Buenos Hermanos

Ibrahim Ferrer

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 18, 2003)
• Original Release Date: March 18, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B00008BG2G
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #124,882 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > World Music > Caribbean & Cuba > Cuba > Salsa

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

At 77, Ibrahim Ferrer has lost none of his cheeky charm. Buenos Hermanos lives beautifully up to its title--"Good Brothers"--with those Cuban stalwarts Cachaito Lopez and Chucho Valdes joined by that genius of the electric guitar, Manuel Galban, and with the Blind Boys of Alabama enriching the basic mix. Moreover, Ry Cooder, who originally coaxed Buena Vista Social Club into life, here acts as midwife once again. This CD, he says, was "the last chance in the world today to work with such a voice." Well, Ferrer's voice no longer has the ringing exhilaration we heard on his solo album, Ibrahim Ferrer. His effects are more muted now, more laid back, but they still cover a kaleidoscopic range of tone and color. He delivers his boleros with lovely swing, and he radiates the genuineness of a premarketing age. It's easy to believe that most of these tracks were one-takes: the whole thing has wonderful freshness. --Michael Church

Product Description

Ferrer's first release since 1999s gold-certified debut Buena Vista Social Club Presents. Ibrahim Ferrer is full of surprises. The band includes Blind Boys of Alabama and Jon Hassell on trumpet. 13 tracks with Slipcase. Nonesuch. 2003.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid comeback from Ibrahim Ferrer, November 8, 2003

By	Manny Hernandez "Author of Ning For Dummies" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Four years after his successful 'Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer' the now 76-year old Cuban singer still holds on strong and delivers an album that surpasses his "debut" album (I don't mean the quotes in a disrespectful way, but rather with regards to the fact that he was only exposed to the world back in 1999 by Ry Cooder).

With a solid band with some of Buena Vista Social Club's performers and the Cooder father/son team also on board, and having picked an exquisite combination of some compositions of his own and some Latin music standards, Ferrer is bound to make you get off your chair and dance, even if your deaf or have two left feet! From the first chord, time freezes around you and he embarks on a mission to make you smile and have a great time, without regards for anything troubling you. After all, he is the best example there is of getting a break: he made into stardom at age 73, so that oughta tell you something.

Highlights of the album: the opening track (loved it) and the classic "Perfume de Gardenia" with the thoughful participation of the Blind Boys of Alabama. Get it, love it, dance to it!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Too much Ry, October 31, 2003

By A Customer

Unlike Buena Vista and Mas Cuba Libres where Ry wisely stayed in the background and only occasionally made himself know, here he takes center stage once in a while.
In spite of this, there's just too much talent in this album to give it less than 4 stars.

While Mr. Cooder is to be commended by making such great music (I am particularly grateful for the rebirth of Ibrahim's and Ruben's careers) accessible to Americans after decades of withdrawal feebly filled in by the soulless and superficial commercial sop called 'salsa' it's worthwhile to mention that Europeans have been enjoying the renaissance of Cuban music for years. It was the release of the Estrellas de Areito in France in the late 70's that has snowballed into the rediscovery of this most sublime and richest of all music.

Ibrahim fans, checkout a Edenway's recent release of Ibrahim's 1950's recordings with Chepin's Orquesta Oriental. If you think his voice is honey smooth now, you should listen to him as a youngster.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Ibrahim ... what more do you need to know?, June 2, 2003

By	BVSC fanatic (United States) - See all my reviews

If this were just Ibrahim Ferrer reading from the Havana telephone directory, I'd have bought it anyway. But it's much more, of course. This loveable man brings one of the most moving interpretations ever to THE richest form of music on earth. And now nearly eighty years old, he doesn't appear to have slowed down one bit, nor to have lost any of his magic.

If you know Ibrahim Ferrer's music, then there is nothing I need to add. But if you don't, and if you love music, then you MUST get to know Ibrahim Ferrer. When his moment in the spotlight finally arrived, he didn't believe it, and practically had to be dragged to the studio. Now, audiences the world over have fallen in love with him.

The bad news is that it's recorded at the Egrem Studios in Havana. But even the miserable quality of that half drowned studio, with its ancient equipment, can't hold back the brilliance of Cuban musicians.

The good news is that Ry Cooder plays solo. I mean that he plays so low that you can't even tell he's playing. Apparently, he's finally gotten the message. Ry, we love you for what you have done to popularize artists like Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González, Eliades Ochoa and so many others. But slide guitar just doesn't go with son, pilón, or guaguancó.

And let's not forget the other musicians and singers (the usual suspects, of course): Manuel Galbán, Orlando "Cachaíto" López, Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal, Amadito Valdés, Chucho Valdés, Miguel "Angá" Díaz, José Antonio Rodríguez and so many others.

My recommendation is that you buy this CD. You won't regret it. It's beautiful, it's soulful, it's moving, it's vibrant, it's Ibrahim!!!