Absolutely Live II: Viva Mexico!

Led by Juan de Marcos, the Cuban legend who provided many of the arrangements on Buena Vista Social Club, this two-disc set finds the All Stars in concert at a festival in Guanajuato, Mexico, for the audio CD and on stage in Maryland for the accompanying DVD. Many of the veteran musicians and singers who appeared on A Toda Cuba le Gusta, the first All Stars album on World Circuit in 1997, have since died but de Marcos has had no trouble in finding some stellar replacements – indeed, such is the breadth of Cuban virtuosity that the Mexican and North American bands are quite differently configured yet equally impressive. Gabriel Hernandez plays piano in one and Nachito Herrera in the other and there's little to choose between them, although the latter's ten-minute improvisation ‘Nacho's Pilón’ is a highlight. The rest of the repertoire is nicely varied, ranging from classic Afro-Cuban jazz with a taste of New Orleans to Arsenio Rodríguez's swinging tune ‘Tumba y Bongo’, plus slinky son grooves, Compay Segundo's lovely ‘Ahora me da Pena’, a reprise of Ibrahim Ferrer's ‘Candela’ from the original BVSC album, and a furious 12-minute timba work-out on ‘La Mujer del Barbaro’.