review by worldmusicnet.com:
OSVALDO CHACÓN
Timba
is a contemporary development of Cuban son-derived salsa that has
become one of the dominant sounds in Cuba today. It is also the result
of generations of Cuban musicians working in fusion jazz and experimenting
in combining these and other contemporary flavours such as reggae
and rap with the more traditional Cuban music forms. It is a rich
and vibrant sound ? and absolutely compelling on the dance floor.
Salsa Timba is Osvaldo Chacón?s eagerly awaited follow-up
album which exceeds all expectations. Chacón manages to integrate
several Caribbean styles, like salsa, soca and reggae, sometimes
within one single song. With his outstanding soulful timbre he proves
himself a vocal multi-talent easily switching over from singing to
rapping.
With Salsa Afrocubana, Osvaldo Chacón had delivered a critically
acclaimed album, but Salsa Timba will cause bursts of applause.
Originally
trained as a teacher in Havana, Osvaldo Chacón began his
musical career with some of Cuba’s top salsa bands, including Paulito
FG and El Medico de la Salsa (with whom he featured
on the CD “Una Aventura Loca”). In 1995 he joined Bamboleo as
lead male singer (alongside the charismatic female duo of Haila and Vannia)
and featured on their seminal CD “Te Gusto o te caigo bien” (You
like me, fancy me), released in 1997. The track went on to win Chacón a
prize for “best debut work” in Cuba’s influential annual music industry
awards Cubadisco 98. Chacón also featured in the performance
of the longest son ever played in the world (as registered
in the Guinness Book of Records, being part of the 1997 line-up
of Cuba’s leading popular orchestras at Havana’s famous Salon Rosado
de la Tropicale).
In 1997 Chacón came to London to establish his own group
and rapidly established himself as a leading exponent in the UK
of the new and exciting sound of Cuban timba,
seldom heard live in this country at that time. While developing Chacón y
su Timba, Osvaldo Chacón continued to be in demand as a singer and
solo artist, and has been invited to perform alongside the likes of Adalberto
Santiago, Azuquita, Tito Allen (Fania All Stars) , Roberto Pla, Herman Olivera
and Eddie Palmieri (at Ronnie Scott’s), the great Latin percussionist Giovanni
Hildago, Chick Corea as well as the supreme luminaries of Latin song Celia
Cruz, Oscar d’Leon, Ruben Blades and Alberto ‘El Canario’.
Chacón y su Timba includes a line-up of the UK’s foremost Cuban and
Latin musicians, proving a great success with audiences and promoters. The
band has played at a variety of leading Festivals, arts centre and nightclub
venues around the country.
In early 2001, Chacón went to Havana to record his first solo CD Salsa
Afro Cubana with top-ranking Cuban artists, performing all his own compositions
and arrangements. The album was released later that year on the UK-based ARC
record label and the lead track Mi Vicio (My Vice) was included in the
recent MANTECA compilation Salsa Timba, Meanwhile the original music
from the album has been inluded in the live sets of Chacón y su Timba.
Future plans for the band include a date at the Queen Elizabeth Hall supporting
Eddie
Palmieri and the Bath Festival. Chacón’s latest album, Salsa Timba,
recently recorded in Havana, again features all new material.
>>II. A Note on Salsa Timba