Bassist Israel "Cachao" Lopez put mambo as well as the jazzy jam sessions known as descargas on the map. The Miami-based actor/percussionist Andy Garcia resurrected him from obscurity with the popular Master Sessions recordings in the 1990s. This CD and DVD, recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, is Cachao's fourth collaboration with Garcia. The ageless bandleader's deep arco and pizzicato basslines anchor an all-star group, which includes salsa trombonist Jimmy Bosch, timbalero Orestes Vilato, and tresguitarist Neslon Gonzalez. They lay down the Afro-Cuban rhythms that range from the changui to the rumba. "Mambo Cambio de Swing" links Havana to Harlem, while "Guajira Clasica" marries Bartokian style with the Cuban countryside. "Queja Africana/Protesta Abakua" is laced with Justo Almario's Coltrane-tinged saxophone and completes the transcultural influences of this great musician. --Eugene Holley, Jr.
Cuban bassist, composer, and bandleader Israel "Cachao" Lopez embodies the history of modern Cuban music. In the late 1930s, he and his brother Orestes, a pianist and composer, reworked the old danzon and created the revolutionary mambo. By the time the world was catching up to it, 20 years later, he was on to another innovation, leading descargas, Latin jam sessions. He has anchored nearly every significant group in Latin music in the U.S. over the past 35 years, from Machito to Gloria Estefan. Master Sessions, released in 1994 and featuring a superb cast including reedman Paquito D'Rivera, percussionist Francisco Aguabella, flutist Nestor Torres, and timbalero Orestes Vilato, represented Cachao's long overdue rediscovery. The program includes danzones, decargas, rumbas, and even an Ernesto Lecuona piece. The music here is as down-home wise and deceptively simple as the man at the bottom of it. Musical lessons are rarely as rich and delightful. --Fernando Gonzalez
