Groundbreaking tracks featuring an innovative sound, new songs and special guests Ibrahim Ferrer, Omara Portuondo & Marc Ribot

Recorded in the southwest of France, deep in Bordeaux wine country at producer Chris Birkett’s home and studio, this innovative new album marks Sierra Maestra’s first full band recording for newer members Oslén, Emilio and Ñiquito, each fresh from the Cuban talent factory. A sweltering hot August fortnight, spectacularly punctuated one night by a lightning storm worthy of Havana itself, was spent shuttling between the studio in the chateau and the band’s lodgings across the road. From the outset, the idea was to include some new elements and ambience to the usual Cuban son sound, and to produce an album that would resemble the band’s dynamic on-stage performances.

Throughout the two weeks, while the air-conditioning unit struggled to combat the heavy weather, Himely (the band’s musical director) and Chris sweated twelve-to-fifteen hour days, or until their ears gave out for the night. Some diversion was available to those during the times when they were not recording their own parts: Luis and Ñiquito took to the bicycles in their own mini ‘Tours de France’, Puisseaux jogged short distances and then checked his cardiovascular status, Oslén arranged nonstop on the piano, Maceo (José Antonio) practised continually, and six o’clock sundown was marked by a round of Alex’s patent mojitos – a traditional Cuban drink made with rum. Supper – an ever-changing menu but heavy on the white rice please, we’re Cubans – was outdoors, floodlit by a motion-sensitive security lamp that had to be continually switched back on by the sort of furious arm-waving used by a castaway hailing a passing aeroplane. We all took turns with this, some miraculously having the ‘gift’ and others having to put a little more effort into it and actually get to their feet.

Marc Ribot (New York session guitarist to the stars and big-time Cubaphile) joined the throng during the second week, and his three-day visit was just enough time for him to teach Emilio his tricky arrangement of ‘Misty’ – Cubans still have a great appetite for old American standards.

Final recording, including that of guest vocalists Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo and other musicians, was completed in the new EGREM studio in Havana in similarly hot conditions – although the air conditioning had the upper hand in this instance, almost to the point of being a touch chilly.

This album marks twenty-five years in the life of Sierra Maestra – a landmark worthy of celebration. To many, twenty-five years might seem a long time and to the musicians themselves (veterans of a thousand gigs and a catalogue of recordings) it surely must. And, when their videos and album sleeves of the late 1970s and early 1980s reveal the stupendous selection of flares, heels and Afro hair structures of those times, we are all reminded that nothing distances us from our early years so greatly as long-lost fashions.

On the other hand, when you consider other Cuban groups who are still going strong – many of the great son septets and nonets that originally inspired Sierra Maestra (some established back in the 1920s and 1930s heyday), the seminal figures from Cuba’s nueva trova period in the 1970s and the figures who have recently reached global fame in their 80s and 90s – it does not seem quite so glib to look ahead to the next quarter-century.

Sierra Maestra have played an astonishing variety of countries over the years and, mainly due to geopolitics, some of these have been off the usual touring tracks. A peculiarity of Cuba was that from the 1960s to the late 1980s all touring was organised for Cuban groups by the state agencies. So visits to Russia, Eastern Europe and Moscow-friendly African states were just as frequent as those to western Europe or Japan. The USA, of course, was out of the question (except on cultural exchanges) whereas Canada was always a welcoming contrast and air-junction. The compendium of strange and wonderful stories resulting from all this travel, always related in typically hilarious Cuban style, would make for a terrific book.

Wherever they have played in the world Sierra Maestra have benefited most from two things in particular: the immense legacy of the rich and elegant tradition of son, the music style that dominated Cuba in the first quarter of the twentieth century and which they themselves first revived for a new generation; and their happy marriage of the vigorous Cuban character to an unfailing ability to rouse and entertain an audience.

For twenty-five years they have refreshed and revitalised son music… and for that they remain unequalled.

