Travesía

1	Lloré Lloré 5:09
2	Tengo Ganas Version 4:27
3	Pero Quién 4:46
4	Te Propongo 4:46
5	Amarte Es Version 4:29
6	No Me Hace Falta 3:49
7	Si Me Preguntan 4:33
8	Tengo Ganas Version 4:18
9	Yo Te Daré 3:02
10	No Te Dije 3:37
11	Contigo 4:09
12	Amarte Es Version 3:51

Barnes & Noble

The latest from New York–born, P.R.–bred salsero Victor Manuelle is produced within an inch of its life by Emilio Estefan and his Miami posse. But with that inch, a talented vocalist can make all the difference, and Manuelle is certainly talented. One of the very few young tropical stars with any improvisational ability, Manuelle sings outside of the box on Travesía. While he's most comfortable on the formulaic salsa numbers such as "Lloré Lloré" and "Tengo Ganas" that begin the record, Manuelle branches out into Latin-inspired pop to surprisingly good effect. While the sticky ballads one would expect from a high-profile Latin album are unavoidable, Manuelle keeps them to a minimum. Instead there's some high-quality tropical cumbia-pop in the Juanes mold: "Yo Te Daré," written with Estefan and Carlos Vives and about a dozen others, stands out, so does "No Te Dije" with its swells of organ and trumpets. "Contigo" is even more out of character, a flamenco-rock burner that recalls Chayanne's "Torero," complete with handclaps. It's easy to write off these experiments as marketing ploys to increase Manuelle's global sales, but given the choice between by-the-numbers romantic salsa and invigorating new sounds, it's nice to have a voice of Manuelle's caliber out there. What's Manuelle's own preference? Well, the salsero tips his hand with "Si Me Preguntan," a track he wrote in a luscious old-school son montuno that's practically exotic in this setting. Maybe next time. Mark Schwartz

New York Times

"One of the great improvising sonero singers of all time...This is a more versatile record than he's made before." Ben Ratliff