LaVoe and Willie Colon came blazing out of the bugalu era and wrote a new script for New York salsa during the late '60s and early '70s: a script that included Puerto Rican and Panamanian graftings on the basic Cuban scion, and a tough lyricism that spoke of "barrio" problems to a "barrio audience". Then the pair split, and eventually Ruben Blades filled LaVoe's place in the Colon band's developing persona. Now – for this album at least – LaVoe and Colon are back together with that fat, macho trombone sound and the old width of reference (including a splendid plena, "En el Fiando.")

Listen to the opener, "Dile Que Venga," "Calumbo," or their version of Frank Cabrera's classic stomp "La Lloradora," and you will hear a big band in choppy harmonic bliss cutting across Latin music, jazz, and even R&B with a vengeance. Of the ballads, El Topo's gorgeous "Pobre de Mi" and Lupe's own "Amor Verdadero" are her finest performances here.

This is an album spawned from a memorial to Emilio Vandenedes, a radio man from L.A. and Miami. A multitude of Cuban artists who knew and loved him turned out to perform a memorial service of sorts, which eventually evolved into a full-fledged album. The artists on the album range from 18 to 83 in age, and include some of the great legends of Cuban music (as well as American jazz in Al McKibbon): Chucho Valdes, Francisco Aguabella, Pio Leyva, and others. The quality of the music is enough to make any given fan of the Cuban roots craze (spawned in the U.S. by Buena Vista Social Club, among others) turn and take a second look at what had been happening in Cuba prior to Ry Cooder. Newer generation players also appear, including the vocal group Bamboleo, flutist Orlando Valle, and bassist Carlos del Puerto, Jr. As usual, all of the major styles (guajira, rumba, comparsa, bolero, son, descarga, bata) of Cuban music appear in some form in the midst of the playing.

The success of the Buena Vista Social Club series gave Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer the chance to finally begin his dream project in 2005, the recording of an entire album of bolero pieces, the musical form Ferrer loved above all others. Unfortunately the 78-year-old singer died in August of that year while sessions for the project were still underway, and that Mi Sueсo (My Dream) exists at all is in itself a small miracle. Ferrer left behind high-quality vocal demos of the boleros he still intended to record for the album, but these tapes were apparently misplaced and Ferrer's dream seemed destined to go unfulfilled. The demos were eventually recovered, and Mi Sueсo has finally seen the light of day. It is the perfect goodbye from Ferrer, a fitting and beautiful last testament that spotlights his easy and smoky vocals over subtle, non-intrusive arrangements generally featuring pianist Roberto Fonseca, guitarist Manuel Galbon, and bassist Cachito Lopez.