Nil Lara

Nil Lara, Catherine Lara | Format: Audio Cassette

Product Details

• Audio Cassette (March 19, 1996)
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B000005GZ3
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,740,280 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Money Makes the Monkey Dance

2. Fighting for My Love

3. How Was I to Know

4. My First Child

5. Baby

6. Baro

7. Bleeding

8. I Will Be Free

9. Vida Mas Simple

10. Crawl

11. Mama's Chant

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the quintessential desert island album!, February 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Nil Lara (Audio CD)

i have been listening to Nil's self-titled release nonstop since it came out nearly 4 years ago and i still love it as much as when i first brought it home. i have listened to "fighting for my love" (probably my favorite--if it is possible to pick out one favorite) at least 10 million times and still i hear something different each time. This album is so unlike any other i've heard in it's delerious mix of afro-cuban rhythms and american rock 'n roll. nil uses his own version of indigenous instruments including an electic version of the cuban tres which contributes to his unique sound. His voice his unbelievably strong and clear and gorgeous, and his lyrics--both in english and spanish--are moving and intelligent without being condescending or ostentatious. BUY THIS RECORD--you won't regret it!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Hard to Believe, October 6, 2004

By 

Larry Rosenthal "the original macolyte" (Bellevue, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nil Lara (Audio CD)

As I write this, it's been 8 years, 6 months since this self titled album was released. I've never met anyone who's even heard of Nil Lara, yet not one single review here has awarded his work less than 5 stars. How can he possibly remain unknown?

Is this a prime example of record companies' need to slot a performer into a genre? What a shame. Let's call the genre "WOW!", and Nil Lara can be the standard by which its judged.

Amazon.com listeners have already judged him fabulous listening. The more you listen, really, the more astounded you will be. He runs a gamut of styles and nails every one. Just listen to the sample of "Money Makes the Monkey Dance," and it will stay with you for days. Or sample "My First Child" at the other end of the musical spectrum - it will haunt you for days. Just the samples.

Nil Lara should come with every CD player sold. A stand-alone Desert Island Disk!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful CD that's been tragically ignored..., February 4, 2006

By 

David Lerner "Occasionally Professional Drumm... (Columbia, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nil Lara (Audio CD)

Here's a quick plug for an album that easily sits in my Top 10 of all time list, maybe even landing in the Top 5, and it's certainly number 2 on my list of Best Albums By People That 99.5% of the World Has Never Heard Of.

The man's name is Nil Lara, and he is a brilliant singer/songwriter/musician. He was born in New Jersey to Cuban immigrants, but spent most of his childhood in Venezuela. That's pretty much all you need to know about him, really. He's taken a combination of instruments, musical sensibilities, and experiences from those three places and combined them in a way that is uniquely beautiful.

His singing is passionate, and whether the lyrics of the song are in English or Spanish, he still takes you with him to wherever he's going, even if you don't understand the language. "My First Child" is written from the perspective of a mother singing about her baby boy. Nil does a masterful job of conveying the emotions of a young mother. He nails the emotional perspective of the opposite gender better than anyone I've ever heard or read before. Musically, the album is sparse, and never overdone. The band always provides exactly what the song needs to convey it's point musically - nothing less, and nothing more. It's an appealing mix of rock and Cuban rhythms, interspersed with Venezuelan instrumentation. My mere words cannot begin to convey how good this release is. It is a gorgeous and very nearly perfect album.

The only down side to Nil Lara's story is that this album was released in 1996, and never got the publicity that it richly deserved. He toured the world for nearly 2 straight years supporting the album, and by the time the tour was over, he was out of money. He didn't release another album until Da saw the light of day in 2004. I have not heard this album yet, but I've heard that it is quite different - still good, but the result of 8 years of development as an artist. More experimentation with drum machines, hip-hop flavored numbers and the like.

Please, please, please check him out. He seems to be content playing in small venues around Miami now, which is a shame, because I would hate to think that Nil may never get the level of respect and awareness that he so richly deserves as a musician.