Cha Cha Cha

Before achieving its great success with releasing new artists and albums, the World Circuit label excelled at licensing and re-releasing choice world recordings from the past. With the Cuban licensing frenzy long over, they’ve returned to the fray and brought us this classic 1950s album from one of the great voices of Cuba. Abelardo Barroso started his career right at the beginnings of professional Cuban popular son with the group of Ignacio Piñeiro; by the 50s he was a big star. He became one of the most popular of all Cuban artists in Africa and was hugely influential on some of the most individual talents of the 70s salsa scene – singers such as Henry Fiol and Cuco Valoy.

This remastered album, smartly designed with excellent liner notes, features the best of his chachachá period with Orquesta Sensación, and its flute and violin section. No track better showcases Barroso's agile soulful voice than the fabulous Cubanised cover of Antonio Molina's 30s flamenco hit ‘La Hija de Juan Simón’. It's one of the finest ever examples of the fertile encounters between Cuban and Spanish music.