Los Guanches - Death Went Dancing Rumba

On acoustic guitars, double bass and with tremendous percussion, Los Guanches, a talented young band from Santiago de Cuba, play son, the music that the world called rumba, and they play it with an energy and style that has the late great Cuban rumberos dancing in their graves. Recognized as one of the great contemporary bands from Santiago, Los Guanches have accompanied Compay Segundo y Sus Muchachos and are now fast establishing themselves on the European scene.

Los Guanches is led by bass player Armando Machado, one of few musicians who is composing traditional Cuban son today, and features the exceptional percussionist Joaquín Solórzano (both musicians ex-members of Cuarteto Patria).

"Spawned by the steady old Cuarteto Patria, the most renowned of Santiago de Cuba's dozens of son ensembles, this young quintet hypes things up - leads keener, harmonies tenser, percussion busier, guitar more intrusive. And for a non-Spanish speaker like me, the time-tested melodies levitate with every boost, getting over on interactive intricacy and vocal high spirits alone." Robert Christgau, VILLAGE VOICE

CO 128 ©, (p) Discos Corason, 1996. Produced by Eduardo Llerenas