BRAND NEW / SEALED

Over three decades since they first began reviving the classic son music so popular in Cuba in the 1920s, Sierra Maestra prove they remain a vital force in a music that still somehow symbolises the island.

Long before he teamed up with Ry Cooder to give Cuban music overwhelming international cache with the Buena Vista Social Club, Juan de Marcos Gonzlez was updating the son tradition with both flair and guile in Sierra Maestra and, while Gonzlez disappeared from that particular equation years ago, his legacy marches triumphantly on.

Their legendary singer Jos Antonio Rodrguez (Maceo) died in 2005, but they seem to have unearthed another star in the big, bold vocal style of Jess Bello, who is equally majestic on both the sentimental Bendito Hechizo and the spiritual Un Toque de Bemb, sharing the rest of the vocals with veterans Luis Barzga and Virgilio Valds, who maintain a characteristically relaxed feel. Yet its an ever-present sense of joy designed to put a smile on your face which defines an album highlighted by regular, uplifting blasts of trumpet and the constant overload of urgent percussion guaranteed to keep the feet tapping.

A band who can shrug off personnel upheavals and the vagaries of music fashion to keep developing while holding steadfastly to the traditions and values that drove them in the first place is either lucky or shrewd. Sierra Maestra may just be both. --Colin Irwin

1. Pal' Monte 3:50
2. Un Toque de Bemb 4:51
3. Me Guardas Rencor 3:20
4. La Mulata Presumida 3:57
5. Benito Hechizo 4:49
6. A Una Mujer 3:14
7. Persona mi Traicin 4:42
8. Juan Andrs 4:49
9. El Mas Pequeno Deseo 3:51
10. Sangre Negra 4:58
11. La Vida Sin Ti 4:01
12. Estado De Animo 2:57
13. A Ti, No Te Sale!! 4:06

(ODE | RM)