Big Earl Sellar wrote this review.
Pura Trova is a two-disc set with comprehensive booklet, in semi-box set form, by Vieja Trova Santiaguera, a collection of Cuban son performers. More or less a put-together group, VTS features artists in their sixties and seventies playing the traditional folk forms from Cuba. Assembled in the early 1990s to perform in Spain, the group has carried on intermittently, producing some fine renditions of some of the greatest music forms the Caribbean has to offer.
Coming from a quintet comprised of guitar, upright bass, tres, claves, maracas and vocals, the sound is surprisingly dense for such a meagre collection of instruments. Although all the members are getting on in years, the playing and singing never suffer. Their wonderful renditions of group vocal numbers like “Gusto y Sabor” betray nothing of their ages. Add to this the hot takes of songs like “Guajiro,” and you have a fairly nice set of simmering rhythms. Sure, sometimes the song selections (“El tren,” “Bésame mucho”) are a little tired, but the versions included are interesting enough to pass by with nary a wince from the listener.
The problem is, this set did not blow me out of the water at all. Firstly, the performances, while quite good, are very pedestrian; come the second disc, the set takes on the repetitiveness of background music. (Muzak would be a little harsh, but … ) While the members of VTS are quite good, they really don’t inspire the musical awe that Compay Segundo or Israel “Cachao” Lopez do. Secondly, from reading the accompanying booklet, it is very obvious that this is a manufactured group, sort of a Cuban “Supergroup” put together largely to create some money for the musicians and their managers. Perhaps it was not done as insidiously as, say, N’Sync, but it’s a factor that nonetheless rubs off on this disc. The musicians never sound as impassioned about their music as a straight band would. For all their individual and collected talents, there’s hardly a trace of fire on this disc.
The third problem that I have is simple burn-out; as much as I love Cuban music, most of what is presented for the market is fairly interchangeable, the same few songs performed in the same few styles. It’s almost as if the entire output of Ireland were performed in a fiddle/guitar/bodhran context. I know there are artists in Cuba who are experimenting with the traditions, only they never seem to be available on the major World labels. It’s a dearth that really needs to be addressed, for both the performers and us the audience.
If you want some Cuban son music, and don’t have much, Pura Trova is a nice set. If you already have quite a bit (as I do), then Vieja Trova Santiaguera sadly offer little extra to what you probably have. Fantastic for the newbie, rather uninspiring for those in the know.
(Nubennegra, 2000)
