Issac Delgado 
La Fórmula / Malecón
2001, Ahí-Namá Music

Reviewed by (Local SalsaPower Correspondent for the Bahamas)

The front and back covers of this latest work by Issac Delgado reveal El Chévere in two moods. On the front, he is expansive, smiling, welcoming, his arms thrown wide; on the back, he is withdrawn, pensive, mysterious, his eyes hidden by dark glasses.

And it seems in a way that the covers capture the different moods of the music within their borders, at once lively and subdued, pensive and exuberant, enticing and mysterious.

Produced by Delgado himself, with arrangements from Juan Manuel Ceruto and Joaquín Betancourt, this album runs the gauntlet from the more straightforward sounds of salsa through a range of rougher Cuban timba sounds, jazz, ballad, and cumbia (on a bonus track), all the way to a lush samba. In its course, it amply samples and showcases the talents of Mr. Delgado, who has been called by Peter Watrous of the New York Times "One of the greatest singers in the world, regardless of genre", and of the musicians who accompany him.

On the timba end of things one will find "Amor sin ética," "El solar de La California," "La fórmula," "El pregón del chocolate," "Malecón" and "Afortunada tu." Each of these songs easily lends itself to the smoother openings which highlight Issac's singing voice, but also breaks effortlessly into the style of choruses and pregones which reflect the modern Cuban sound. If one is to find a single drawback on the entire album, it is that every single one of these pieces could have gone to 6:30.  Unfortunately, only "La Fórmula" does, and the others which are chopped or faded at standard salsa length of four and a half minutes seem truncated as a result.

On a more straightforward salsa note are "O estás loca," "Caricias," "A ti todo" and "Te perdono," which lean towards the more jazz, rhythm and blues influenced, and 'straightforward' salsa of the United States. Then there are the odd birds, like "Nadie me quiere bailar," which doesn't fit any of the molds but which I really like, and "España tiene" which features Pablo Milanés (dígame si no es la verdad). The really way out song here is "Quando," which features the adventurous Issac performing a song written by Italian Pino Danielle, in a Brazilian samba rhythm, sung in Italian, no less! Nevertheless, it seems to work, as, amazingly, do all the variations one finds across the album.

Perhaps the key to this interesting variety can be found in the track "Gracias a la vida," a traditional folk song by Chilean Violeta Parra, which begins as a duet for voice and piano, moves into a convincing Latin jazz piece, and builds from there to a dynamically powerful finish, coro-style. It is here that one is most strongly reminded of the masterful touch of Gonzalo Rubalcaba, who is the pianist on all but four of the fourteen tracks. These tracks generally have very 'jazzy' openings, whether in the up-tempo piano, horns and guitar of "Nadie me quiere bailar" or the laid-back flute and sax of "Quando" and "Afortunada tu." The piano is a moderating force, not leaning so heavily towards the more percussive 'tumbao' and block chords of hard-core timba, but instead providing a gentler, smoother feeling to the pieces. Additionally, there is a heavier dependence on the guitar as a melodic instrument in all the songs than one might normally expect in 'modern' Cuban salsa.

Another way to look at this album is from the words of El Chévere himself. As he says in the title track, "La fórmula," "Tengo una fórmula que sé que no fallará, un poquito de to' el mundo" (I have a formula that I know never fails, a little bit of everybody). In looking at the credits, this certainly appears to be true. Along with Ceruto, Betancourt, and Rubalcaba, who had input at the arrangement level, guest artists included Pablo Milanés, Samuell Formell (on "Chocolate"), Germán Velazco on soprano sax, Alexander Abreu on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Jorge Luis Chicoy, guitar on "Caricias." And the vocals list reads practically like the Who's Who of Cuban vocalists: Aramís Galindo (who sings with Adalberto Alvarez), Vania from Bamboleo, Yosbel Bernal of Elite, Lisett López, John Studer, and Carlos Alfonso and Ele Valdéz of Síntesis.

In reference to the "Malecón," the name of the OTHER title track of the album, Delgado draws our attention to the sea wall which "imaginably unites the mystery and power of the earth and ocean". It is not difficult to believe that Issac Delgado intends this album to be his own personal "Malecón", uniting the power and mystery of the different musical forms from which he has drawn.

The Bonus Track is "La vida es un carnaval" - 5:04 (a new version for the album, it seems)

Musicians

Piano: Gonzalo Rubalcaba, on all except tracks 3, 4, 6, and 12, and on those Roberto C. Rodríguez
Bass: Frank Rubio, tracks 2, 4 - 7, 9, 12, and 14; Roberto Riverón, all others.
Congas: Dennis Savón
Percussion: Andrés Cuayo
Drums: Oscar Valdés
Guitar: Raúl Verdecia
Keyboard: Miguel Nuñez on all except those by Ernesto R. Puentes, which are 3, 4, 6, 8 - 10.
Trumpet: Alexander Abreu
Trumpet: Orlando Vázquez, tracks 2, 6 - 10, 13, and 14; Carmelo A. Llanes, tracks 3, 4, and 12
Timbal: José Espinosa, all except 8, by Samuell Formell
Trombone: Carlos Pérez, all tracks except 5 (no trombone) and those by Carlos Alvarez (Afrokán) which are 2, 4, 12, and 14
Sax/Flute: Juan Manuel Ceruto, except track 6, by Inoidel González
Maracas: Germán Velazco

Recorded 10th - 28th May, 2000 at Estudios Abdala, Havana, Cuba.

See our other CD REVIEWS!  

Read our Exclusive SalsaPower interview with Issac Delgado in English
Lea nuestra entrevista exclusiva con Issac Delgado en Español

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