Search - Septeto Habanero :: Son Lo Mas Sublime

Bye Bye Buena Vista

BennyG | New york, NY United States | 04/04/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the best albums I have. This is a fairly new recording of a classic Cuban son orchestra. Sexteto Habanero was founded in the late 1920s. The songs they wrote and recorded in that era have become timeless classics - often covered or imitated by more modern orchestras. Unfortunately, the original recordings are of very poor sound quality. Although this album was released more recently, it was recorded in Cuba by Egrem, and captures the old time Habanero spirit. The vocalist is phenomenal. The instrumentation is acoustic (tres, bongos, trumpet, bass). The CD is sparsely packaged, and does not give the names of the band members. Most of the musicians on this recording are probably not original Habaneros members, but from the sound of it they are seasoned in the style (when I played it for someone in Cuba, he recognized the singer - the name escapes me).The songs on the album are immediately recognizable by the Cuban son aficionado - over the years, many of them have been performed and recorded many times by various orchestras from Senegal to New York. Here they are recorded in their original traditional form. El Son Lo Mas Sublime is far superior to any of the other Habanero albums circulating (original 1930s recordings aside). Throw away your hyped up Buena Vista, and come listen to the true masters of son."