Kiki Valera: Vacilón Santiaguero

In Cuban Spanish (and, for sure, there is no generic Spanish in Latin America), vacilón means, well, one hell of a good time. And that is what you can expect from this punchy collection, a great time a la Santiago de Cuba, the capital of one of Cuba's southeastern provinces. It is the land of Bacardí rum and the origins of the 1959 Revolution. A Cuban patriot will tell you about the naval battle of Santiago de Cuba, which more or less signaled the end of Spanish power over the island of Cuba, for better or worse, in the War of 1898.

And of all the bards to take a listener on a cultural tour of the island, with a son cubano (call and response), mambo, guajira and rumba, staples of Cuban, and more generally, Latin Jazz, there is Kiki Valera, the scion of a musical family with roots in the nineteenth century. Valero is a master of the eight-stringed Cuban cuatro (double-string E-A-D-G)—there is a Puerto Rican variety as well—which has been around a long time, and is, of course, a relative of the guitar. The thing about this recording, and what makes it such a kick, is not only the Latin percussion, with the conga, the bongo, the coro and the clave, but the insistent wailing of a group of guest trumpet players who can part someone's proverbial hair. They are all well-known players. There is a lot more to this than high-note histrionics, with the jazz trumpet work on "La Guajira" an outstanding example. And the sonorous vocal blend on "Muñequita Feliz" has the potential to make anyone happy.

If the extent of someone's exposure to this genre of music is limited to "Buena Vista Social Club" (1996), listening to what Kiki Valera and his band can do is really an eye-opener, especially on "Pájaro Lindo" where the clave is so insistent it takes on a life of its own. The vocal, brass and percussion blend is spectacular. "Dos Gardenias" is another small vocal masterpiece, probably something one could hear in a club in New York, Puerto Rico, Mexico, or somewhere in Andalucía. There is even a reassuring montuno on "El Cuarto de Tula," so there is a familiar point of reference, blistering trumpet work aside, with Kiki Valera and Carlos Cascante doing vocal honors. Kiki Valera does all the arrangements.

In Costa Rica, there is a phrase, "pura vida," which more or less means "everything is cool." This recording is pura vida too.

Comments