El Amor De Caracol Y Lombriz - Mayuley Alvarez/Hilda Del Castillo/Nelson Martinez
Suenos De Colores - Coralia Arregoitia
Juegeton - Merceditas Vales
Nana Animalera - Marisela Verena
Berceuse Campesina - Andres Alen
Lacho - Bola De Nieve
Oguere - Clave Y Guaguanco
La Calabacita - Coralia Arregoitia
No fat cigar, not even Cuba's gorgeous sunsets, can register close on the sublimity scale to the country's lush, commercially unsullied music, something lots of folks discovered a few years back when a subtle loosening of ... more »regulatory strings let the brilliant, boundary-busting Buena Vista Social Club cross the shore. On Cuban Lullaby, another of Ellipsis Arts' impressively packaged, carefully annotated, and sweet-smelling Lullaby series (the scent of lavender, said to promote heavy-liddedness, comes wafting out once the protective plastic is removed), the tradition-steeped African and Spanish elements that fused the Cuban sound fall in for a 16-track close-up--intimacy, after all, is what lullabies are all about. The music moves from lilting piano ("Drume Negrita," "Berceuse a Jessie," "Drume Mobila") to elegant guitar (a different rendition of "Drume Negrita," "Suenos de Colores") to tribal-sounding bata drums ("Oguere"). The set is by turns sweepingly beautiful, twinkly sweet, and rhythmically soothing--no surprise, considering this record's artist roster. Grammy-winning pianist Chucho Valdes, immortal entertainer Bola de Nieve, and Buena Vista Social Club singer Omara Portuondo raise the talent bar to a dizzying level, the right altitude, it turns out, for drifting off to dreamland. If your little one is the lucky intended dozer, leave the light on and read the liner notes. The English translations of these songs, like "El Amor de Caracol y Lombriz," about a snail-worm romance, and "Nana Animalera," describing a late-night all-animal hootenanny, crack a window on Cuban culture, causing, without intending to, sharp regrets that it's been sealed away for so long. --Tammy La Gorce« less
No fat cigar, not even Cuba's gorgeous sunsets, can register close on the sublimity scale to the country's lush, commercially unsullied music, something lots of folks discovered a few years back when a subtle loosening of regulatory strings let the brilliant, boundary-busting Buena Vista Social Club cross the shore. On Cuban Lullaby, another of Ellipsis Arts' impressively packaged, carefully annotated, and sweet-smelling Lullaby series (the scent of lavender, said to promote heavy-liddedness, comes wafting out once the protective plastic is removed), the tradition-steeped African and Spanish elements that fused the Cuban sound fall in for a 16-track close-up--intimacy, after all, is what lullabies are all about. The music moves from lilting piano ("Drume Negrita," "Berceuse a Jessie," "Drume Mobila") to elegant guitar (a different rendition of "Drume Negrita," "Suenos de Colores") to tribal-sounding bata drums ("Oguere"). The set is by turns sweepingly beautiful, twinkly sweet, and rhythmically soothing--no surprise, considering this record's artist roster. Grammy-winning pianist Chucho Valdes, immortal entertainer Bola de Nieve, and Buena Vista Social Club singer Omara Portuondo raise the talent bar to a dizzying level, the right altitude, it turns out, for drifting off to dreamland. If your little one is the lucky intended dozer, leave the light on and read the liner notes. The English translations of these songs, like "El Amor de Caracol y Lombriz," about a snail-worm romance, and "Nana Animalera," describing a late-night all-animal hootenanny, crack a window on Cuban culture, causing, without intending to, sharp regrets that it's been sealed away for so long. --Tammy La Gorce
"This album is beautiful and should certainly put your little one to sleep. Many of the songs have a kind of aching lonliness, and the musicianship is spectacular. Two cautions:
1) How many versions of Duerme Negrita can they put on one album? Aren't there other songs Cuban mamas y papas sing to their little ones?
2) If you're hoping to introduce your little one to the Spanish language, quite a few of these songs are in afro-cuban dialect.
Enjoy!"
La fairy azul
la fairy azul | 08/10/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Este álbum de Cuban Lullaby es una joya. Son todos temas que crecí escuchando, cantados y arreglados musicalmente con un estilo sofisticado y encantador. Mi esposo me lo regaló hace un par de años y desde entonces lo he regalado varias veces a amigos con y sin niños, ahora lo comparto con mi bebita cada noche a la hora de dormir."
Rare Gem
la fairy azul | 05/31/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I am Cuban-American and found two rare gems this year. This CD, CUBAN LULLABY and the Cuban-American bilingual children's picturebook set in Cuban Miami's Little Havana Calle Ocho Festival, DRUM, CHAVI, DRUM!/TOCA, CHAVI, TOCA! The characters, author and illustrator are Cuban. These two recommendations are for children, but if you're Cuban-American or Latina/o you will relish in these two items no matter how old you are. 10 stars to both items!"
Enjoyable to listen to, but not for putting kids to sleep.
K. Iturralde | Chicago,, IL USA | 01/31/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Our whole family loves listening to this CD. However, as you might be able to tell from the product description, the music starts off softly lulling children to sleep and then picks up the beat and volume in the later part. So, just when my kids were starting to relax-they suddenly felt like dancing. We solved the problem by using the feature on our CD player which allows us to pre-program only the songs we want for bedtime. Really a nice collection of songs."