Tranquilidad Cubana

Urban Legend – Tranquilidad Cubana
Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/20/06
Cuban fusion with hip hop, electronica, etc. Two DJs and a lot of guests, recorded and mixed in Havana and elsewhere. All tracks have strong Latin dance rhythms, most have a lot of other elements as well.
No FCCs detected. I like track 6 best.
1. 3:56 ***starts with audience noises and announcer and horn flourish, then midtempo Afro-Cuban groove with somewhat Reggaeton-inflected rap in Spanish. A bit of hip hop rap in English, in fact quite a few different voices and styles. Long fade.
2. 4:59 **slow, slinky salsa groove a la early Santana or Malo, but rather more subdued. Bits of electronica in second half of cut. Another long fade.
3. 4:35 **piano intro, then downtempo, mellow and pretty groove with flute and vocal snippets. Harder groove comes in gradually, nice Afro-Cuban mambo with fine piano work.
4. 3:48 **percussion and some guy teaching dancing lessons, then downtempo salsa with scratching, some really nice Spanish guitar.
5. 2:54 ***long random dreamy noises intro, then wah wah guitar and slightly downtempo salsa riddim. Lots of sampling and scratching and electronica.
6. 4:18 ****strong midtempo Afro-Cuban beat with strongly Reggaeton-inflected rap in Spanish. Long fade.