Ibrahim Ferrer

Ferrer keeps his band intact for his second album: Ry Cooder on guitar and production, Cachaito Lopez on bass and Miguel Diaz on congas. But he adds a few twists: the Blind Boys of Alabama guest on "Perfume De Gardenias" and Flaco Jimenez loans his accordion to "Naufragio." The biggest treat? Ferrer and Chucho Valdes's spontaneous improvisation "La Musica Cubana."

The second U.S. release from the seventy-six-year-old Buena Vista Social Clubber is slower
than it ought to be, but it delivers on its real selling point: Cuban music at its most mellow
and tunefully accessible, rendered unique by the geezer's inimitable pipes. CHRISTIAN
HOARD and JON CARAMANICA (From RS 920, April 17, 2003)