Mambo Sinuendo is a collaboration between
Ry Cooder and
Buena Vista alum (and formerly of many other groups as well)
Manuel Galbán. The album attempts to catch an old style popularized in Cuba by
Galbán, and was, surprisingly, never followed up on by anybody after
Galbán. It's a guitar-based romp closely based in the pop/jazz crossovers of the 1950s-1960s (
Henry Mancini,
Nelson Riddle, etc). There's a touch of exoticism here and there, and a larger touch of a relatively Hawaiian feel throughout the whole via the guitar techniques employed by the pair. It's all somewhere in a form between lounge, mambo, and
Esquivel's old space-age-bachelor-pad music. In rare instances, there's even a little bit of a house drum loop added in by the percussionists. Aside from the stray spacey chorus in the title track, it's an entirely instrumental affair, which suits the musicians quite well, giving them a chance to show off their full virtuosity along the way. The musicality these guitarists hold, and the interplay between them, is really the treat of the album. For a nice look at the musical genre that never was, but probably should have been, this makes a good show. Newcomers to
Cooder should perhaps dig into some older releases to get a feel before coming to this album, but all others should embrace it quickly. ~ Adam Greenberg