« Plenty of excellent tracks » by Blues & Rhythm

Havana, Cuba-born bandleader, flautist, clarinet player, saxophonist and composer Filiberto Rico arrived in Paris in the 1920s, recorded there with various bands (including his own) in the following decade and sought refuge first in Spain, then back in Cuba, during the Second World War. He returned to France in 1946. This album contains material recorded by his largely Cuban band (there were some local musicians and singers involved from time to time) for Gramophone-La Voix De Son Maître. There have been previous reissues, notably by Harlequin, of some of the many titles recorded by this band, but they concentrated on the pre-war output. As with many Latin Bands at this time – especially those aiming for a European audience – there was corny, schmalty material aplenty, and there is a little of that here – but only a little (try ‘Tres Palabras’ or ‘Colibri’, if you must !). Much of the material here has a far more authentic (read’less like ‘30s’ danse music), more upbeat Latin – if not always Cuban – feel, and the styles range across rumba, guaracha, bolero, samba, and son montuno, plus examples of biguine (perhaps in recognition of the local French clientele ?), a corrido mejicano, a porro columbiano and even a guarache-mambo from 1951 featuring the top-class vocalist Oscar Lopez. Some of the later tracks have a far more relaxed, almost acoustic approach, though others point the way towards the middle-of-the-road style that was soon to take precedence in the band’s repertoire. By modern standards, a significant proportion of the music on theses two discs can be a little formal at times, but that does still leave plenty of excellent tracks, well worth hearing. Norman DARWEN – BLUES & RHYTHM

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Cuba In Paris

RICO' S CREOL BAND 1947 - 1951