Track Listing

1. Al Fin Te Ví (I Finally Saw You)
2. Isora Club
3. Mambo
4. Son No Ha Muerto (The Son Has Not Died)
5. Lindo Yambú (Beautiful Yambú)
6. Mi Guajira (My Country Girl)
7. Lluvia, Viento y Caña (Rain, Wind and Reeds)
8. Club Social de Marianao (Marianao Social Club)
9. Gozar con Mi Combo (To Rejoice with My Combo)
10. Cachao's Güiro
11. Alcalde (The Mayor)
12. Descarga Cachao

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #127891 in Music
• Released on: 1994-07-19
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Cuban bassist, composer, and bandleader Israel "Cachao" Lopez embodies the history of modern Cuban music. In the late 1930s, he and his brother Orestes, a pianist and composer, reworked the old danzon and created the revolutionary mambo. By the time the world was catching up to it, 20 years later, he was on to another innovation, leading descargas, Latin jam sessions. He has anchored nearly every significant group in Latin music in the U.S. over the past 35 years, from Machito to Gloria Estefan. Master Sessions, released in 1994 and featuring a superb cast including reedman Paquito D'Rivera, percussionist Francisco Aguabella, flutist Nestor Torres, and timbalero Orestes Vilato, represented Cachao's long overdue rediscovery. The program includes danzones, decargas, rumbas, and even an Ernesto Lecuona piece. The music here is as down-home wise and deceptively simple as the man at the bottom of it. Musical lessons are rarely as rich and delightful. --Fernando Gonzalez

Customer Reviews

A MASTER'S PIECE
POWERFUL! ... TOP NOTCH ARRANGEMENTS! ... In this album, you get a truly masterful performance from Cachao and company. In this offering he is surrounded by a roster of talent that has only been equaled twice before in the very rich history of latin music. Those other recordings are as follows; 1. "Estrellas Areito vol. 1 - 4", Areito label and 2. Grupo Folklorico y Experimental Nueyorquino vol. 1 - 2", Salsoul label. To say that it is the among the very best Cuban music EVER recorded is truly an understatement, from the opening track to the very last one, what one gets is Afro-cuban music played with a pure passion and love. It is obvious just by listening that the musicians in this album played with their hearts exposed. I was not present at the recording but i know that the head charts and arrangements were used only to begin each session. It is phyically impossible to write and then have each member play the music contained in this recording. An improvisers paradise. It is very rare for musicians to find themselves in a setting where all of their emotions flow with electrically charged passion as with this album. As a collector of Cuban music, I have heard most of what has been recorded. This ranks among the very best of them all (...and there are 1000's of excellent records of Cuban music). If you are just discovering Cuban music, this is a perfect place to begin exploring. For those already baptized, GET THIS ONE!

Essential latin music
This CD should be in the collection of every latin music lover. It should be a required study material for those who want to make salsa. No, it's not salsa but rather father mambo, mother guajirra, aunt descarga, and grandma rumba.
The musician lineup is spectacular including Jimmy Bosch(trombone) and Nestor Torres(flute). And all of these under the man who created mambo and descarga. Cachao masterfully utilizes the skills of these experts to redo some of his old songs, and perform new ones.
Unfortunately the complexities in the music can only be heard in a high end sound system, so don't buy this CD to listen to it while you drive to your favorite latin club, unless you own a Benz. Another detail that makes it different is that the songs flow for as long as they must rather than be rushed to the four minute industry standard.
For those who are only aquainted with modern latin music, expect the same instrumentation as Salsa, but with a more classical feel where vocals come second to the instruments. After listening to this CD you will be able to dissect most Salsa and further understand where it falls stylistically.

Some of the very best cuban music ever
The quality of the sound and the magical expertise of some of the best musicians from Cuba come together in this album.
This is what we call "the real thing"... as real and as good as it can possibly be...
This is definitely a must have album for anyone, like me, who treasures the tropical music of the Caribbean and Latin America.
I also recommend the Volume II of the Master Sessions just as highly. These are some of the best collector's CD's money can buy...
If it was possible, I would give it six stars out of five!