Cuba's pianist/vocalist/composer Ignacio Villa (1911-1971), nicknamed Bola de Nieve (Snowball), was that country's combination of Fats Waller, Nat "King" Cole, and Frank Sinatra.  He was a hit maker of enduring quality, and he created the jazz influenced Cuban ballad style known asfilin(feeling). The Cuban-born, Mexico-based singer Francisco "Pancho" Cespedes, known for his 1997 hit CDVida Loca, delivers a dancing, yet delicate tribute recording. Buoyed by a fantastic rhythm section featuring Blue Note drummer and pianist Ignacio Berroa and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and bassist Carlos del Puerto, Cespedes' airy baritone blows a welcome breeze on selections penned and performed by Villa, from "Adios Felicidad (Goodbye Happiness)," to the waltzy "Flor de la Canela (Cinnamon Flower)." Cespedes wrote the suave Count Basie swing-like "Ausencia (absence)," but the CD's zenith is his sonically restored "duet" with Villa on "Drume Negrita (Sleep Little Black Baby)." One could say that thefilinbetween Cepedes and Villa is mutual.--Eugene Holley, Jr.