recommended album of the week

Artist: Eliades Ochoa
Album: Sublime Illusion
Available on: iTunes, Amazon
Listen to when: Driving, Entertaining, Drinking

This got lost in the wash of post-Buena Vista Social Club albums, but in my opinion, it’s the gem of the lot - much better than the Buena Vista album. Ochoa is a traditional Cuban acoustic guitarist and singer and this album is Cuban son at its finest. The coros (choruses) are catchy and the groove is always there, but never overpowering. There is no piano, which frees up Ochoa’s guitar to play the montunos (repeated, syncopated phrases typical to Cuban music, traditionally played by the piano) while his raspy voice floats over the lush accompaniment. The album is beautifully recorded – a rarity for good son albums, most of which are either rough, older recordings or polished new releases with blaring, overwritten horn-lines. Enough music talk, here’s what you need to know: every time I play this when people are over they ask me what it is. This would be one of ten albums I’d bring to a desert island. Buy it. Put it on. Have a drink.