Estoy Como Nunca

With his 10-gallon hat and cowboy boots, the Santiago-born Vocalist-guitarist Eliades Ochoa is known as the "cowboy" of the world-renowned Buena Vista Social Club. Because of his success with that group, he's made a few recordings of his own as the leader of Quarteto Patria. On this CD, Ochoa's romantic tenor voice and bouncy guitar playing are marvelously motored by the rhythms of the Cuban son. Along with trumpeter Anibal Avila, Ochoa is joined by special guest singer Raul Malo of the Mavericks on "No Me Preguntes Tanto," and guitarist David Hidalgo of Los Lobos lends his plectral pulsations to the title cut. Compay Segundo's heartfelt "Llora Mi Nena," and "El Chicarron es Pellejo" best reveal the rural blend of Spanish and African rhythms, melodies, instruments, and song forms that Eliades Ochoa highlights so well in his artistry. --Eugene Holley Jr.