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Performer: Cachao
Artist: Andy Garcia
Engineer: Eric Schilling
Producer: Andy Garcia
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Lazaro Galarraga (vocals); Nelson Gonzalez (tres); Federico Britos (violin); Giovanna Moraga (cello); Danilo Lozano (flute); Justo Almario, Rafael "Tata" Palau (tenor saxophone); Feliciano Gomez "Pachu" (trumpet); Jimmy Bosch (trombone); Alfredo Valdes (piano); Israel "Cachao" Lopez (double bass); Luis Conte (congas); Andy Garcia (bongos, cowbells); Nelson Garcia-Marquez (claves); Richie R. Marquez (guiro); Orestes Vilato (timbales); Iris Sandra Cepeda, Cecilia Noel (background vocals). Liner Note Authors: Andy Garcia; G. Cabrera Infante. Recording information: Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, California (04/08/2003 - 04/10/2003). AHORA SI! marks influential Cuban bassist Cachao's fourth collaboration with actor Andy Garcia (who serves a producer and an auxiliary percussionist). After Garcia's documentary about Cachao appeared in the early 1990s, his public profile rose, but the fiery Afro-Cuban rhythms and mambo-based grooves he has been generating since the '50s have remained solid and enjoyable all the while. This 2004 album captures Cachao working with a group that includes Nelson Gonzalez on guitar, Jimmy Bosch on trombone, and Orestes Vilato on timbales. "Mambo Cambio De Swing" opens the album with a dose of classic mambo rhythm, while the fierce "Queja Africana/Protesta Abakua" takes the Cuban tradition back to its roots in Africa. There are a few reflective moments, like the folksy "Guajira Clasica," sweetened by an aching violin, but, for the most part, the fare here is straight Afro-Cuban groove, with plenty of clattering percussion, call-and-response vocals, and Cachao's nimble, sturdy bass holding it all together. AHORA SI! keeps Cachao's living legend simmering.

The Cuban-born mambo composer and bass player Israel "Cachao" L�pez is widely credited with popularizing the style in the U.S. during the early 1950s, although he was also an important musical figure in his homeland for decades prior to that. Writing and performing with his brother Orestes, he infused his songs with Afro-Cuban rhythms, meshing son, danz�n, and other native styles into the new and exciting mambo sound. He has won multiple Grammy awards for his own albums, and guested and collaborated with scores of other Latin performers. He continued to perform and record well into his ninth decade.

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