Six Degrees Collection: Cuba Without Borders
Cuba Without Bordersis a collection of contemporary Cuban music--from both the island and the U.S., specifically the San Francisco Bay area. It showcases the Afro-Cuban musical mainstream and its tributaries into jazz and American popular music. Compiled by Greg Landau and Robert Leaver, two Grammy-nominated producers who turned their famed Latin music store into the critically acclaimed record company Round World Music, the CD rides on the heels of theBuena Vista Social Cluband highlights a new crop of Latin musicians. The elder statesman of the group is the legendary congueroCarlos "Patato" Valdes, who shows up on "Lenguaje Del Son" and on club-dub remix "San Francisco Tiene Su Propio Son." His is the melodic drumming style that bewitched musicians fromHerbie ManntoTito Puente. The percussionist and former Havana dockworker Pancho Quinto, a mainstay inJane Bunnett's Spirits of Havana, teams with Oakland-based keyboardist Omar Sosa and Cuban santero Octavio Rodriguez on the funky rumba "La Gorra." Quito plays a more traditional rumba on "Lenguasa," while Sosa takes center stage on the festive "Marimchacha." Cuba is a nation of musical families, and Los Terrys, a vibrant clan headed by Eladio Terry, shows off its sibling vocal harmony on the velvet charanga "Y Manana Que." "Estos Dias" features saxophonist Yosvany Terry fronting an ensemble of young Turks called Columna B. San Francisco pianist Rebeca Mauleon-Santana's elegant danzon remake ofThelonious Monk's "Round Midnight," flutist John Calloway's "Aprovecha Que Me Voy"--which sports a bassline partially lifted fromDizzy Gillespie's "bebop"--and Puerto Rican-Cape Verdean conguero John Santos's take on the Ellington-Juan Tizol standard "Caravan" are other highlights.--Eugene Holley Jr.