Critic's Review
Evan C. Gutierrez, All Music Guide
With a latin jazz style line up and salsa/timba rhythms close to his heart, Carlos Cascante makes a bold entrance onto the ever growing U.S. latin music scene. The Costa Rican born, Seattle based vocalist has all the vocal prowess and swing of his Old Havana sonero forefathers. The other standout on Cascante's debut record, Recuerdos is pianist Julio Juaregui. A multi-instrumentalist and seasoned bandleader from Mexico City, half the clever, jazz inspired tunes are from Juaregui's pen. The pair is joined by some of the Pacific Northwest's finest sidemen for the simultaneously danceable and intricately sophisticated record. The music is both close enough to home to feel full and familiar, while inventive and fresh enough to truly engage. Cascante himself similarly seems to know both where he's come and, and where he's going. A talented improviser and gutsy front man, Carlos Cascante is Salsa's most underrated vocalist. Funky instrumentation and a diamond in the rough sonero makes for quite a record. Cascante and company can boast some latin jazz headliners as friends, some of whom join them for a tune or two, including conguero Paoli Mejias, vocalist Ray Vega and bassist Joe Santiago. To round out the package, the production value is surprisingly high quality for such a low profile release. In a just and fair world, Recuerdos would be all over the charts.
