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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Distinto Diferente, December 29, 2004
This review is from: Cachaito (Audio CD)
The Amazon description duly warns potential buyers that this album doesn't ride the Buena Vista SC coattails. It won't sit well with those who want Cuban musicians to remain museum pieces against the backdrop of a Havana that disappeared long ago. But the reality is that the musicians of BVSC, and those with whose orbits they intersect, are too good to replay the old hits in the old way ad nauseum. They are not like the decaying buildings and antiquarian automobiles that so endear the naive foreigners to Castro's island prison.
Anyway, this is a fresh, "modern," album. It is often more for careful, demanding listening than for dancing. It owes as much to bebop as it does son, but it is not swing as the term is commonly understood. It is jazz (but not "light jazz," please). It takes more chances -- prancing into new territory -- than other BVSC solo efforts (which is not to diminish those). I don't know if Cubans use the term, but Puerto Ricans might call this blend of sounds "sancocho." A Cuban jazz wall of sound with decidedly untraditional elements.
Perhaps the audience for challenging music is small in the U.S. American ears have been trained for music that plays well in TV commercials and sporting events. Complex literature, movies, art, and music are not in vogue in the States.
But a few of us have not been well-trained, and we still like our senses challenged. If you rebel against predigested artistry, this disc is well worth a listen. It's very good.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
cachaito...on his own terms, July 16, 2001
This review is from: Cachaito (Audio CD)
Forget any preconceived notions you may have had about Orlando Cachaito Lopez and the Buena Vista Social Club. That was then, this now. On his self titled recording, Orlando Cachaito Lopez presents contemporary jazz stripped to its barest essentials with club music, African percussion, Cuban charanga, rap, hip-hop overdubs and a funky Hammond organ. Admittedly, Cachaito`s recording caught me completely off guard. None the less, I was pleasantly surprised by his idiosyncratic approach to his music. This is not typical Cuban music by any stretch of the imagination. At times, the band sounds dreamlike, unrehearsed and somewhat eclectic. However, the music never fails to swing. Accolades to Buena Vista Social Club musical director, Juan de Marcos Gonzalez and Demetrio Muñiz, architects of the horn and string arrangements and producer, Nick Gold. Also, the cast of characters who contributed to the music: African flugelhornist, Hugh Masakela, saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis (of the James Brown revue), master percussionist, Tata Guines and French DJ Dee Nasty (to name a few). With this recording, Orlando Cachaito Lopez, nephew of the great Israel Cachao Lopez, maintains the family tradition of breaking musical ground. In every other respect, Cachaito's music swings on its own terms.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating Musical Hybrid, June 5, 2002
This review is from: Cachaito (Audio CD)
This is an artist who is absolutely open to the limitless boundaries of music. Lopez blends elements of traditional cuban music, jazz, reggae, funk, and hip hop into a wonderful product. Lopez is a briliant bass player, a fact I appreciate better after having seen him play live. In the Buena Vista Social club series, his playing is often understated within the array of instruments one hears. But here, one gets the sense that he is really striking out on his own and showing what he can do as a composer as well as an interpreter of other material. A truly rich musical experience.
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