Mista Savona Presents Havana Meets Kingston Part 2

Five years after stars young and old assembled under the aegis of Australian dancehall producer Jake Dominic ‘Mista’ Savona for the inaugural Cubano-Jamaican mash-up, Part 2 has emerged from Havana’s EGREM studios. Robbie Shakespeare has passed on to that great studio in the sky, but his metronomic partner Sly Dunbar is still driving things along, and Julito Padrón’s trumpet-playing is still putting the shine in ‘burnished.’

Like many follow-ups, arguably it doesn’t quite match the heights of its predecessor (reviewed in December 2017, #133): certain numbers feel merely like excuses for guest artists’ raps and rhymes, and sometimes it seems as if a basic reggae stock is merely spiced with a pinch of trumpet to add some Cuban flavour. Nevertheless, there are plenty of highlights: Clinton Fearon’s ‘The Human Chain’ conjures memories of The Gladiators; ‘Havana Meets Kingston’ really does; ‘Lo Que Quieres’ would grace any Buena Vista spin-off; underpinned by Sly’s one-drop riddim, Beatriz Márquez’s glorious vocal refreshes ‘Lágrimas Negras’; ‘Beat Con Flow’ demonstrates why Cimafunk is such a rising star; ‘Bopee’ Bowen’s shimmering guitar makes ‘Kingston Nights’ a delight; ‘Slave Trade’ recalls the golden days of Jamaican vocal harmony trios; and the teeming multitude of guests make ‘Reggae y Son’ a substantial Big Production Number.