Word: guantanamera
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...remember with the same fondness that American baby boomers feel when they recall first hearing Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode. Two years ago, Orishas introduced a new song, 537 Cuba, that transformed the stately Cuban classic Chan Chan (a universally recognized tune among Cubans, like Guantanamera) into a rollicking American-style hip-hop anthem. The song struck a chord; young fans began eagerly trading bootleg tapes of the group and flocking to their concerts. Orishas' fame rose so rapidly that last year the group was invited to the presidential palace to meet Fidel Castro. "So you are the ones...
...there studio experimentation. And that's not even counting their mastery of the traditional Mexican music they grew up with, the soundtrack of life in Chicano East L.A. With 86 songs, there's a lot to like here: the earliest forays into the studio with traditional material like "Guantanamera"; the rowdy guitar-driven rock 'n' roll that fits them like a favorite leather jacket; the thoughtful, melodic writing of "Will the Wolf Survive" and "One Time One Night," with which they hit their stride; the inevitable "La Bamba," complete with its traditional acoustic coda that reels it back...
...with Caribbean rhythms and references; in fact, some of the songs are sung in Haitian Creole. In other songs, like We Trying to Stay Alive, Wyclef samples the Bee Gees, while in Gunpowder, he makes a powerful plea against violence. He even manages a skillful hip-hop version of Guantanamera. Like the Fugees' cover of Killing Me Softly, Guantanamera refashions an old song that is almost too familiar and makes it contemporary and vital. Altogether, the variety and reach of the album are extraordinary...
...proves the axiom that art has the most universal appeal when it is the most specific. The script is remarkably faithful to Moliere's original in plot and characters, yet entirely contemporary -- a duality hilariously hinted at, before the curtain rises, when the sound system tinkles out Guantanamera on a harpsichord. A Cuban emigre himself, Santeiro has a dead-on eye and ear for people, from the fiercely pretentious grandmother who wants everyone to forget she used to keep pigs to the nosy, noisy maid whose fractured syntax includes the news that an acquaintance is a patient at "Mount Cyanide...
...album contains a lot of great songs. There aren't too many surprises here--Seeger and Arlo run through all the old standards, from "Joe Hill" to "deportees" and "Guantanamera," all done competently. The newer songs are less impressive; Arlo's "Presidential Rag," a Watergate song, has a point of view on the subject which is slightly less interesting than that of the House Judiciary Committee. Nevertheless, if you're looking for a good collection of songs of the traditional American left, this album will serve...