The Hall opened in Cleveland in 1995 and had a great first year. As it sways, the music has a rough elegance. The warm, unvarnished sound suggests a jam session among friends in some Havana neighborhood. The repertoire includes old songs, but there is no nostalgia. Rather, it feels fresh and wise.
Cuban music is, again, a hot commodity.
But perhaps the best Cuban recording this year is not by some sparkling salsa band or a brash new singer but by an improbable group of weathered music veterans, most of them little known outside Cuba, gathered around North American rocker, producer and musicologist Ry Cooder. It's a simple concept, really. Just a few weeks in the life. A marker in time three decades on. It's not intended to be a definitive history, its director says, so don't read one into it.