The Bottom Line
Pros
- Mambo/rumba "Vengo Venenoso" to get your heart & feet moving
- "Paquito Va" with rhythm and chorus that simulate a bracing ride in the country
Cons
- Not as danceable as New York style salsa
Description
- 10 tracks of Cuban salsa from Delgado in his first album since he moved to the U.S.
- Produced by Sergio George.
- Guests: Victor Manuelle, rapper Fragancia
- Israel "Cachao" Lopez on bass, Alberto Barros on sax, Gonzalo Rubalcaba on piano
- Released May, 2007 by La Calle Records.
Guide Review - CD Review: Issac Delgado - En Primera Plana
While salsa was growing up in New York, a product of Afro-Cuban rhythms and urban heat, timba was heating up the streets of Havana. Whether you consider timba a style of salsa or its own genre, Issac Delgado is arguably Cuban timba's biggest star, from his days with NG La Banda to the present.
En Primera Plana (On The Front Page) is Delgado's first album since he defected to the U.S. in 2006 and nobody could call him blase about the album's success; he's already watched several big Cuban stars move here and fade away. But I don't think that will be Delgado's fate.
En Primera Plana was recorded in New York with the help of salsa giant Sergio George and a band of stellar musicians including Gonzalo Rubalcaba on piano and Israel "Cachao" Lopez on bass. The album opener is "La Mujer Que Mas Te Duele", a duet with Victor Manuelle, followed by a medley of Delgado past hits.
After that, things start to get interesting. En Primera Plana is a salsa album, though heavily influenced by timba. A good example of the mix is "Sone/La Campana" with Delgado singing over abundant breaks and the great, robust chorus. Cachao serenades us with a bass solo (something you don't hear that much of) in the son "Cemento, Ladrilla y Arena". Then the album really gets hot with the mambo "Vengo Venenoso". There's nothing like the sound of the tres to bring Cuba to the senses, and Ahmed Barroso, Jr. brings it home on "Paquito Va" and the changui, "Como Se Toca, Se Baila".
This salsa is not the easily accessible New York sound. You might need to listen to it a few times to really get into it, but the tracks on this album will stay with you long after easier salsa is gone and forgotten.
