El Agua De La Vida

Salsa Celtica | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 10, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Compass Records
• ASIN: B00009IB1N
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,452 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Salsa Celtica is more than just a band: it s a way of seeing the world, a remarkably fluid intermingling of cultures that is as joyfully exuberant as it is ingenuous. Their new album (and U.S. debut) El Agua de la Vida features the eleven core Salsa Celts joined by a dozen or so guests, with participants hailing from such far-flung locales as Scotland, Venezuela, England, Cuba, Columbia, and New York. Their initial impetus to fuse the aching modal sounds of Scottish traditional music with the rhythmic flexibility of classic Cuban salsa has been brought to full fruition over the course of ten tunes, brimming with congas, tenor banjos, pandeiros and pipes in equal measure.

Something so audacious as Salsa Celtica s fusion of Afro-Latin grooves and Celtic sonorities does not just occur. The members of Salsa Celtica (who have played with such renown folk groups as Capercaillie, Old Blind Dogs, and Blazin Fiddles) first mastered their own native musical traditions before setting sale for Cuba. Upon arriving, they spent many an hour in the presence of their favorite son and salsa groups, learning first-hand while freely exchange of Scotch whiskey for Cuban rum. Soaking in both the techniques and the emotional source of salsa, they returned to their home base in Edinburgh to conquer the world with their unique hybrid.

Beginning as local favorites of Edinburgh and Glasgow's Hispanic communities, Salsa Celtica took their sound all over Scotland and the British Isles. Rave reviews in U.S. Latino press brought them before a crowd of 6000 New Yoricans at Lincoln Center. After soaking in the sounds of Spanish Harlem and Dominicansville, the band dazzled audiences in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Halifax, and Ottawa. At each stop, their new twist on two timeless genres dropped jaws and moved feet.

Released on June 10, 2003, El Agua de la Vida is Salsa Celtica s third collection, and their most seamlessly integrated. Appropriately kicked off with stabbing horn accents immediately followed by a propulsive Irish lick by guest banjoist Éamonn Coyne, the album somehow manages to be both their most Scottish and most Cuban-influenced collection. Soaring bagpipes dance with fiddles above a swaggering cláve and rock-solid rhythm section. The result is a brilliant album by master musicians, driven by a unique and unfaltering vision. Finding common ground in the most unlikely of places, El Agua de la Vida is a powerful introduction to one of roots music.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surprising!, August 27, 2007

By 

Dave B (Holt, Mi United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: El Agua De La Vida (Audio CD)

I first became aware of these guys while watching a movie, (Driving Lessons). In the film, there is a scene in a club where there is a band in the background playing salsa. At some point the camera catches the band and I realize it is an outsized group with some members wearing kilts!?! I couldn't let that go without notice so I waited till the end of the film when they finally roll the music credits and discovered the band was Salsa Celtica. Now I was really intrigued and looked up their list of cd's. I settled on this one because it had the songs they played in the movie. When it arrived, I played it through and listened for the first time mostly undistracted. The unique intertwining of celtic sounds and instrumentation with salsa beat and rythym was amazing. And if you think (like I did), that the two genres were not a good mix, then just listen with an open mind. It is amazing how they carry this off and it sounds so natural and fun. I will be purchasing more of this bands' music, these guys know how to have a good time. Enjoy!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And now for something completely different, January 3, 2007

By 

DJS on the Island "DJ" (Mercer Island, WA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: El Agua De La Vida (Audio CD)

I heard Salsa Celtica's Auld Lang Syne on December 30th on NPR's Folkways in the car and immediately as it started my wife and I remarked that we had to find the CD. This group is really hard to believe, as they all seem to be white Scots making amazing Latin music. There are parts of it that remind me on Manu Chao, with snippets of Spanish language radio playing in the background. In parts or as a whole this album is happy music, and as one reviewer mentions above, you simply can't help but start to dance. This is a great album and deserving of your ears and there isn't a weak track amongst them. Shop with confidence, I am sure you won't be disappointed.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes Me Wish I Played Bagpipes, May 3, 2005

By 

Robert Sheard (Pinehurst, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: El Agua De La Vida (Audio CD)

I sought out this album after hearing "Sol de la Noche" as the opening track on Putumayo's compilation album, SALSA AROUND THE WORLD. And there's always a danger when one buys an album based on a single song, but there's nothing disappointing about this album.

This Scottish group is an amazingly talented ensemble, taking salsa traditions and rhythms and infusing them with celtic instruments and traditions. The performances are tight, inventive, and I defy you to listen to this album and not want to dance, even if it's just in your chair.

Their closing rendition of "Auld Lang Syne" is not to be missed. I WILL buy their future albums.