Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Beny Moré "The Essential Beny Moré"

Already covered more impressively in the pages of Frank's APA by my beloved (for whom I bought this as a Christmas present), this is a recording of music by the Cuban sensation Beny Moré. I do not actually know that much about Cuban music, beyond knowing that I like it, so what I can tell you about Señor Moré is a tad limited. Basically, he came from the town of Cienfuegos and sang with Cuban big bands. I think people sometimes describe him as the Cuban Sinatra, only without all the rubbishness that implies. And he drank himself to death at an astonishingly early age. The music is not unlike what you would expect if you have ever heard a big Cuban jazz-influenced band. And this record is essential – suave uplifting music for sophisticated people like you and me.

Listening to this brings me back to actually being in Cienfuegos, where we stayed in a Casa Particular and enjoyed the classic Cuban experience – a friendly and loquacious host who babbles away to you in Spanish you can barely understand. There were these other visitors there, from Germany, who could of course chat away easily in Spanish. They kept asking the hosts to put on Beny Moré, which they would, much to all our delight. But the hosts would soon say something about how the other guests being from Germany must surely be only pretending to like Beny, so instead they would put on the only German record they had – Die schönsten Balladen von Richard Clayderman.

An inuit panda production

Bear Moré

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