Here Comes ...el Son 
Songs of The Beatles ...with a Cuban Twist!
Panama Music & Screenworks, Inc.

Reviewed by

I've heard salsa songs sung in English before, and not a single one of them impressed me, so it was with great trepidation that I opened this CD to listen to it the first time.  What I expected was not at all what I heard.  

The musicians come from all walks of Cuban life: some from the Cuban National Symphony Orchestra, others auto-didactic virtuosos, but none of them is anything but top-notch! This is a very interesting, enjoyable, and yes, even danceable CD, and it is the first album sung entirely in English that was made in Cuba by Cubans.

As a matter of fact, it is an excellent CD for you to give to your non-"Latino", English-speaking friends as a good introduction to Cuban music.  There are songs on here that are sung in Afro-Cuban guaguancó, others that create all of the instrumental sounds vocally, a capella, and dynamic interpretations of classic Beatles songs with a son, bolero, son-guajira, columbia, danzón or cha-cha-chá style. 

The music chosen for this album covers a good span of the many years of Beatlemania, yet surprisingly enough, The Beatles' music was banned from Cuba during the early years of the Revolution.  All the more credit should go to Alfredo Alvarez Calderón, who came up with the musical concept of this album.  He managed to get the great Cuban arranger, "Pucho" López to write the arrangements, and even talked the world-renowned percussionists, Los Papines, into playing on the track, "Hello, Goodbye". Another local Cuban group, Vocal LT, creates a mesmerizing version of "Because" and "Nowhere Man" without using a single instrument!   Although there are several vocalists, Jorge Luis Rojas really shines through with his melodic, clear and well-pronounced interpretations on Tracks 1, 2, 8, 11, 13 and 16. (Nota aparte: ¡Qué voz más SEXY! ¡Mmmm, mi 'jito rico! Si algún día andas de visita por el sur de la Florida, avísame, ¿eh?... o díme cómo te ubico pa' la próxima vez que yo vaya pa' Cuba!)

I took this album into work with me just to see how my non-Latino friends would react to it.  My cubicle neighbor, Dennis, liked it so much that he even went so far as to say that there were some versions on this CD that he liked better than the original Beatles versions!

I have also used this album for my beginning salsa (dance) students, especially the non-Latino ones, and because they are familiar with the music, they seem to pick up the steps more readily!  

So, if you are not a traditionalist and you are ready to try something a bit different, perhaps even a bit adventuresome, you won't be disappointed with this one!  These are top-notch Cuban musicians doing a top-notch job with some very innovative interpretations of some traditional rock and roll!


Songs: 

1- We Can Work It Out (Son)
2- Hey Jude (Son-Guajira)
3- Get Back (Cha-cha-chá)
4- Here There And Everywhere (Bolero-Feeling) 
5- Lucy In The Sky (Guajira-Pilón)
6- Hello Goodbye (Guaguancó)
7- Nowhere Man (a capella) (Son)
8- Here Comes The Sun (Son-Guajira)
9- Eleanor Rigby (Reggae-Son)
10- For No One (Son)
11- If I Fell (Danzón)
12- And I Love Her (Bolero-Son)
13- Drive My Car (Cha-cha-chá)
14- In My Life (Bolero-cha-cha-chá)
15- Because (a capella) (Columbia)
16- Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End (Bolero- Guaguancó-Conga/Son-Bolero)

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