Rating:
Genre:
Latin
Release Date: 08/29/2006
With 13 years of stateside living under his belt, you'd think the novelty of musical freedom might have worn thin by now for
Juan-Carlos Formell. Nope. With his smoldering new band,
Son Radical, the
singer/songwriter, guitarist, and bassist proves more hard-chargingly adventurous than ever. Instead of parting ways with the
traditional Cuban
son that spawned his U.S. solo career, he grafts it here with thinking person's
rock; check the refined electric guitar of the instrumentals
"Insurrecion" and
"Penetracion del Viento," as well as the politically pointed
"Testamento," a track whose opening chords are so funky-groovy-jazzy they will have the musically intrepid checking
Formell's tour calendar obsessively to see him rip the joint -- any joint -- up in person. Elsewhere on the disc, drummer
Jimmy Branly recalls Cuba's Afro-Caribbean heritage with relentless, transportive rhythms; both
"Yambambo" and
"Amor de Luna" play like percussive master courses. Overall, though,
Son Radical belongs to this trio's most radical son,
Formell. His passion, ambitious as it is, translates beautifully, and this disc shimmers in all its purity and richness.
~Tammy La Gorce, All Music Guide
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