David Flower

1 La Caminadora 5:44 (N. Mili, arr Eduardo Himely)

lead vocal: Alberto Virgilio Valdés
electric guitars: Chris Birkett
pans: Eduardo Himely

[Spanish]
Caminando por la calle
Del pueblecito natal
Con su ritmo espiritual
Ella va regando flores
Con la bata remanga
Sonando sus chancleticas
Los hombres le van detrás
A su linda mulatica

Coro:
Caminando va, guarachando va

Fefita no te disgustes
Con lo que te voy a dar

Caminando va, guarachando va

Mi rumba se ha puesto buena
Ven conmigo a cumbanchar
Que los Zafiros son son

Yo tengo una canastica
Muy chiquitica y bonita
La traigo llena de flores
Para tu bello jardín

Ah ah ah jardinero soy yo
Jardinero, jardinero
Jardinero soy yo

Ah... El jardinero soy yo
Jardinero... Jardinero el amor

Alalae mamá que tu no sabe’ hacer na’
Que rico suena mi bombo que rico suena el tambo’

Palo Mayimbe me llevan pa’la loma

[English]
Walking down the street
Of the town where she was born
In that special way of hers
She’s watering the flowers
In her housecoat, sleeves rolled up
Clacking about in her flip-flops
Men follow around after
This pretty young mulatta

Chorus:
There she goes walking, there she goes for fun

Fefita don’t get upset by
What I’m going to give you

There she goes walking, there she goes for fun

My rumba is really getting going
Come with me and enjoy yourself
We’ve got the Zafiros on

I have a little basket
In neat and pretty order
I give it full of flowers
For your ornamental borders

Ay ay ay the gardener that’s me
I’m the gardener, the gardener
The gardener of love

Ay mama, you are simply not aware
How sweet the sound of my bass drum
How sweet the sound of my snare

Palo Mayimbe*, take me away up the hill

(*senior figure in the santería religion)

2 Sabina Gómez 4:46 (arr Eduardo Himely/Oslén Ceballo Brian)

lead vocal: José Antonio ‘Maceo’ Rodríguez
guest vocal: Ibrahim Ferrer
acoustic guitar: Eduardo Himely
electric guitars: Chris Birkett
keyboard pizzicato strings: Chris Birkett
keyboard brass: Eduardo Himely

Ibrahim Ferrer appears courtesy of World Circuit Ltd

[Spanish]
Allá en el barrio de Pueblo Nuevo
Hay una mora que le llaman
La bullanguera
Que no se sabe como vive
Y no se sabe como come
Y todo el mundo en Pueblo Nuevo
Le dice Sabina Gómez
Que por el día es cocinera
Y por la noche
Volandera

Coro:
Quémala, mi sambalé
No la perdones, mi sambalé

Yo tengo una mala maña
Que a mi mismo me dá pena
De acostarme yo en mi cama Maceo
Y amanecer en cama ajena

(Coros vs improvisaciones)

Coro 2:
Sanga se fue a pelear en Veleco

[English]
Down in Pueblo Nuevo district
Lives a black woman they call the mischief-maker
No one knows how she lives
No one knows how she eats
And everyone in the neighbourhood
Calls her Sabina Gómez
She works as a cook in the day
And at night
She’s off God knows where

Chorus:
Forget about her, my sambalé
Don’t forgive her, my sambalé

I have a terrible habit
That brings shame upon my head
I go to sleep in my own house Maceo
And wake up in another’s bed

(Chorus vs ad-libs)

Chorus 2:
Sanga went to look for trouble in Veleco

3 Junto A Un Cañaveral 4:37 (Rosando Ruiz, arr Eduardo Himely)

lead vocal: Luis Barzaga
guest vocal: Ibrahim Ferrer
acoustic guitar: Eduardo Himely
laúd: Erdwin Vichot Blanco

Ibrahim Ferrer appears courtesy of World Circuit Ltd

[Spanish]
Junto a un cañaveral
Una guajirita había
Sollozando me decía
‘No me canso de llorar
Que lindos son los palmares
De mi Cuba bendecida’

El extranjero la admira
Que bonitos sus paisajes
Arrogantes sus palmares
Y sus ríos caudalosos
Aquí todo era reposo
Y se alivian los pesares

