Juan Torres Pablo – Super Son [LP]

The next release in the Mr Bongo Cuban Classics series, is one of Juan Pablo Torres’ most-known and loved albums, the iconic Super Son from 1977. A wonderful record of tripped-out rumbas, psych-Afro-Latin funk and quirky orchestrated tracks with a big band horn section courtesy of Torres’ band, Algo Nuevo. As well as being the director of Algo Nuevo and Cuban all-star ensemble Estrellas de Areito, the trombonist, bandleader, arranger and producer also released a wealth of albums under his own name predominately on the state-owned imprint Areito/EGREM. Post-revolution, there was a contrast in Cuba’s musical world. State censorship was at play, but professional musicians were on the government payroll which gave them an artistic freedom. Experimentation emanated in the ’70s and ’80s and Super Son is a prime example of that. ‘Y Que Bien’ kicks off the album taking you down a tripped-out, cosmic rabbithole, psych guitars and skat vocals opening up into a