Grammy winning guitarist/vocalist/ songwriter Eliades Ochoa, a quarter century removed from the landmark recording of the Buena Vista Social Club helmed by Ry Cooder, returns as “the elder” and for the first time with his own album of mostly original songs, Guajiro. Cuban music took the world by storm in 1997 when Ochoa, then already 50 years old, was considered the young buck in the group. Company Segundo was 90 and Ibrahim Ferrer wasn’t far behind. It was Ochoa’s guitar on hits such as “Chan Chan” and “Candela.” Yet Ochoa was not only of a different generation but unlike those Havana cats, Ochoa hails from eastern Cuba, the rural Santiago region. With his rugged looks, cowboy hat, and boots, he’s long been dubbed “Cuba’s Johnny Cash.”
His friend, Charlie Musselwhite, who guests here, described the Havana sound as urban music, comparing it to Chicago blues while equating eastern Cuban sounds to Delta blues. Ochoa’s singular style though is more complex than that as it incorporates traditional Cuban son, flamenco, and even Mexican elements.
Like his 1999 Sublime Illusion, which also featured Musselwhite along with David Hidalgo and Ry Cooder, he invites guests Joan as Police Woman and Rubén Blades to join him here. That’s one of the only similarities though as then he led his own quartet as opposed to enlisting the support of fourteen musicians and vocalists for this recording. And, as mentioned, for the most part, these are not his customary traditional folk songs that also colored the albums since, but his own songs with different stylistic approaches that essentially tell his life story. Producer Demetrio Muniz was for many years the musical director of the touring band that spun off the original Buena Vista project.
Six of these eleven are Ochoa originals with the balance relating to some personal aspect of his life. He opens in joyous fashion with “Vamos a Alegrar el Mundo” (“We’re Bringing Joy to the World”) playing both tres and guitar, accompanied by additional guitar, trumpet, bass, a host of percussionists and two background vocalists. The scintillating guitar solo and the celebratory vibe sets the tone for the album which segues to the non-original “Soy Guajiro” (I am a Farmer), which speaks to humble origins via guitars, percussion, and backgrounds on the choruses. He introduces his first guest, Joan Wasser (Joan as Police Woman) as they duet on “Creo en la Naturaleza” (I Believe in Nature) as he sings verses in Spanish and she in English with dulcet harmonies on the choruses and Wasser’s violin adding a nice touch. Blades steps in for “Pajarito Voló” (Little Bird Flew), an original about a non-compliant woman, using the metaphor of a bird escaping its cage to find new-found freedom. The trumpet adds punch to that one and its successor, “Ando Buscando una Novia” (I’m Looking for a Girlfriend), that one and the upbeat call-and-response “Anita Tun Tun Tun,” composed by Sergio Rivera, a longtime friend from Ochoa’s hometown.
Flamenco and bolero strains imbue his original “Abrazo de Luz” (Embrace of Light), a tune penned during the pandemic when Ochoa was separated from family. Needless to say, his guitar picking here is among the best on the album. “Canto Para Ti Guajira” (I Sing For You Guajira), is an homage to the music and traditions of eastern Cuba where he grew up. As one listens, Ochoa’s vocals have not lost a bit of luster in the intervening twenty-five or so years nor has his nimble picking. Another nostalgic turn, “West,” features the country blues harmonica-guitar duet with Musselwhite, as Eliades recalls the horse he owned and adored as a child. “Los Ejes de Mi Carreta” (The Axles Of My Cart) is a folkloric song by Argentina’s Atahualpa Yupanqui, another that plays to his childhood, and features a terrific bouzouki solo from Amir-John Haddad, who also plays guitars on other tracks. One that stands apart from the others is the brassy (trumpet and alto sax) arrangement of the traditional Puerto Rican plena “Se Solto un Leon” (The Lion Was Released), exemplifying the breadth of Ochoa’s various styles.
