CUBAN ESSENTIALS CD SERIES
Various Artists
(Escondida Music)

The expert musicians of the strakly beautiful Buena Vista Social Club has careers before Ry Cooder's recording of Cuban folk music brough them a generation of new fans.  Now, the legends of traditional Cuban son have reappeared in a 10-volume Cuban Essentials series, a best of compilation featuring six decades of music made by the likes of Ibrahim Ferrer, who died last August, Ruban Gonzalez, Omara Portuondo, Eliades Ochoa, Company Segundo and Chucho Valdez, among others.  Each CD highlights an artist's collection.  Escondida sees the collection, which is fully remastered from the originals, as the Mowtown of Cuba.

Charlie Fidelman