Latin DNA

It's hard to dislike Dorancé Lorza & Sexteto Café as this is passionate and earnest music with a true love for salsa, and features an all-star cast of musicians and vocalists from both London and Colombia. Yet it's hard to get past the vibraphone which, together with the tinny production and some strange track choices, makes this all sound very much like kitsch lounge music. On the Spanish-language version of ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ or ‘La Clave CH’ it feels like we’ve gone back 60 years, straying dangerously close to the twee world of Arthur Lyman. On ‘Cali y Su Coros de Campaneros’ the group do at least show some ambition, switching between three lead vocals on a groove that's given extra drama by flashes of violin – though it's let down by a syncopated English-language verse that sounds lifted from a musical. It would be unfair to compare Lorza and his group to progressive salsa ensembles such as La Mambanegra and Bio Ritmo, but next to the salsa giants they are hoping to emulate, such as Lebron Brothers, Tito Puente or Grupo Niche, this lacks the bite and heat to mark it as anything other than a quick fix for salsa diehards.