Afro Cuban All Stars - A Toda Cuba Le Gusta

Released 1997

World Circuit / Nonesuch

Produced by Nick Gold & Juan de Marcos Gonzalez

Available at Amazon, Descarga, etc

1. Amor Verdadero 6:35 (Jose "Cheo" Marquetti)
2. Alto Songo 6:42 (Luis "Lili" Martinez)
3. Habana Del Este 6:37 (Juan de Marcos Gonzalez)
4. A Toda Cuba Le Gusta 5:45 (Remberto Becquer)
5. Fiesta De La Rumba 5:51 (traditional)
6. Los Sitio' Asere 5:19 (Silvio Pino)
7. Pio Mentiroso 4:34 (Miguel Ojeda)
8. Maria Caracoles 4:47 (Pio Leyva & Pedro Izquierdo)
9. Clasiqueando Con Ruben 5:12 (Juan de Marcos Gonzalez)
10. Elube Chango 4:02 (Alberto Rivero)

Arrangements by Demetrio Muniz (1), Juan de Marcos Gonzalez (2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10), and Jose Manuel Ceruto (8).

This is one of a trio of 1997 recordings (the other two are "Buena Vista Social Club" and "Introducing Ruben Gonzalez") made during Ry Cooder and Nick Gold's 2-week trip to Cuba to record native Cuban musicians with a great deal of help from Juan de Marcos Gonzalez. These recordings and the accompanying feature film "Buena Vista Social Club" directed by Wim Wenders on a follow-up trip in 1998 arguably had a strong impact in increased public awareness in Cuban music - and probably had an impact in many non-Latinos becoming interested in Salsa among other things in the late 1990s.

It's a great sounding record with Amor Verdadero and Alto Songo being two of the highlights. Another great song is Clasiqueando Con Ruben, which made salsanewyork.com list.

Musicians:

Juan de Marcos Gonzalez / Tres and Leader
Ruben Gonzalez / Piano
Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez / Bass
Luis Alemany / Trumpet
Manuel "Guajiro" Mirabal / Trumpet
Daniel Ramos / Trumpet
Carlos "El Afrokan" Alvarez / Trombone
Demetrio Muniz / Trombone
Javier Zalba / Baritone Sax and Flute
Miguel "Anga" / Conga
Julienne Oviedo / Timbales
Carlos Gonzalez / Bongos
Alberto Virgilio Valdes / Maracas
Carlos Puisseaux / Guiro
Alberto Virgilio Valdes, Luis Barzaga, Juan de Marcos Gonzalez / Chorus
Ry Cooder / Slide Guitar (2)
Richard Egues / Flute (3)
Barbarito Torres / Laoud (1)
Ibrahim Ferrer, Pio Leyva, Manuel "Puntillito" Licea, Raul Planas, Jose Antonio "Maceo" Rodriguez, Felix Valoy / Lead Vocals