Review of Cachao : Master Sessions, Vol. 1
Cuban bassist, composer, and bandleader Israel "Cachao" Lopez embodies the history of modern Cuban music. In the late 1930s, he and his brother Orestes, a pianist and composer, reworked the old danzon and created the revolutionary mambo. By the time the world was catching up to it, 20 years later, he was on to another innovation, leading descargas, Latin jam sessions. He has anchored nearly every significant group in Latin music in the U.S. over the past 35 years, from Machito to Gloria Estefan. Master Sessions, released in 1994 and featuring a superb cast including reedman Paquito D'Rivera, percussionist Francisco Aguabella, flutist Nestor Torres, and timbalero Orestes Vilato, represented Cachao's long overdue rediscovery. The program includes danzones, decargas, rumbas, and even an Ernesto Lecuona piece. The music here is as down-home wise and deceptively simple as the man at the bottom of it. Musical lessons are rarely as rich and delightful. --Fernando Gonzalez

Users's Reviews - Cachao : Essential latin music
This CD should be in the collection of every latin music lover. It should be a required study material for those who want to make salsa. No, it's not salsa but rather father mambo, mother guajirra, aunt descarga, and grandma rumba.
The musician lineup is spectacular including Jimmy Bosch(trombone) and Nestor Torres(flute). And all of these under the man who created mambo and descarga. Cachao masterfully utilizes the skills of these experts to redo some of his old songs, and perform new ones.
Unfortunately the complexities in the music can only be heard in a high end sound system, so don't buy this CD to listen to it while you drive to your favorite latin club, unless you own a Benz. Another detail that makes it different is that the songs flow for as long as they must rather than be rushed to the four minute industry standard.
For those who are only aquainted with modern latin music, expect the same instrumentation as Salsa, but with a more classical feel where vocals come second to the instruments. After listening to this CD you will be able to dissect most Salsa and further understand where it falls stylistically.

Your latest reviews - Cachao : Better than Volume I
Usually, when you pick up a CD by Artist X emblazoned with "Volume II," you expect: okay, here are the tunes that weren't good enough to make the first cut, and since the first CD was a success and we've already got these additional tunes in the can, let's make a few more bucks off this deal.

Thankfully, this is far from the truth with Cuban bassist Israel Lopez, a.k.a. 'Cachao,' producer Andy Garcia (yes, *that* Andy Garcia), and executive producer Emilio Estevez, Jr. While I never really connected with Volume I, this 1995 release of Volume II is something I have played over and over and over again. That's really saying something about the quality of Vol. II, since Vol. I was, after all, nothing short of a Grammy award-winning release.

Unluckily, this CD came out right around the same time as almost simultaneous releases from Buena Vista Social Club, Afro-Cuban All-Stars, and pianist Ruben Gonzalez. So Cachao, Vol. II got a little buried in the wave of publicity that accompanied all that. But the good news for the hundreds of thousands - if not millions - of fans of those releases is what a surprise you have waiting for you with Cachao, Master Sessions Vol. II. It's the perfect background music for your next little get-together.