Sin Rumba No Hay Son

Does any other country of musicians celebrate the history of their music and its incredible creativity quite like the Cubans do? In ‘Me Dieron la Clave’ this sublime orchestra sing about the magic clave – the percussion instrument that musicians use to keep layers of sound swaying together – paying tribute to the two key Cuban genres of son and rumba. Thanks to Cuban government cultural policy, classic ensembles like the Septeto Ignacio Pineiro, founded in 1927, continue to thrive. Now in their ninth decade, with their fourth generation of players, this disc celebrates the fact that, thanks to the long awaited recent thaw in US-Cuban relations the orchestra were able to follow up on their 1933 gig with a recent tour of concerts from San Francisco to the New York Bronx. Led by singer Eugenio ‘Rasp’ Rodriguez, the Septeto remain in fine fettle, their rich mix of percussion, strings and golden trumpet rolling infectiously along. This is feelgood music with the intention of seducing you onto the dance floor, as with Pineiro's rhetorically titled ‘Donde Andabas Anoche’ (Where Were You Last Night). And anyone who knew him will be moved to find the disc dedicated to the late Helio Orovio, author of the seminal book Cuban Music from A-Z, published by Duke University Press.