JULY 1 2007Son De La Frontera "Cal" (World Village / Cuba) The group's history is quite peculiar, since it is formed and quarreled over in the back room of the heterodox tonadillera Martirio with musicians who draw on the source of Morón de la Frontera and, more specifically, on the caño by Diego del Gastor. To flamenco guitar, baile, cante and rhythm, they add the Cuban tres, an instrument with which they moreover borrow from American music. It is therefore a work of diving and gliding; a round-trip job, understanding the description very broadly and positively.
Erol Josue "Regleman" (M15 Recordings / Haiti) When an album is described as a "musical mirror" of Haitian voodoo ceremonies, what you might expect is something like a field recording, featuring strange liturgical singing and chanting with minimal and probably fairly rudimentary accompaniment. What voodoo priest Erol Josue offers on this album, however, is something quite different: sophisticated and multi-layered arrangements of songs that draw on voodoo ceremonies for their lyrical themes and melodies, but that are recorded professionally and feature a wide variety of musical influences and elements, from the electric kalimba sounds of Congo to American R&B, Haitian folk and pop music, soca, and West African high life.
Alex Cuba "Agua Del Pozo" (Caracol Records / Cuba) ALEX CUBA is a Cuban-born multi-instrumentalist who now makes his home in Canada. He is kept busy pushing sophisticated Cuban sounds into the mainstream. From his earliest years in Artemisa, a town about 60 km from Havana, he was immersed in music.
Alex Cuba "Agua Del Pozo" (Caracol Records / Cuba) ALEX CUBA is a Cuban-born multi-instrumentalist who now makes his home in Canada. He is kept busy pushing sophisticated Cuban sounds into the mainstream. From his earliest years in Artemisa, a town about 60 km from Havana, he was immersed in music.
Bob Brozman Orchestra "Lumiere" (Riverboat / USA) A single player overdubbing himself on several instruments can be a dangerous proposition. But nobody is better prepared for this sort of adventure than American-born guitar virtuoso Bob Brozman. For this outing, as the hilariously apt cover shot indicates, Brozman, along with a couple of longtime collaborators, has become a multitude. But the result is unexpectedly spacious and relaxed; the various instruments interact but never crowd or overwhelm one another. The 12 tracks are informed by a contagious sense of wonder and deep enjoyment, plus broad swaths of humor both silly and sly. -AMAZON.COM