El Macho
Santiago de Cuba has produced a number of famous singers and instrumentalists: for example Ibrahim Ferrer, Eliades Ochoa and Compay Segundo of the Buena Vista Social Club.
The best musicians of this island state come from the "Oriente", the eastern region of Cuba. Many of them have moved to Havana in search of better prospects. But there are other musicians who have remained faithful to the province; these include the gentlemen of the Formation PP Banda. Bandleader Pedro Pablo Nuñez Espinoza was the vocalist for La Maravilla de Florida before he founded his own band, not a bad reference at all, as the Latin collective has been a respected institution for a long time.
One exception to the rule mentioned above, by the way, is Luis Frank Arias. He is the only member of the group to have made a name for himself outside Cuba. Unlike this guest vocalist, the musicians of PP Banda have never played outside Cuba and until now have only been known to insiders. But they are likely to lose their secret status soon, because the new album produced by Pedro Pablo Nuñez Espinoza is about to give listeners outside Cuba the opportunity to hear this fabulous group! With fantastic tracks like "Con mi dinero no hay juego", "La bola" and "El divorcio" these undiscovered talents from Santiago de Cuba are now presenting themselves to the rest of the world for the first time. Whereas most artists these days rely on synthetic computer-programmed sounds and rhythms, here everything is traditional craftsmanship. The human "micro-timing" in PP Banda’s music is liberating and the most refined of technical aids cannot get anywhere near it.
Large orchestras have become rare. Sadly, nowadays hardly anyone can afford the costs of such a huge ensemble. But ironically, in the poor country of Cuba, there are still big bands, in keeping with a long tradition. In this context it is worth mentioning Beny Moré. The "Barbaro del Ritmo" was not content with a mere "Banda Grande”: for him it had to be a "Banda Gigante"! Under this name he engaged up to forty (!) musicians.
Pedro Pablo Nuñez Espinoza y su PP Banda are now carrying on the big band tradition of Beny Moré in more modern clothing. They have revived his strong brass sound and taken it, with some prudent modernisations, into the twenty-first century. The moment this orchestra from Santiago de Cuba gets going, the listener can only sit fascinated at the speakers and rejoice that even today there is someone who can play so wildly without any studio or technical tricks. Thanks and thanks again, boys, for your infectious hand-made Latin music! It’s great that there are still musicians like you around!
