De la Timba a Pogolotti

Cesar Pedroso, in his first effort since his departure from the history-making dance band los Van Van, comes onto the scene with a bold record, and a bold sound. Both in personnel and in musical voice, Pedroso has not distanced himself very far from the VV camp, with bandleader Juan Formell acting as executive producer, and a groove very reminiscent of Changuito and their songo days together. The lead vocalists tend to sound mature to a point of tiredness, and seldom match the energy of the ensemble. Pupy would incorporate some younger, more vigorous vocal talent in projects to come, but the current cast seems to be keeping things on the laid-back side. Similarly, the horn and string writing sounds more suave than killing. The first and last album Pupy would record for the timba label, De la Timba a Pogolotti shows some promise, but is a far cry from the revolutionary, trail-blazing insanity of his future projects as leader of los Que Son, Son. This record will probably be seen in the future as the beginning of an amazing group, not the actualization of an amazing group. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez, Rovi