Cubismo - first three albums

Hey so it has truly been a while. A slow year indeed but lets try and fix that at least in the end.

Every year I unintentionally dive into a genre that I'm not yet familiar with. For me the joy of discovering something completely different will never get old. I'll remember 2016 for the salsa, samba and other assorted latino genres that I've discovered.

But truth be told I partially grew up listening to such genres. My dad in his youth played flamenco so growing up I heard a lot of Spanish and Latin music but he never really cared to make me interested in it as well so most of that stuff flew over my head. In Croatia the most well known Latin band is actually a native band called Cubismo and Cubismo is probably the first thing that pops in my mind when Latin music is mentioned. Me simply remembering them again this year is probably what kickstarted my venture in these genres in the first place.

Cubismo consisted of very competent jazz, latin-jazz and salsa musicians from the Balkan region but they also had singer that was from Venezuela so the vocals were all in Spanish. This made them unique, exotic but also familiar in a way to most listeners in these parts. They had several albums excellent albums (which I'm currently sharing) and several later albums that were mainstream oriented and not very good (imho). For a while they were really popular but as time went on and novelty wore off the band faded away. Personally I think their downfall came to be because they started mixing other genres that just don't fit (generic 2000s eurobeat, hip-hop etc.) but their vocalist left so that pretty much killed the band. Their final album had a different vocalist on each song. It didn't work very well and they lost their identity and their greatest strengths.

The first three albums of Cubismo on the other hand are some of the best albums I've ever heard. Their early albums feature several great long instrumental songs that showcase a lot of soloist talents and a large variety in rhythm and improvisation. While all this is going on you'll also hear a great percussion backing packed to the brim with congas and conventional drums. Not to mention the vocalist who has the just right sound for this music. The albums are mainly oriented for vocal songs but every track or so the band will play a jazz standard or just jam it out for several minutes on a track. This tempo of constantly shifting the focus makes the albums varied and never uninteresting.

All albums are equally recommended. If you're not sure where to start I'd suggest you go with Motivo Cubano. Viva La Habana is a live album.

Cubismo
Viva La Habana
Motivo Cubano