If you want to have a Cachao record then buy this one...
Ramon Melendez | Anaheim, CA USA | 07/25/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"When Andy Garcia introduced Cachao to a wider American audience with the "Master Sessions", Cachao had already attained the status of "living legend" for those of us fortunate enough to listen to the recordings included in this CD. If you do not have a Cachao CD then buy this one and play "Guajeo de Saxos" first. If you don't start dancing, clapping your hands or moving some part of your body to Guillermo Barreto's killer "cascara" then no other record will do that for you!!! These sessions are so tight and swinging that this record is among the top 10 of all time in Cuban music. If you know Cachao already and you don't have this CD then get it and let the master surprise you once again. The musicians in these sessions are among the greatest legends of Cuban music. First and foremost for me is Guillermo Barreto's timbale playing so clean and yet with such carrying power. His playing here is so refined and influential that his solo on "Malanga Amarilla" is like a school book for every serious timbale player.Other stars include legendary conga player Tata Guines; "Nino" Rivera on tres; Hernan "el Negro" Vivar, trumpet; Generoso "el Tojo" Jimenez, trombone; Orestes Lopez, piano and Richard Egues, flute among others.Get this one this IS the REAL deal."
Simply Superb
Brian M. Parks | Madison, Wisconsin United States | 06/16/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have owned and listened to a large number of latin jazz recordings over the past many many years. Common to many enjoyed works by various artists in different musical forms, a lot of those recordings found less and less play time in my home. This is not to say that the music was bad, but rather that it just no longer struck that chord of interest in my ear to yield the freshness associated with the times that I first listened to it. As a result, many of my latin recordings, along with other genres, found themselves making the passage to the local used music bins. Not so with this recording!! Every single time that I pop it into my player, it bangs out vibrant and rich. The music is so simply and masterfully played, with such variance and beautiful flow, that I am basically struck dead by its power. If there is just ONE single latin jazz CD that you wish to have in your collection (who knows why THAT would be so!?), then make it this one. You will not be disappointed.A small note....My copy of this CD was issued in Canada on a different recording label (TH-Rodven Records, Inc., TH-12092). From the beginning, I suspected that the track listings on my CD were incorrect. Listening to the samples on the Amazon site has confirmed my suspicions. The listings on the CD available at Amazon are correct. But if you own a copy similar to mine, you will want to re-enumerate the listings on the descriptive insert. For recording TH-12092, the track titles that are listed in the same order as that shown for the CD available at Amazon correspond in order to tracks 9, 10, 8, 1, 6, 7, 5, 2, 11, 12, 3, and 4 on the CD."