Jamz of The Week: Afrocubism

This past week I was wise enough to check out Afrocubism at the Madrid Jazz Festival.  The group is composed of musicians from Cuba, several of whom were involved in the Buena Vista Social Club, and Mali.  Malian music is, in my opinion, the most accessible of modern African music, and the mixture of instruments creates an incredible portrait of the way that rock, blues, jazz and latin music have been reflected and reassembled in Africa, the land from whence they all came.

This concert was one of the best I have ever seen in my life, and I don't make that statement lightly.  The guys were talented, upbeat and extremely technically gifted, especially since they only first joined forces this past July.  Africa and Cuba came together in a flawless and almost carefree manner that had the whole place, mostly old Spanish people mind you, up on their feet, grooving to the music in a formal theater setting.

Here are a couple of their cuts:

"Al vaivén de mi carreta" (To the Rocking of my Cart)


"Para Los Pinares se va Montoro" (Montoro Leaves for Los Pinares)


'Nima diyala' (I have no idea what this means because I don't speak Bamara,
the native language of most Malians)