La Maravilla

It’s a long way from Archway in North London to Santiago de Cuba, but Son Yambu – who take their name from two of Cuba’s most distinctive rhythms – are a talented outfit of diaspora musicians doing their best to bridge the gap. Beefing up the septet of stable performers with a second trumpet, conga and several vocalists assisting lead singer Yuriselys Moreno Soria, the band hit a spot somewhere between intimate and big-band. The son conjunto sound suits their three covers of nuanced numbers by the Cuban musician and composer Arsenio Rodriguez as well as the half dozen unknown compositions. The percussion is pushed perhaps too upfront, and the backing vocals are occasionally a bit frayed-sounding but for a debut this is pretty convincing stuff. If it lacks anything, it is a bolder production. The classic oriente style, never aggressive or showy, provides a slow-cooked kind of satisfaction, but occasionally a bit of Archway and the eternal autumn of North London setting seems in danger of clearing the dance floor by cooling things down too far. But having said all that, I bet Son Yambu steam on a live stage.