba Palo Cocuye," homage to the great Afro-Cuban band leader Arsenio Rodriguez; the rippling instrumental "Gandinga, Mondongo y Sandunga," a terrific showcase for young pianist David Alfaro, trumpeter Julito Padron and trombonist Jesus Agauje
Ramos; and the danson-cha of "Variaciones Sobre un Tema Desconocido," a bracing brew of trombone, flute, string quartet and Ruben Gonzalez's sturdy piano lines.
Compay Segundo
Fans of Wim Wenders's documentary, which has just been released on VHS and DVD, had no trouble connecting to the Buena Vista Social Club's colorful cast of living legends. Many were especially taken with singer-guitarist Compay Segundo, then 90 but going on 16 with his bold talk of upcoming
seductions and impending fatherhood. The children may be on hold, but Segundo has in the meantime produced a new album, "Calle Salud (Health Street)," (Nonesuch) and it's a charmer.
Segundo is not the pure singer that Ferrer is: In fact, on most tracks here, his smoky baritone is second voice to the high leads of Hugo Garzon. But they make for an effective pairing, particularly because of the small ensemble arrangements, almost all of which feature a trio of clarinets that
reflect the softer, more supple sound that dominated Cuban music in the '30s, before the popularity of big bands and brass sections.
It's a sound that works particularly well on the album's many elegant boleros. The best of these are "Amor Gigante (Mighty Love)," in which a suffering lover begs his tormentor, "Why must you condemn my soul to love you in silence/ Suffering the piercing wound of your cruel
goodbye?"
Thankfully, matters of the heart are not always so miserable: Both "El Dia Que Me Quieras (The Day You Love Me)" and "Un Rosa de Francia (A Rose From France)" celebrate the giddy energy love can inspire. Sometimes seductive rhythms rule, as on the sway of the naughty cha-cha "La
Enganadora (The Cheat)," or the spry danzon instrumental "Se Perdio la Flauta (The Flute Is Lost)." And there's a youthful zest to the distaff harmonies of Vionaika Martinez and Mayelin Perez, featured on a pair of airy sons, "Viejos Sones de Santiago (Old Songs From Santiago)"
and "Balcon de Santiago (A Balcony in Santiago)."
Segundo wrote and arranged many of these songs (under his given name, Francisco Repilado) and at album's end he reprises "Chan Chan," the insinuating opening track from "Buena Vista Social Club." It brings the project full circle, but hopefully does not imply closure. This
story's too good for an ending.
© Copyright 2000 The Washington Post Company |