Cuba Linda

Alfredo Rodriguez | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 21, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hannibal
• ASIN: B000000634
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,450 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Tumbao A Peruchin

2. Cuba Linda

3. Cuando Vuelvo A Tu Lado

4. Canto De Palo

5. Tumba, Mi Tumba

6. Mercedila Ya Me Voy (To Mercedes)

7. Drume Negrita

8. Para Francia Flores Y Para Cuba Tambien

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Recorded in 1996 in his native Cuba, Alfredo Rodriguez's Cuba Linda is an exciting and ambitious melange of Afro-Cuban styles. At the center of it all is the daring and unpredictable piano work of the leader, shining atop the feast of percussion that highlights Joe Boyd's highly textured production. The richness and variety of Cuba's musical traditions is on full display. "Cuba Linda" begins with a lovely solo-piano passage before exploding into a vibrant rumba. "Cuando Vuelvo A Tu Lado" is an elegant dance number graced by romantic violins. "Canto de Palo" is a traditional folk song with call-and-response vocal chants and some of Rodriguez's most thrilling piano work. "Drume Negrita" is a delicate, stately lullaby that is deepened by Rodriguez's florid rolls and harmonic experiments. The crowning achievement here, however, is the closing "Para Francia Flores (y Para Cuba También)," which begins with a dramatic piano statement, adds a stirring piano-vocal duet passage, and builds slowly to a tension-releasing crescendo with blaring Chinese cornet and pounding piano. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Es la esencia del ritmo cubano, December 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Cuba Linda (Audio CD)

Esta obra es absolutamente espectacular. Conserva las raices de los instrumentos y ritmos cubanos.El cantante interpreta de la mejor manera el son cubano, como otros grandes :Miguelito Cuni, Ignacio Piñeiro, Miguel Matamoros y Benny Moré.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Latin Jazz Release That Year!, June 7, 2000

By 

J. Rosen (CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cuba Linda (Audio CD)

From the opening bars of the salsa descarga of track 1, this exuberant CD celebrates pianist/composer Rodriguez' return to his native Cuba. The musicianship of the band is superb and the leader's rhythmic and sure piano guides them and the listener through a rollicking survey of all the styles of Afro-Cuban music, combining respect for roots with a modern sensibility. This was surely the finest Latin-jazz recording the year of its release, and it has held up through repeated listenings as a real treasure.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cuba Linda, toda la musica de Rodriguez lindo, August 15, 2009

By 

R. Day "professorbeautifulDOTorg" (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cuba Linda (Audio CD)

I picked this up on a whim-- at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute cafeteria, of a places,
where a terrific small combo was wailing. Was Rodriguez there? I don't know.
But I'll say that in the decade since it's never left my music player,
& I've bought copies for a few friends.

Tremendous trumpet on Tumbao a Peruchin.
The title song Cuba Linda is a brilliant dialogue between traditional Cuban drumming and chanting
and modern jazz. Cuando Vuelva a Tu Lado has tasty violin duo melodies that make it a
workshop on where to put notes in time. And a vintage tear-it-up piano solo.
Actually, the piano throughout is amazing, fun, virtuosic, daring.

Briefly I love every cut on this album.
It started my off as a fan of AR,
and I try to get everything he produces.
Check out his Cuban Jazz for example.