CD Review: Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca - Isabela

While the late, lamented Los Angeles salsa club, the Conga Room was still around, there's no doubt in my mind that Makina Loca was one of its biggest draws. Hot rhythms, hot salsa and the charisma of Ricardo Lemvo were a big draw that had Angelinos dancing until the wee hours of the morning.

The Conga Room might be history, but Makina Loca is still drawing in the crowds across the country. Isabela is the band's 5th album, the music moving in a direction that veers from straight Afro-Cuban rhythms to a more consistent fusion of Afro-Cuban and African. So much so that I actually thought about whether this was Latin music at all, before I wrote the review.

And while the languages change (the album is a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese, Lingala, Kikongo, Swahili and Turkish), there's something about the album that stays true to Afro-Cuban traditions.

African music influenced Cuban music; Cuban music got popular in Africa and influenced their music. Now, the new African music is fusing with the new Afro-Cuban music and really, as long as the sound is great, who cares?