16 Rayos

The word ‘mambo’ conjures up shimmying couples almost losing themselves to crazed percussion. But the dance craze was, in fact, an expression of a complex, deep-rooted music scene that encompassed many rhythms and traditions. Orquesta Akokán – a big band assembled in Havana three years ago by singer José ‘Pepito’ Gómez – explore the genre’s full potential, offering listeners blistering beat-and-brass-led dance numbers like ‘Llegué con Mi Rumba’ and ‘Fiebre de Mambo’, as well as slow-building songs like ‘La Guajira del Mar’ and moody, meandering instrumentals, as with ‘Orchidea’.

Their second album seems to be laid out like a dinner-dance menu, offering a taste of the world of mambo – so evocative as it is of pre-revolutionary Cuba and a pre-rock’n’roll planet. The ten-track sequence even features two interludios, lasting just 24 and 51 seconds, to give us time to get another rum or powder our noses. A couple of years touring the US – where there is a huge appetite post-BVSC for anything romantic, and non-commie, from the island – have turned the ensemble into a tight outfit that, in turn, is able to break away from rules and splice in more Afro-Cuban elements, jazzed-up showtime flourishes, and even work in some folkloric-cum-spiritual chants. With assorted eminent guest artists, including, on the swooning title-track, guarachera Xiomara Valdés (who has performed with Benny Moré and Omara Portuondo), this stellar band is proffering a holiday to a place that no longer exists. The title alludes to a Yoruba image of the 16 rays of the sun, warming the soul. The album does what it says on the lid.