A Toda Cuba Le Gusta (2018 Remastered Version) Afro Cuban All Stars

• 1Amor Verdadero (2018 Remastered Version)07:01
• 2Alto Songo (2018 Remastered Version)06:43
• 3Habana del Este (2018 Remastered Version)06:37
• 4A Toda Cuba Le Gusta (2018 Remastered Version)05:46
• 5Fiesta de la Rumba (2018 Remastered Version)05:53
• 6Los Sitio' Asere (2018 Remastered Version)05:19
• 7Pío Mentiroso (2018 Remastered Version)04:34
• 8María Caracoles (2018 Remastered Version)04:48
• 9Clasiqueando Con Rubén (Instrumental;2018 Remastered Version)05:14
• 10Elube Changó (2018 Remastered Version)04:03
• Total Runtime55:58

Info for A Toda Cuba Le Gusta (2018 Remastered Version)

The Afro-Cuban All Stars is a dream 13-piece band comprising four generations of Cuba’s finest musicians. A Toda Cuba Le Gusta (Everyone in Cuba Loves It), recorded by World Circuit in Havana, is the band’s debut album, and it features six of the island’s most brilliant singers. In a celebration of the diversity of Cuban music the album’s ten songs run through a great range of styles including danzón, son-montuno, guaguancó, Mozambique, Afro, mambo, and guajira.

The All Stars were brought together by musical director Juan de Marcos González (leader of the son group Sierra Maestra), as a backing band for his heroes, the legendary soneros (singers) from the 1950s "golden age" of Cuban music. González wanted to capture the flavor of the great Cuban big bands of the era but not simply as an exercise in recreation. With his contemporary arrangements and his choice of musicians and repertoire combined with the all-acoustic ensemble’s extraordinary power and exuberance, he succeeds in paying homage while demonstrating the vitality of the music.

The list of lead vocalists is a virtual "who’s who" of the greatest Cuban soneros; the octogenarian Pío Leyva (Estrellas de Areito) and septuagenarians Raúl Planas (Rumbavana, Celia Cruz), Manuel "Puntillita" Licea (Sonora Matancera), and Ibrahím Ferrer (Pacho Alonso) are joined by rising stars from a younger generation, Antonio "Maceo" Rodríguez (Sierra Maestra) and Félix Valoy (Alberto Alvarez).

To back these individual talents through a diverse selection of songs, González brought together a very special group of musicians. On piano is one of the founding fathers of modern Cuban music, the legendary Rubén González (Arsenio Rodríguez, Enrique Jorrín, Estrellas de Areito). On double bass is Cuba’s finest, Orlando "Cachaíto" López, who learned his trade as part of the extraordinary bass playing López dynasty which includes his father Orestes López and uncle Israel "Cachao" López.

The six piece horn section (three trumpets, two trombones, sax, flute) is made up from the best players of Havana’s celebrated Tropicana Orchestra. Soloists include the great Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal on trumpet (Orchestra Riverside, Estrellas de Areito) and Afrokan (Irakere) on trombone. The album also features guest solos from Ry Cooder on guitar ("Alto Songo"), Orchestra Aragon’s legendary flute player, Richard Egües ("Havana del Este"), and Barbarito Torres on laoud ("Amor Verdadero").

In a country renowned for its percussionists, the All Stars’ six piece section is matchless and includes the 19-year-old phenomenon Julienne Oviedo on timbales and the great Miguel "Angá" on congas.

The atmosphere at Havana’s Egrem Studios was electric. The younger musicians were playing with their heroes, the older players were inspired by the energy surrounding them and the singers, renewing old rivalries, strove to outdo one another. Visiting musicians arrived daily to crowd into the control booth to watch the proceedings and with the spark lit, the entire recording was completed in just one week.

“Dazzling musicianship and charm” (ALL ABOUT JAZZ)

“González has probably done more than any other person to bring traditional Cuban music to audiences outside the island.” (MIAMI HERALD)

“Classy, cool and easy-going” (THE GUARDIAN)

“A wildly dynamic demonstration piece¨ (THE TIMES)

“Marcos carefully adds funk grooves, jazz brass players, etc., to the tradition (Son, Bolero, Guaracha) and delivers the Cuban soundworld from its persistence” (FOLK & ROOTS, GERMANY)

Ibrahim Ferrer, vocals
Pío Leiva, vocals
Manuel "Puntillita" Licea, vocals
Raúl Planas, vocals
José Antonio "Maceo" Rodríguez, vocals
Félix Baloy, vocals
Juan de Marcos González, leader, tres
Rubén González, piano
Luis Alemañy, trumpet
Manuel 'Guajiro' Mirabal, trumpet
Daniel Ramos, trumpet
Carlos 'El Afrokán' Álvarez, trombone
Demetrio Muñiz, trombone
Javier Zalba, baritone saxophone
Orlando 'Cachaito' López, bass
Miguel 'Anga' Díaz, congas
Yulien Oviedo, timbales
Carlos González, bongos
Alberto Virgilio Valdés, maracas
Carlos Puisseaux, güiro
Alberto Virgilio Valdés, chorus vocals
Luis Barzaga, chorus vocals
Juan de Marcos González, chorus vocals
Guests:
Ry Cooder, slide guitar („Alto Songo")
Richard Egües, flute („Habana del Este")
Barbarito Torres, laud („Amor Verdadero")

Afro Cuban All Stars
Juan de Marcos Gonzalez is the architect of the Buenavista Social Club. After gaining international fame for reviving the classic sound of Cuban son, tres master turned the Afro-Cuban All Stars into a sensational showcase for Cuba’s most prodigious young musicians. While long revered in Latin America and Europe as a founding member of Cuba’s great son revival band Sierra Maestra, de Marcos first gained notice in the US as creator, founder and musical director of the Buena Vista Social Club. It was de Marcos who assembled Ibrahim Ferrer, Pio Leiva, Manuel Licea “Puntillita”, Omara Portuondo, Ruben Gonzalez and the rest of the crew for World Circuit after he and Nick Gold agreed to produce a couple of albums in Havana featuring illustrious old timers and tributing the golden period of the Cuban Popular Music. But de Marcos is just as interested in promoting Cuba’s brilliant young musicians as in highlighting Cuba’s senior talent. The Afro-Cuban All Stars not only features a multi-generational cast, the group draws on both classic Cuban styles like son and danzón and contemporary dance rhythms like timba. Afro-Cuban All Stars is the band you can watch on stage in films such as Wenders´s Buenavista Social Club and Knox´s Afro-Cuban All Stars at the Salon of Dreams.

This album contains no booklet.