Canto

Performer: Los Super Seven
Engineer: Dave McNair; John Whynot
Producer: Steve Berlin
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Los Super Seven includes: Rick Trevino (vocals, guitar, mellotron); Caetano Veloso (vocals, guitar); Susana Baca, Cesar Rosas (vocals); David Hidalgo (requinto, tres, background vocals); Alberto Salas (piano, percussion); Wil Dog Abers, Ruben Rodriguez (bass); Cougar Estrada (drums, percussion); Billy West, Ruben Ramos, Raul Malo (background vocals). CANTO was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Tropical Album. Canto, the second album from the all-star Los Super Seven, begins with a mellow, Habanera-influenced groove and the suave vocal incantations of Raul Malo. It's a luring introduction to a CD that offers up one superb song after another. The follow-up to their Grammy award-winning 1998 self-titled debut, Los Super Seven's Canto projects the sophisticated, enduring, and variegated sounds of Latin American music itself. From "Qualquem Coisa," a Brazilian ballad sung by Caetano Veloso, to "Teresa," a Los Angeles-infused songo, Canto's 12 tracks touch upon a number of traditional Latin American styles while retaining a sound all their own. On Canto, the stalwart Los Super Seven crew of Cesar Rosas and David Hidalgo from Los Lobos, country singer Rick Trevino, and Tejano star Ruben Ramos welcome Brazilian sensation Caetano Veloso, Raul Malo from the Mavericks, and Peru's primary diva, Susana Baca. All the performers on the album, instrumentalists and vocalists alike, project a confident, smooth, and cosmopolitan sound. Even if you don't consider yourself to be much a Latin music fan, do yourself a favor and check out Canto. Los Super Seven have managed, once again, to defy simple market categories with a release that is Grammy material and, more importantly, great music through and through. ~ John Vallier For Los Super Seven's second exploration of the Latin music diaspora, the focus shifts from Tex-Mex influences to the more Afro-driven rhythms of the Caribbean and South America. Joining returning members David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas (of Los Lobos), Norteno notable Ruben Ramos, and Rick Trevino is Mavericks frontman Raul Malo, who honors his Cuban roots with a rich reading of Ernesto Lecuona's ballad "Siboney" and Beny More's lilting "Me Voy Pa'l Pueblo." Fellow country music artist Trevino proves his mettle as he yodels his way through an invigorating version of Alfredo Gutierrez's "Paloma Guarumera" and an equally infectious reading of Los Trio Matamoros' "El que Siembre su Maiz". Elsewhere, Peruvian diva Susana Baca delicately delivers the sparse lullaby "Drumi Mobila" and tropicalia legend Caetano Veloso switches gears to Portuguese to revisit his elegant "Qualquer Coisa" and Os Mutantes' equally delicate "Baby." Other noteworthy cuts include Ramos's lively comical cover of "Compay Gato," Hidalgo's swirling, psychedelic-flavored English-language musical prayer "Teresa," and "Campesino," Rosas's chugging, self-penned tribute to Mexican farm workers. The highlight is "Calle Dieciseis," a simmering tale of a man looking back at his life amid a haze of lightly plucked guitar, relentless percussion and sotto voce lamenting by Hidalgo and Ramos.

Entertainment Weekly (3/16/01, p.68) - "...Draws from Cuba and South America...anchoring Cesar Rosas and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos....Several arrangements lean to the left, bringing to mind the Latin Playboys." - Rating: B+ CMJ (3/12/01, p.14) - "...Soothingly latin-romantic and joyfully percussive....tapping into Mavericks' singer Raul Malo's salsa-fied roots to croon a suave mambo..."

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