Customer Reviews

Buenos Hermanos

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Unlike Buena Vista and Mas Cuba Libres where Ry wisely stayed in the background and only occasionally made himself know, here he takes center stage once in a while.
In spite of this, there's just too much talent in this album to give it less than 4 stars.

While Mr. Cooder is to be commended by making such great music (I am particularly grateful for the rebirth of Ibrahim's and Ruben's careers) accessible to Americans after decades of withdrawal feebly filled in by the soulless and superficial commercial sop called 'salsa' it's worthwhile to mention that Europeans have been enjoying the renaissance of Cuban music for years. It was the release of the Estrellas de Areito in France in the late 70's that has snowballed into the rediscovery of this most sublime and richest of all music.

Ibrahim fans, checkout a Edenway's recent release of Ibrahim's 1950's recordings with Chepin's Orquesta Oriental. If you think his voice is honey smooth now, you should listen to him as a youngster.

Four years after his successful 'Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer' the now 76-year old Cuban singer still holds on strong and delivers an album that surpasses his "debut" album (I don't mean the quotes in a disrespectful way, but rather with regards to the fact that he was only exposed to the world back in 1999 by Ry Cooder).

With a solid band with some of Buena Vista Social Club's performers and the Cooder father/son team also on board, and having picked an exquisite combination of some compositions of his own and some Latin music standards, Ferrer is bound to make you get off your chair and dance, even if your deaf or have two left feet! From the first chord, time freezes around you and he embarks on a mission to make you smile and have a great time, without regards for anything troubling you. After all, he is the best example there is of getting a break: he made into stardom at age 73, so that oughta tell you something.

Highlights of the album: the opening track (loved it) and the classic "Perfume de Gardenia" with the thoughful participation of the Blind Boys of Alabama. Get it, love it, dance to it!

If this were just Ibrahim Ferrer reading from the Havana telephone directory, I'd have bought it anyway. But it's much more, of course. This loveable man brings one of the most moving interpretations ever to THE richest form of music on earth. And now nearly eighty years old, he doesn't appear to have slowed down one bit, nor to have lost any of his magic.

If you know Ibrahim Ferrer's music, then there is nothing I need to add. But if you don't, and if you love music, then you MUST get to know Ibrahim Ferrer. When his moment in the spotlight finally arrived, he didn't believe it, and practically had to be dragged to the studio. Now, audiences the world over have fallen in love with him.

The bad news is that it's recorded at the Egrem Studios in Havana. But even the miserable quality of that half drowned studio, with its ancient equipment, can't hold back the brilliance of Cuban musicians.

The good news is that Ry Cooder plays solo. I mean that he plays so low that you can't even tell he's playing. Apparently, he's finally gotten the message. Ry, we love you for what you have done to popularize artists like Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González, Eliades Ochoa and so many others. But slide guitar just doesn't go with son, pilón, or guaguancó.

And let's not forget the other musicians and singers (the usual suspects, of course): Manuel Galbán, Orlando "Cachaíto" López, Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal, Amadito Valdés, Chucho Valdés, Miguel "Angá" Díaz, José Antonio Rodríguez and so many others.

My recommendation is that you buy this CD. You won't regret it. It's beautiful, it's soulful, it's moving, it's vibrant, it's Ibrahim!!!

Not only is the music on these "Buena" discs great and funky, the recording quality is beautiful. Recorded in the Egrem studios, it is one of the few discs that actually capture the vibe of the studio, where the drums are placed, and who the background singers are standing behind. If you think these are bad recordings, you don't have the proper listening equipment. You can almost feel the shape and size of the place, what the walls are made of. CD's are mostly recorded in the setting of a soundproof studio, where sometimes the sound that recorded is lifeless, but with a black background, and super digitized. These CD's are the opposite, and you feel like you are in the studio. look at the liner notes for the Buena Vista social Club, and Mambo Sinuendo, and you can see how the mics are set up, and you can tell why it sound the way it does. I bet the mics used in this recording are vintage and priceless (obscure).

If I could use one word to describe this album it would be SUBLIME!

Although there are some dancing tunes, the artistry with which they are executed elevates your soul to a higher level. The theme selection is a mix between beautiful traditional cuban songs like "Perfume de Gardenias" and some more contemporary creations like "Boliviana" by the always wonderful Chucho Valdez. As well as Ibrahim's first recording, this second incursion into cuban grooveland is an elegant album which clearly reflects the rooted cuban swing of the members of Buenavista Social Club.

In summary, a highly recommended title for both, the expert cuban music listeners, and for the genre amateurs.

Great CD! I saw him in concert here in Chicago and he did mostly songs from this album. Maybe half ballads & half toe-tappers. I'm new to this type of music but I got hooked fast. I have all the Buena Vista Social Club albums, Ibrahim's is my favorite.

Another fine album by this remarkably powerful septegenarian vocalist. Producer Ry Cooder steps back into the foreground, taking his strongest role as performer and arranger since the first Buena Vista Social Club record. His distinctive melodic sense and loose-limbed, virtuoso playing are evident throughout this disc; the traditionalist detractors who complained about his influence on the original BVSC project will probably want to skip this one, or at least try not to be so crabby about it. (Their loss, though... the rest of us will just have to groove out on it without them!) The most impressive aspect of this album, however, is Ferrer himself... an amazingly vital, expressive performer, well into his fifth decade as a featured performer. Definitely worth checking out.

Have you ever heard of the saying?..." You'll know if you have rhythm is your heart can dance to the mucsic." Well, rhythm or not, this music makes you want to jump out of your seat and dance whether you can or can't! You have to hear it to believe it! I just returned from Ibrahim Ferrer's concert and I am still with my mouth open out of total astonishment! There is no other music of this stauture any where else! Just give it a chance, you're feet will hate you if you don't :)

This record is not bad, but it does not carry the quality of the first one. The selection of songs could have been better(I MEAN IT), on top of this the producers have tried to introduce a new unique sound that does not stay legitimate to that of 50's cuban music(and no,I am not talking of an accompaniment that makes it sound better).Ibrahim Ferrer sings, sounds great, and knows what he is doing sadly the producers don't. If you already own the firts album then this one might be of interest, but if you don't own none of his solo records then stay out of this one and get the firt one. The firt record contains great cuban classics, more variation, songs of higher quality, good band, and has a stronger identity of cuba's golden era.

I first heard Ibrahim on PBS in the Buena Vista Social Club Special. I have loved his feel for the music ever since, he has just the right cadence, timing, sound and feel for the cubano music, I've heard other cubano's sing the same songs but they come alive when Ibrahim sings them. When I'm in the mood for the latin beat and sound of another era this is the first artist I think about.