Ry Cooder And Manuel Galban

Mambo Sinuendo - (Nonesuch)

After the extraordinary success of The Buena Vista Social Club , Ry Cooder returns to Cuba to put together a collection centered on himself and guitarist Manuel Galban. The result is a record that we hoped to hear from a guitarist of Cooder's skill, while introducing many of the unconverted to Manuel Galban's prowess as well.

Cooder stepped back and let an extraordinary group of musicians take center stage on The Buena Vista Social Club and we thereafter witnessed a rebirth for these talented men. With Mambo Sinuendo , Cooder takes a well deserved bow by reminding that he is first and foremost a guitar player and that had previously been enough from the artist that previously gave us a remarkable range from Boomer's Story to Jazz to Get Rhythm to soundtracks such as the inspired music behind Paris, Texas .

Cooder rises to the occasion by enlisting the help of Cuban guitarist Manuel Galban - a remarkable guitar player who's style meshes perfectly with Cooder. Both routinely display some of the most downright tasteful playing around. With songs like the opening Drume Negrita with its haunting backdrop and the organ-driven Caballo Viejo , Cooder guarantees that we're not listening to a ...Social Club Part 2 . And why should we?

The fierce breaks in Mambo Sinuendo add an exciting contrast to the song's more traditional and danceable melody. Equally noteworthy is the inspired Monte Adentro . Here, the vocal team of Juliette and Carla Commagere will remind you of Sergio Mendes And Brasil '66 (but not in an Austin Powers' campy way), while the drums (all of them) almost sound random while Cooder and Galban drive the melody home. Cooder's favour of a subtley accented twang-style hits a pinnacle as well with the appropriately titled Los Twangueros and he finds a like-minded player in Galban here as well. The two combine for a powerful statement with the choppy rhythm sitting behind the ethereal guitar touches.

While Cooder has chosen to stick with the Cuban theme of The Buena Vista Social Club , he explores very different sounds and textures here with Galban. Both Cooder and Galban deliver a strong musical document, and quite simply one of the finest instrumental releases in some time.

7.0