Elito Reve y Su Charangon - Eevolucion 6.5

Elito Reve y Su Charangon's new album opens with a binding statement - "It's very easy today to become popular - it's much harder to hold on"

Indeed, Elito Reve is one of the only bands in Cuba that manages to maintain relevance and popularity even after 65 years of activity.

The band, which after the tragic death of Elio Reve (1997) moved to be managed by his son (Elito Reve), has experienced a renewed youthfulness and has been at the top of Cuba's charts for the last decade.

The band's new album - Evolucion 6.5 marks 65 years of activity for the band! And even if it doesn't enter the Pantheon of great albums of the decade, it delivers a hefty dose of quality Timba hits.

The sound of Orquesta Reve has a special hallmark. Among the hallmarks of the musical production is in the widespread use of "Tres" -a three double-string guitar, in Afro-Cuban rhythms and in the voice of the accompanying singers with the high nasal voice, which characterizes traditional Changui singing.

Short video about the "Tres" Guitar

Coming to pay tribute to the band is Alain Perez and Alexander Abreu, but I find these songs to be less good.

My favorite tracks are "El Domino" and "Maria Belen", which opens with a Rumba beat and immediately turns into a Timba full with breaks and frequent rhythm changes.

Undoubtedly the best song is the re-performance of Mas viejo que hier - a song recorded by the band and Elito's father in 1989 which now gets a recent version as well as a brief history lesson in the history of the band: