Back to:
La Excelencia
Official Site
MI TUMBAO SOCIAL REVIEW
by Pablo Yglesias, 11 Jan 2009
Unless something completely loco happens in the coming months to prove me wrong, I can honesty say this is the best salsa release of 2009, and I actually heard it first in 2008! It’s like when The Spanish Harlem Orchestra first burst on the scene – I ‘m feeling the same sense of discovery and excitement at hearing a recording with such loving attention to detail, realism, lack of attitude, and just enough rough edges and grit to give you those chills that only classic Latin music gives. There is a lot of classic 70s retro Nuyorican feeling here in the hard-core trombones, acoustic piano, and diversity of traditional dance genres (remember when albums used to list the styles of each song on the back of the LP?). Their rhythm section has that essential ‘fundamento’ – the African foundation – that is missing from most recordings these days. Just listen to “Aña Pa Mi Tambor†and you will know what I am talking about. What is revolutionary about La Excelencia is their almost punk rock attitude – they don’t gloss things over, they play hard, they feel with all their hearts, and they don’t put on airs. Everything they play on the album is exactly what they play live – no sweetening, no guest spots from a famous artist, no extra instrumentation, no pop remixes. They are a diverse group of different personalities (some even come from a rock background – “Duelo De Bongo†was inspired by “The Devil Went Down To Georgiaâ€). And yet they are unified in their vision for the band. Theirs is a style that mixes Cuban, Colombian, and Puerto Rican traditions in a thoroughly organic way. Each song is a mini-movie, flowing into a concept album like the best of Willie Colon, Ruben Blades, and ‘Tite’ Curet Alonso. In today’s market, that makes La Excelencia original, even revolutionary, and that is their strength. This gem should go a long way to getting salsa back on track this year – so join the party and dig their ‘tumbao social.’ Major DJ alert. Very, very highly recommended..
