Buenos Hermanos [Special Edition]

by Ibrahim Ferrer

Overview

Ibrahim Ferrer, the "official" lead vocalist of Buena Vista Social Club, and producer Ry Cooder take numerous chances and many labyrinthine journeys (guaranteed to piss off all of the purists) on their third collaboration for the World Circuit/Nonesuch label, yet manage to come up with the most beautiful fruit of their collaborative efforts to date. The pair took tons of chances, recording both in Havana and in Los Angeles and bringing in not only additional musicians among Cuba's top session players -- such as guitarist and keyboardist Manuel Galban, Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez on bass, and Miguel Diaz on congas, to name three of more than a dozen -- but also adding Jim Keltner to the drum mix, along with Cooder's son, Joachim, who handles these chores on every track. Keltner, the younger Cooder, Ry, and Galban also play together on a few tracks. But add to this already eclectic mix master Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes and vanguard textural trumpeter Jon Hassell as well as the Blind Boys of Alabama on one cut and you have a recording that is at once celebratory, charming, eclectic, and, well, brilliant. Ferrer's talents as a vocalist transcend all boundaries and musical types, yet he makes every song a Cuban song, one rooted in the earthy spirit of his native Havana. "Perfume de Gardenias" has the Blind Boys replacing Ferrer's regular Cuban chorus of backing vocalists and features the great saxophonist Gil Bernal as well as Galban on a wonderfully understated yet commandingly melodic piano. The track lies in the seam, where the Blind Boys add a more restrained and rounded backing to Ferrer's pricelessly gorgeous croon; Bernal and Galban move this folky ballad into the realms of a jazz/pop tune, and it still comes off as a firmly Cuban song, rooted in the heat, the rhythm, and the passion of everyday life in Havana. "Mil Congojas," which follows immediately, features the band backed by a string orchestra. Ferrer feeds off the atmospherics and allows his voice to literally drip from his throat and enter the mix as if he were singing to the angels. In addition, coming off these two ballads, so silky and gorgeous, is "Hay Que Entrale a Palo a Ese," a steaming son with a large percussion section shoring up the backing chorus and Ferrer using a rapid-fire delivery to add to the rhythmic intensity of the track. In addition, there is Valdes' "Boliviana," a folky love song rooted in the traditional melodies of Cuban Indios and extrapolated to fit a more contemporary Afro-Cuban musical framework -- Abdullah Ibrahim himself could have composed the music here, so saturated in South African melodic and harmonic structures it is, with Valdes' sense of blurred, elongated time signatures and shifting rhythmic patterns. Hassell's trumpet adds a wonderfully simplistic element to the female backing chorus and Ferrer pours his heart into every crack and crevice of the song, splitting it wide open and letting its longing show through. The record closes with a burner, "Oy el Consejo," once again a traditional call-and-response son tuned into an intensely rhythmic polysyllabic poem via Ferrer's no-holds-barred vocal. In sum, this album reveals what is truly possible when musicians of other cultures get together to serve the music, not individual talents. And though Ferrer proves himself yet again to be one of the world's greatest treasures as a singer, he is always loyal to Cuba, ever the slave of the rhythm, ever the angel of the song itself. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	02/28/2020
Label:	BMG Rights Management
UPC:	4050538518948

Tracks

1. Boqui¿¿e¿¿e
2. La M¿¿sica Cubana
3. Boliviana
4. Me Voy Pa Sibanic¿¿
5. Buenos Hermanos
6. Mil Congojas
7. Ojos Malvados
8. Guaguanc¿¿ Callejero
9. Hay Que Entrarle A Palos ¿¿se
10. Perfume De Gardenias
11. Como El Arrullo De Palma
12. Mujer
13. No Tiene Telara¿¿a
14. Ven Conmigo Guajira
15. Naufragio
16. Fuiste Cruel
17. Oye El Consejo

