Sierra Maestra plays in the traditional Son style of Afro-Cuban origins, and they do it quite well. They consist of a strong instrumental grouping of Latin percussion, trumpet, bass plus a Spanish style acoustic alternating or playing in tandem with the tres, a traditional guitar-like instrument with multiple courses of strings that give out a 12-string like sound. A vocal group handles the call-and-response grooves and take turns with the lead vocal.
What's important of course is the quality of the music. Sierra Maestra's CD Sonando Ya (World Village 450011) gives you an excellent set of Son. The songs are strong, the vocals have that lyric yet rhythmic quality, trumpet solos are right where they should be, percussion in the pocket and then there's the tres. Emilio Ramos gives a textbook lesson on how to set up the all-important riffs and his solos really come across as excellent.
This is no musical preservation society music. It breathes, it drives, it is vitally alive. The band floors me. I think you be very pleased with them too!
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