Mi Tumbao

Bayamo is one of those small Cuban cities somewhat off the main tourist drag that surprise with their conviviality and musical talent. Every week José Alberto Tamayo Diaz, aka José Alberto, aka The Nightingale, plays an open-air live show for the locals. Lucky them, if Mi Tumbao is anything to go by. Hailing from the eastern half of the island, his base genre is Cuban son, with zigzagging clave rhythms, lively call-and-response and bracing male choral harmonies. José Alberto brings to these a kind of effortless bagginess that gives the impression of an impromptu performance given on a shady stoop.

His voice has a quintessentially Cuban plummy fullness, which segues smoothly into spiralling arias of emotion. Then, just when the passion is about to brim over, he lets escape a whoop and a warm laugh. ‘Cualquiera Resbala y Cae’, the first single from the album, has superb swing, featuring a hoarse yet hearty Louis Armstrong­style improv from guest artist Cándido Fabré. ‘Emigrante’ has a sad theme, but the raw lyrics are played off against forward-driving brass and percussion, and an almost philosophical neutrality to JA’s delivery. Even a salsafied version of the piano-bar standard ‘Lágrimas Negras’ finds space for levity. Only ‘Princesa’ is unrelentingly lachrymose, demonstrating that our hombre from Bayamo can turn on Mexican levels of maudlin self-pity when he cares to. Produced and arranged by triple Latin Grammy award winner Geavanis Alcantara Lopez, Mi Tumbao is a smooth, stylish instalment from a man who lives and breathes Cuban music.