José María y Sergio Vitier – Riesgo
José María y Sergio Vitier – Persecucion
José María y Sergio Vitier – Despedida
Been a little while since I shared more from my Havana trip, and with the whole year on my mind here at the end of it, seemed like this would be a pretty good time (not to mention the fact that I FINALLY finished the second volume of Sorpresa Musical!). I previously shared compilation of Soundtrack music out of Cuba, but this record is the soundtrack for a single film, Julito, El Pascador. From the pictures and description inside it seems that Julito is just a normal fisherman, but he gets mixed up some “bad” people and drama ensues. Having not heard any soundtrack music out of Cuba, I really didn’t know what to expect. My hope was that since the record appeared to have been recorded and released in 1979, my hope was for some funky stuff. With a 55 piece orchestra, not including a chorus, there was really no way to know what to expect. For the most part the music, under the direction of brothers José María and Sergio Vitier, did not disappoint, with a number of nice pieces, but it’s “Riesgo” that really stands out. The song begins with an ominous, insistent and heavy set of drums, drums that never leave the song, even as flutes, organs, guitars and other instruments flit in and out of the mix. The song has almost a “Sweetwater” period Weather Report feel to it that really starts to cook about 1:30 in, when all the instruments fully come into the mix. Best be sure, that when I return (most likely in May 2016) I’ll be on the look out for more music from Cuban Films and especially from the Vitiers.
Cheers,
Michael