Pueblo Griffo / Havana D’Primera

With a clap of drumsticks followed by a charge of brass, it starts off Pueblo Griffo, the title track of Havana D'Primera's most recent album. Alexander Abreu sings to his native neighborhood in Cienfuegos and, as he himself said in an interview, this work represents the consolidation of 16 years of a band that has given everything.

After the successful volume Será que se acabó, which earned him a nomination to the 2021 Latin Grammy Awards in the Best Salsa Album category, and the Cubadisco Grand Prize, the "singer of the people" appears with a production where maturity and the interplay between the musicians flourish.

Versatility is the word that defines D'Primera in this proposal. Another delivery betting, with the skill that characterizes them, to our heritage, to Cuban music. They place us in front of a tropical jungle of sonorities, winding paths between montunos and mambo and jazz, which make the increasingly intricate performances seem simple.

The album was released on September 6, 2023 -coinciding with the trumpeter and singer's 47th birthday- under the Páfata Productions label. Composed of a dozen songs, it lasts an hour and a half and the delicious melodies go like nothing else.

The most fanatical fans will surely listen to it ad nauseam, and will find evidence of the group's solidity. Abreu's thematic columns are maintained: the infinite love for Cuban music, the veneration of women, his devout religiosity, and the respect for the elders; everyday narratives with which the public identifies.

The art of the disc, clearly, announces a very frontal Alexander. Inside an antique theater, he makes a gesture by sealing his mouth with his index finger. The sign encodes the familiar warning to silence the envious and talkative, as he himself says in one of his songs. While this remains a stinging thorn in previous recordings, it leaves no room for doubt now.

Cinco minutos is a song that reminds us of the beef. Although morbidly tempting us to assign a precise addressee, the composer assures us that it was not written specifically for anyone, but dedicated to the accumulation of bad moments in his career. Without ceasing to make people dance, it is the piece where the group's virtuosity shines the most. You can feel the mixture of diverse influences: a bit of El Médico de la Salsa, Irakere, and Emiliano Salvador, a phenomenal jazzman to whom he dedicates a whole passage with trumpets.

In this genre, it may be common to hear bands repeat the slogan "respect for the elders" as a slogan. Here, Alexander Abreu does not stop at just words. Recognizing and incorporating what others have done well helps him to flatten the path he has been building.

On the subject Alabanza -again in duet with Rubén Bulnes, former singer of Osain del Monte-, asks for the protection of the ancestors, intoning a sort of prayer to important musicians of our dance culture who have recently passed away. Because honoring the dead serves to invigorate the living.

With a zeal that the group has already demonstrated in the past towards the coversthe version of A Belén le toca ahora dusts off the piece by Arsenio Rodríguez, which was also popularized by the Rumbavana group. It is a delicious moment of descarga "to dance slowly", where the congas, trumpets, and piano solos stand out.

More contemporary references to Juan Luis Guerra, urban Latin culture, and the catchy choruses of reparto are also recognizable. Showing his ability to play with these nuances, Abreu deliberately seasons his creations without losing his signature.

Image taken from the artist's profile

Gilberto Santa Rosa distinguished with his presence in CU-PR, released a few months ago as the first single from the album: a memorable combination that the performers call "son timbea'o, mixed with salsa buena". They both lavish each other with admiration and praise the musical legacy of the two islands.

In Pueblo Griffo we enjoy songs about love in its different facets: as "natural medicine", prolonged resentment, second chances, the elusiveness of the flirtatious woman... For example, La chica del escenario recreates, with nuances of Los Zafiros, that mystique of love that comes by chance, and Secuestro, the consensual submission before the "salá" that "abducts and entangles" you; always sprinkled with the "mami", "chuchi", "titi" so patriarchal and already habitual in its interpretation.

The track María Magdalena it comes in through your feet, as the opening bars recreate one of the Puerto Rican reggaeton anthems of the 2000s, and connects with a certain music-loving nostalgia. It's amazing how it can be identified on the fly, even when the instrumental polyphony makes it sound so different, as if performed by a concert band. Through a sort of connecting curls, we subtly fall into a sensual melody, which will change again and again.

Havana D'Primera brings to the table the chronicle of controversial characters who divide hatreds and affections, enchanting the popular imagination. Bicho malo speaks of the charismatic neighborhood handsome, and warns of the inevitable outcome of these stories. Bad guy never dies..., he gets killed.

Knowing the magical effect on the people's cadence, the band warms up with the mambo by stringing together countless refrains in popular slang. The chorus is another ingredient in their favor, sometimes even more than one in the same piece. Alexander's comedy is refreshing when he includes growls and interjections that underscore the climax of the songs.

The album is a mesmerizing experience because of the balance between the more intense and quieter tracks, and the moments of individual and collective genius. I can't help but admire the softness with which the notes at the end of certain tracks fade into silence.

Like an interior x-ray, the verses take us to the origins, not only of the musician, but of the human being himself. We can notice the artist's commitment to the work, as well as the humility with which he recognizes his influences. This means that everything genuine that he gives us is returned to him by the listener with affection and loyalty.

I can already imagine the vibe at the concerts when they play these songs that, just two months after their release, are instantly gaining fans. Pueblo Griffo promises us "una bola e' timba".