With its very potent music mix of Spanish, French, African and more, Cuban tunes are more rhythmic than any others that are more melodic, and more melodic than any others that are more rhythmic. A pretty thing that makes you wiggle your hips, the Cuban invitation is so easy to accept. And the offering of Cuban music here, probably richer and more carefully collected now than in the pre-Castro era, has never been better. This is particularly true of anthologies. As Puerto Rican influence grew in the New York salsa scene, these superb tunes offered alternatives that were not given a chance to play.
Every overview anthology makes compromises.
This is particularly true of one that aspires to cover the diverse, deep and prolific past 30 years of Cuban music. The triumph of the Music Club method is flow. Blue Jackel, like Music Club, shows some flair for surveys. Most such introductions founder with cuts that are too long and too relentlessly percussive, turning off all but beat nuts. Milo Miles is a regular contributor to Salon.