Chanchullo

He may be 83 years old but the zest of Rubén González’ second album would put many young pretenders to shame.

As the vibrancy of the title track displays, despite his years the Cuban pianist has lost nothing of his deftness of touch. Flying fingers alternately stroke and hammer the piano with showy aplomb while the tunes fairly glow with rhythmic diversity – cha cha cha, danzon, guajiro and descarga all feature throughout the album.

González is also finely complemented by his long term touring support, the World Circuit’s Buena Vista Social Club house band.

With the exception of the skilfully restrained piano solo ‘Si te contara’, González is at his best on the more upbeat numbers. Although ‘El bodeguero’ and ‘Quizás, quizás’ showcase pleasing light melodies impressively performed, at times the pianist veers into hotel lounge territory. Both ‘Central Constancia’ and ‘Choco’s Guajira’ lack much in the way of melodic anchorage. Guest vocals on the former meander rather than enhance, while the latter’s rhythmic opening promises far more than it ever delivers. Over the course of eleven tracks, González’ interrupted chords and piano rolls fast become the standard rather than the surprise.

However, Chanchullo avoids the aural wallpaper tag by dint of the mastery of its execution, the diversity of the dynamics throughout and the canny deployment of guest artists such as flautist Richard Egües, Senegalese singer Cheikh Lô and Eliades Ochoa on guitar.

The chanting vocals on ‘Isora Club’, the baritone sax on ‘Chanchullo’ and Lázoro Gordonez Enriquez’ haunting violin skills further embellish an album that is packed full to the brim with experience and skill.