"A Cuban rum melodiously aged by life," Ibrahim Ferrer said of himself.  And with the the impish tenor now jamming with ther departed Buena Vista members in the sky, this compliation- the first of a ten-volume Cuban Essentials series- serves as a welcome reminder of his substantial pre-BV career.  Backed by horns, strings and rousing Afro-Cuban percussion, Ferrer warbles smoothly through Una Fuerza Inmensa, the only belero he recorded solo before 1996, and such standards as De Camino A La Verdea and his own favourite, Ay, Candela Glorious stuff - and to think he once shined shoes to make ends meat.

Jane Cornwell