Azucar Negra 10 års jubileum

"Azúcar Negra was formed in 1997 when Leonel Limonta, Haila Momprié (no longer with the band), and other musicians split off from Bamboleo. Limonta had written almost all of the material for Bamboleo's brilliant second album, "Yo No Me Parezco a Nadie" and Haila was one of the lead singers. Azúcar Negra created a great new arrangement of the title song and Limonta continued to pour his songwriting talent into the project. In 2001, after a number of world tours, they finally released their first studio album, Andar andando. Their second CD, Sin mirar atrás, was released in early 2004. Their third CD Toque Natural was released in 2006.

All of Azúcar Negra's material is written by Limonta, who also wrote four huge hits for Charanga Habanera and two for Issac Delgado. Juan Carlos González said of Limonta -- "He's not a trained musician, but every song he brought in had some kind of special magic and became a huge hit". Various bandmembers have contributed arrangements, such as Adalberto Domínguez, who is also once of Timba's top bassists, a great pianist, and an absolute wonder to watch on stage.

In the years prior to the release of Andar andando, Azúcar Negra, like many Cuban bands, had a string of radio hits. The bands record relatively inexpensive demos and release them to Radio Taíno and other stations. In some cases, such as Paulito's "La Última Bala", the demo winds up being better than the recorded version because of personnel changes. In other cases, great songs are released as demos and then never officially released. Two of Timba's greatest tracks fall into this category: Paulito's "Laura" and Azúcar Negra's "Almas disfrazadas". Fortunately Azúcar Negra released four of its demos to mp3.com, including "Almas Disfrazadas". These can be heard at Azúcar Negra's mp3.com website. The other two songs are on "Andar andando".

Azúcar Negra is an extremely well-rehearsed band whose live show is full of interesting medleys and segues. They're definitely a thrill to see live. They only have the two albums, but they're so packed with great music that we count them among the upper echelon of Timba bands, especially considering the past accomplishments of Limonta.

For more photos and contact information visit: Azúcar Negra's Personal Website: http://azucarnegra.cjb.net"

Kjelde: timba.com

Her er dei med låta La Palabra frå den siste plata Toque Natural




Toque Natural
Import CD (Egrem 784), Released 2006;

"Out comes the new Azucar Negra, led by the great Cuban composer and bandleader, Leonel Limonta, featuring a killing new woman singer Aylin Dalleras. The band hasn’t released an album in a couple of years, and here’s the real deal, hard timba dance music formed by all night dance shows, with the recording a studio version, shortened a bit, of what happens live. Just check out the first tune, "Toque Natural," which spends nearly 5 minutes — and ends 10 minutes to early — working through a maze of structural changes, rhythms that move around, riffs, breakdowns, coros, with Dalleras’s voice blowing like a trumpet over it all. Then the next tune, "El Picaron," with another great singer Lester Ciarreta, stepping through the thick coros, ventures into rap towards the end, with a wicked rhythm section churning up a storm. And if anybody wondered about Limonta’s songwriting skill, check out the third track, "La Palabra," featuring Dalleras, which opens with a long discussion about a word that’s only identified, finally, in the coro, dragging a listener/dancer into the music. The fantastic piano breaks, help, too, and her almost desperate improvisations — listen to her sing “Mi vida…” — for some beauty. Anyway, here it is, modern Cuban music, in all its precise glory.
Highly Recommended."

Kjelde: Peter Watrous descarga.com