This 3 disc set takes you to the rural villages of Cuba, where the traditional sounds of an improvised music called “Changui’” has been passed on for generations. Musical journalist Gianluca Tramontana got inspired to record this music, which is essentially the tap root of what became the sounds of the Buena Vista Social Club. The sounds are preformed by various artists, including the Grupo Estrella Camesina, Grupo Familia Vera, Las Flores del Changui and El Guajiro y su Changui, but essentially it’s a bunch of friends and families getting together, with a song being introduced by the light guitar sounds of the tres, and then there is a mix of solos and choruses. There is a joyous folkines to the call and response of “Changui en Yateras” and the multiple percussion on the festive “Vamos A La Quinta” with an opening shout of “Oye”. Harplike melodies, pulsated by hand held rhythms abound as on “Evnidia No Mata” and the informal “Cuidado Con La Lengua”. A trip to a world rarely visited and yet always enjoyed.
Petaluma Records