Cuban Masters: Los Originales

1	Los Originales 5:04
2	Cachao Es Mambo 5:25
3	Toca la Flauta Fajardo 4:32
4	Toma Chocolate 3:21
5	Club Social Buena Vista 5:49
6	Santa Cecilia 5:32
7	Danzón Para los Maestros 4:57
8	Los Dos Alfredos 7:10
9	Oye Mi Tumbao 4:32
10	Se Calientan los Cueros 3:15
11	Quítate la Careta 5:01
12	Quiero un Sombrero 7:33

Barnes & Noble

When Juan de Marcos Gonzalez put together the studio agglomeration that would become known as the Buena Vista Social Club, he called upon some truly forgotten talents to fill the roster. Well, the Cuban Masters haven't shared that fate. This crew, helmed by trombone ace and arranger Juan Pablo Torres (who headed up the original Social Club, Las Estrellas de Arieto, and later Ralph Mercado's TropiJazz All-Stars) consists of heavy hitters from top to bottom. Start with Cachao, the bassist who, along with his brother Orestes, invented mambo; Chocolate Armenteros, the braying trumpet in Arsenio Rodriguez's conjunto; percussionists Patato Valdes and Francisco Aguabella, two of the most influential congueros in Afro-Cuban jazz; pianist Alfredo Rodriguez, lately of Cubanismo -- and those are just the big names on the marquee. You don't expect a curatorial crew such as this to refashion the music, and they don't. Simply, this is a loose and rollicking masters session, akin to the Cotton Club cuttin' contests of yesteryear. To be sure, there's plenty to learn here: The aptly titled "Cachao es Mambo" features his signature brooding brawn; it's followed immediately by "Toca la Flauta Fajardo," where the late charanga innovator demonstrates the tart, birdcall phrases that propelled his groups of the '50s. "Los Dos Alfredos" alternates between ballads and piano son -- quoting "Lagrimas Negras" and other standards -- showing both sides of Rodriguez's talents. Going back to school never sounded so good. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

The brainchild of trombone man and longtime Cuban music great Juan Pablo Torres, los Originales are a group of some of Latin jazz's funkiest players doing what they do best. Famed percussionists Francisco Aguabella, Francisco de los Reyes, and Carlos "Patato" Valdes swing en clave like few on earth are capable. When joined by the oft-underappreciated pianist Alfredo "Alfredito" Valdes, Jr., and the father of mambo himself, Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez, the rhythm section exudes an unmatchable confidence and sense of elegance. Whether in a gutsy, machismo-laced mambo or a suave and elegant danzon, los Originales prove their claim to the name. It seems that the Cuban music community is glutted with groups following the same model (form an orquesta with a couple serious veterans and a whole lot of competent unknowns, play traditional mambo craze-era music with new arrangements, and call yourself the original gangsters of Cuban music), including groups like Caravana Cubana, Afro-Cuban All Stars, and Cuban All-Stars, to name a few of the better. To be sure, Cuban Masters: Los Originales is a fantastic project. It would be nice, however, to see what these musician's musicians could come up with if they were not scrambling to feed the foreign market's voracious hunger for nostalgia cubana. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez, All Music Guide