Live Review from Sue Miller.
Buena Vista Social Club concerts are always a treat and this performance was no exception. Every BVSC concert becomes more and more poignant as the musicians pay tribute to past members who are no longer with us.
Tributes to Ibrahim Ferrer and Ruben Gonzalez were mixed with songs dedicated to current players such as Barbarito Torres, the charming, witty and virtuosic laud player and to the veteran timbale player Amadito Valdes who has been with Buena Vista from the beginning, together with trumpeter Guajiro Mirabal and the bassist Cachaito López. These veterans hold the history of Cuban popular music in their fingertips, having honed their skills in the dance halls of 1950s and 60s Havana. In a solo piano and bass slot, Cachaito and new pianist Rolando Luna played a beautiful Chopin Waltz with accented 3’s against 2’s in a deliciously Cuban rendition reminiscent of Cuban pianist Lecuona’s compositions. Amadito Valdes put in a fine performance with perfectly formed phrases that were sensitive to the arrangements and the other players, with no drum stroke out of place. Never overplayed, his solo was built masterfully with a fantastic minimalist process of addition which climaxed perfectly as he whizzed around the timbale drums, bell and cymbal like a mad professor! Interacting with him to his side were the two trumpeters Luis Alemany and Guajiro, who together blew such powerful ‘Mambos’ under the trombone solos of Jesus ’Aguaje’ Ramos that their riffs couldn’t fail to set the whole band alight. Like two old friends these trumpeters played as one, with Guajiro’s ‘inspiraciones’ having a fiery lyrical quality and Luis’s phrases a top register exuberance reminiscent of Ellington’s Bubber Miley (during a fun rendition of Pérez Prado’s ‘Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White’). The rumba style dance demonstration by Luis at the end of the show was also very charming. The other veteran of the evening, Manuel Galban, played an electric guitar solo in the Cuban tres style and was tasteful and rhythmic in this solo and in his subtle ensemble playing too.
The newer members of the band were also fantastic with inventive melodic piano solos from Rolando Luna in the chachachá ‘Bodeguero’ by Richard Egües and the danzón ‘Isora Club’. There were fine vocals from Calunga and Idania Valdes, with Idania’s sensual vocals on ‘Tumbao Number 5’ adding a new colour to the ensemble; able to sing softly or powerfully she is definitely one to watch for in the future. The whole set had variety of style and mood, from the beautiful Autumn Leaves duet between Aguaje and Guajiro to the more up-tempo Arsenio Rodríguez numbers ‘Las Tres Marías/Apurruñenme Mujeres’ and ‘El Rincon Caliente’. The old favourites ‘Candela’ and ‘El Cuarto de Tula’ had the audience up and dancing and the musicianship of the whole ensemble was breathtaking.
