40 Years in Cuba

SABORIT
Que Linda es mi Cuba (Tumi)

If anyone could attest to the virtue of patience, it would be the Cuban folk band Saborit. Comprised of guajiros, i.e. countryside dwellers, the band has played together since the ‘80s (and individually two decades prior), only now releasing their debut recording. When they found out Tumi producer Mo Fini was in the region they camped out a few nights in their truck, waiting to play for him. It’s a tale straight out of hopeful Jamaican toasters following Coxsone Dodd around with guitar in hand. Sabarit obviously won Fini over, as they most likely will to you on this rich, fertile recording. Given the amount of time they had to prepare, material was not an issue. The album’s 13 songs unites the area’s African, Spanish and indigenous cultures through rumba, son and guaracha. Led by founder/vocalist Leon Alarcon, this eight-piece outfit (yes, in one truck) makes beautiful use of the tres, maximizing the shiny luster arising from the tiny frame. Working it into melodies of piano and rhythms of congas and guiro, and of course the foundation of bass, this is the island sound of Cuba performed at its height. The stories, ranging from life on a tobacco farm to community relationships, are told brilliantly by Alcaron. When he smoothly shouts “cumbia” in the midst of bouncing drums on “Amargo dolor,” you feel the weight of tradition in his dusky voice. It is a summery, reflective album – logical, considering the sonic depths they’ve had the time to explore, mull over and now, at last, share with the world outside of Cuba.