Los Originales

neu, in Folie

The brainchild of trombone man and longtime Cuban music great Juan Pablo Torres, los Originales are a group of some of Latin jazz's funkiest players doing what they do best. Famed percussionists Francisco Aguabella, Francisco de los Reyes, and Carlos "Patato" Valdes swing en clave like few on earth are capable. When joined by the oft-underappreciated pianist Alfredo "Alfredito" Valdes, Jr., and the father of mambo himself, Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez, the rhythm section exudes an unmatchable confidence and sense of elegance. Whether in a gutsy, machismo-laced mambo or a suave and elegant danzon, los Originales prove their claim to the name. It seems that the Cuban music community is glutted with groups following the same model (form an orquesta with a couple serious veterans and a whole lot of competent unknowns, play traditional mambo craze-era music with new arrangements, and call yourself the original gangsters of Cuban music), including groups like Caravana Cubana, Afro-Cuban All Stars, and Cuban All-Stars, to name a few of the better. To be sure, Cuban Masters: Los Originales is a fantastic project. It would be nice, however, to see what these musician's musicians could come up with if they were not scrambling to feed the foreign market's voracious hunger for nostalgia cubana.

k.A.