As
Ry Cooder did with
the Buena Vista Social Club, German-born saxophonist
Klaus Roehm both played with
Orquesta Sublime and helped the group release albums outside of Cuba.
Orquesta Sublime, which was founded in 1956, was still playing in Habana Vieja, Havana's old town district, but it took the involvement of a foreign musician to get
Sublime Havana recorded and issued. The world is definitely a better place for the album's release, because even though
Sublime Havana doesn't tread new musical territory, it does testify to the great variety and unassuming musicianship of traditional
Cuban charanga music. The strength of the album lies in the classics that the band covers, from the traditional
trova song
"El Fiel Enamorado" to
"El Que Mas Goza" by
Israel "Cachao" Lopez. The album ends by paying even more respects to its past by covering
"Mi Yambu," an
Afro-Cuban rumba written by the legendary
Ignacio Pineiro, whose name graces one of Havana's most important musical foundations. On most of the covers, as well as the group's originals, it's also pleasantly surprising that
Roehm's saxophone playing, particularly on tenor, blends more seamlessly into its musical surroundings than
Cooder's slide guitar ever did. This is important, as
Sublime Havana's greatest ambition and principle is success in its perfect preservation of the celebrated traditional Cuban sound. ~ Nathan Thornburgh
