La Verdad

Bio Ritmo – La Verdad
Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/23/11
Puerto Rican-American Salsa/Mambo/Cha Cha/Electronica, from Richmond, VA. Although totally rooted in traditional Latin sounds and instruments, they also work in some really wacky elements like Moog and Farfisa. Unique sound, but you can still play it with El Gran Combo.
1. 6:41 ***sweet, relaxed little Moog merengue with lots of Latin percussion, pretty tenor vocals. Cuica! Definitely Island Latin (choral vocals sound Cuban to me.)
2. 4:10 ***instrumental mambo with almost Arabesque lines on the Farfisa, as well as horn section and various keyboard solos. Interesting!
3. 4:35 **sweet and mellow salsa with lounge-y keyboards, would be almost trance-y without the horns and percussion. Elements of psychedelic cha-cha.
4. 4:28 ***spoken intro, then uptempo with manic cuica duet. Equally manic spoken word. Nuts!
5. 4:52 **midtempo ritmo Cubano, lots of horn solo, timbale.
6. 4:43 ****nice! Slinky, rather downtempo cowbell and bass groove. Ultra-groovy! Laid-back, yet totally danceable with a party vibe.
7. 3:12 ***very jazzy horns, upbeat percussion. Not really Cuban Jazz, a bit Astro-lounge. Huh!
8. 7:15 ***tinkling straw intro, tinkling piano and cowbell, building into a downtempo, swingy cha cha, Cuban-style vocals. Gets psychedelic and dubby towards end.