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Ibrahim Ferrer   Primary Artist,Vocals
The Five Blind Boys of Alabama   Guest Artist
Flaco Jimenez   Guest Artist,Accordion
Chucho Valdes   Guest Artist,Piano
Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez   Guest Artist,Bass,Organ,Piano,Guitar (Bass)
Jon Hassell   Guest Artist,Trumpet
Jim Keltner   Guest Artist,Drums,Percussion
Manuel Galban   Guest Artist,Organ,Piano,Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Modero Mekanisi   Sax (Alto)
Hugo Cruz   Violin
Marta Salgado   Viola
Armadito Valdes   Percussion
Lemay Olano James   Violin
Alyoth Marichal Vastillo   Violin
Carlos Oviedo   Sax (Tenor)
Gladys Lo   Cello
Mario Villalta   Cornet,Chinese Cornet
Flaco Jiminez   Accordion
Gregorio Hernandez Rios "Goyo"   Claves
Moderis Mekanski   Sax (Alto)
Miriam Baro   Viola
Jose G. Maron   Viola
Alejandro Rodriguez   Cello
Bernardo Garcia   Congas,Percussion
Andres Escalona   Bass
Desiree Justo   Violin
Mario Fernandez   Violin
Rogelio Martinez   Violin,Violin
Roberto Herrera   Viola
Antonio Jiminez   Sax (Tenor)
George Scott   Vocals
Jimmy Carter   Vocals
Javier Filiu   Violin
Clarence Fountain   Vocals
Joachim Cooder   Drums,Percussion
Faustino Oramas   Tres
Ry Cooder   Laoud,Guitar,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Roberto Fonseca   Piano
Demetrio Muniz   Congas,Musical Direction
Alberto "Virgilio" Valdes   Percussion
Alejandro Pichardo   Trumpet
Gerardo Garcia   Violin
Alfred Thompson   Sax (Tenor)
Amadito Valdes   Timbales,Percussion
The Blind Boys of Alabama   Vocals
Miguel "Anga" Diaz   Bongos,Claves,Congas,Percussion
Arelys Zaldivar   Cello
Javier Zalba   Sax (Alto)
Gil Bernal   Sax (Tenor)
Eric "Ricky" McKinnie   Vocals
Joey Williams   Vocals
Manuel "El Guajiro" Mirabal   Trumpet
Roy Avila   Cello
Augusto Diago   Violin
Ana Julia Badia   Violin
Silvio Duquesne   Violin
Ariel Sarduy   Violin
Luis Alemany   Trumpet
Enrique Navarro   Viola
Isel Martinez   Bongos,Percussion
Ventura Gutierrez   Sax (Baritone)
Ricardo Fernandez   Viola
Ivan Valiente   Bass
Pantaleon Sanchez   Sax (Alto)
Arelis Zaldivar   Cello
Rafael "Jimmy" Jenks   Sax (Tenor)

Technical Credits

Alberto Valdes   Coro
Christina Saladrigas   Composer
Lazaro Villa   Coro,Musician
Agustin Lara Aguirre Del Pino   Composer
Christien Jaspars   Photography
Marcellino Guerra   Composer
Mario Villalta   Musician
Gregorio Hernandez Rios "Goyo"   Coro,Musician
Moderis Mekanski   Arranger
Ignacio Piniero   Composer
Ibrahim Ferrer   Composer
Ignacio Pineiro   Composer
Gregorio Hernandez   Coro
Faustino Oramas   Composer,Musician
Ry Cooder   Producer
Jerry Boys   Mixing,Engineer,Mastering,Recording,Mastering Engineer
Chucho Valdes   Composer
Rosendo Ruiz   Composer,Composer
Demetrio Muniz   Coro,Composer,Musician
Jose Antonio Rodriguez   Coro,Musician
Alberto "Virgilio" Valdes   Musician
Tom Leader   Engineer,Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Pepe Maza   Coro,Musician
Marcelino Guerra   Composer
Ernesto Lecuona   Composer
Juan Pablo Miranda   Composer
Nick Gold   Executive Producer
Martin Pradler   Mixing
Carla Commagere   Coro,Musician
Juliette Commagere   Coro,Musician
Rafael Hernandez Marin   Composer
Rafael Hernandez   Composer
Miguel Matamoros   Composer
Manuel Galban   Coro
Agustin Lara   Composer
Casado Lecuona   Composer
Ernesto Lecuona Casado   Composer
Simon Burwell   Assistant Engineer
Manuel Denis Martinez   Coro
Dennis Manuel   Coro,Musician
Frank Grillo   Composer
Agustin Lara Y Sus Ritmos   Composer