Customer Reviews

Rustico

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

 

 

Drawing from traditional Cuban sounds, in Rústico, Pedro Luis Ferrer creates with gusto, bravado, and intelligence a brand new genre: changüisa, a mix of changuí, trova espirituana, and coros de claves. He has also created steamy debates by singing the oppressive feelings Cubans face today, as we can hear in the song "¿Cómo Viviré?" ("How will I live? / If I'm watched everywhere I go/ if my money is worthless/ if I'm alienated and no one listens/...Hunger and waiting are allowed/ Are allowed fear and absence/ Love is proscribed.")

Never heard of the man and I picked this up in NYC on a whim. Have not been able to stop listening to it. It's fresh.The vocals and the musicianship blend beautifully and the tunes are gorgeous. For any fan of latin music this is a can't miss CD. Check it out.

Pedro Luis Ferrer is the greatest singer-songwriter to emerge in modern Cuban history. He also demonstrates an amazing mastery and awareness of Cuban music, and does not overlook his musical craft even as he utilizes it as a vehicle for his poetic social commentary. Rustico is a wonderful display of the best that Ferrer has to offer.

Pedro Luis has so much to say... about so many different things. His range of song topics goes from "...tell me the truth..." in "Fundamento" (a surprisingly open criticism of the Cuban government's attempt to spin the downsides of that country's economic situation)to the tongue-in-cheek complaints by women of their jealous husbands in "Maridos Majaderos".

What makes Pedro Luis stand above many other Nueva Trova artists is the balance he achieves between the lyrics and their message and the musical quality of his songs. His tunes are catchy and their moods are well matched with the content of the lyrics. His playing is nothing short of virtuosic and the arrangements, while minimalist (I can't hear anything but guitar or tres, percussion and voices), are first class.

I am very appreciative of the resurgence of Cuban music mainly brought about by the Buena Vista Social Club phenomenom; however, I must admit that a lot of that success has taken place on the shoulders of remakes of old standards of the 40's and 50's. Pedro Luis Ferrer, on the other hand, borrows from different popular rythms and blends them into something very fresh and completely new. He is definitely an original!

I like this album, it has much good music on it.

five stars worth of cuban magic.

Only slight let down (and reason I had to deduct a star) was when i put it into my DVD player, there were no pictures. And to me words without pictures is just like reading the bible, eventually gets kinda boring, with all the "thou shalt", "thou shalt nots" and "Moses parted the sea, only to see that God had just burned his last hemp bush" and so forth.