Coro:
Ver yo quiero a mi Cuba feliz
Los cubanos unidos estar
Y por siempre la vida vivir
Vivir la vida

Por la deliciosa orilla
Que el Cauto baña
En su giro
Va montado un guajiro sobre
Su yegua rosilla
Ver yo quiero a mi Cuba…

Lindo canta el ruiseñor
Allá en la verde sabana
Y más bello el tricolor
De mi bandera cubana
Por eso digo mi hermano
Vamos todos a gozar
Que aquí sobramos cubanos
Te lo voy a demostrar
Vamos todos a bailar

[English]
Near a sugar-cane plantation
There was a country girl,
Sobbing she told me
‘I never tire of crying
Over how beautiful is the countryside
Of my blessed Cuba’

The foreigner admires her
How beautiful is the country
How proud stand the palm groves
And by her overflowing rivers
Here all is peace and quiet
Easing all your sorrows

Chorus:
I want to see my Cuba happy
And all Cubans to be together
And forever live life
Living life

By the sweet banks
That the River Cauto washes
As it winds
Rides a farmer on the back of
His strawberry roan mare
I want to see my Cuba happy

How beautiful is the song of the nightingale
Down on the green plain
And how beautiful the three colours
Of my Cuban flag
That’s why I say to you my brother
Let’s all enjoy it
There are plenty of us Cubans
I will show you
Let’s go and dance

4 Rumbero Soy 6:15 (Rodolfo Cárdenas, arr Eduardo Himely/Oslén Ceballo Brian)

lead vocals: Alberto Virgilio Valdés, Luis Barzaga
acoustic guitar: Eduardo Himely
electric guitars: Chris Birkett
pans: Eduardo Himely
introduction guitar effects: Marc Ribot

Marc Ribot appears courtesy of Warner Atlantic

[Spanish]
Defenderé la identidad
De mis hermanos
Los rumberos
Y si se rompen los cueros
Con cuchara y con cajón
Armaremos un rumbón
Un buen rumbón
Majadero

Frente a muchos sinsabores
La rumba se abrió camino
Fue forjando su destino
Venciendo a sus detractores
Pena me dá aquellos casos
Que no saben apreciar
La belleza de la rumba
Como ella no hay otra igual

Habla
Y si se rompen los…
Rumbero soy hasta
Que muera
La identidad de la rumba
La defiendo como quiera

Coro:
Rumbero soy hasta
Que muera
La identidad de la rumba
La defiendo a mi manera

Como si fuera mi escudo
Cual si fuera mi bandera
Tan fiero como gorila
Tan fiero como pantera

Coro 2:
Changana mambro aconambro
Mi changana vs improvisaciones

[English]
I will defend the identity
Of my brothers
The rumberos
And even if the drum skins rip
With a spoon and a cajon
We’ll still party on
And have wild fun

In the face of so much sorrow
The rumba made its way
Set out to make its fortune
Winning over those in doubt
I feel pity for all those
Who cannot comprehend
The beauty of the rumba
There’s nothing can compare

Say
Even if the drum skins rip
A rumbero I shall be
Until the day I die
I will fight for the rumba’s soul
At any cost or price

Chorus:
A rumbero I shall be
Until the day I die
I will fight for the rumba’s soul
At any cost or price

As if it were my shield
As if it were my banner
As strongly as a gorilla
As fiercely as a panther

Chorus 2:
Changana mambro aconambro
Mi changana* ad-libs

(*Yoruba language)

5 Convergencia 3:17 (B. Julian Gutierrez, arr Eduardo Himely/José Antonio ‘Maceo’ Rodríguez)

lead vocal: José Antonio ‘Maceo’ Rodríguez
guest vocal: Omara Portuondo

Omara Portuondo appears courtesy of World Circuit Ltd

[Spanish]
Aurora de rosas en amanecer
Nota melosa que gimió el violín
Novelezco insogne dovivio el amor
Así eres tu mujer
Principio y fín de la ilusión
Asi vas tu en mi corazón
Así eres tu de inspiración
Madero de nave que naufragó
Piedra rodando sobre si misma
Alma doliente vagando a solas
De playas, olas así soy yo
La linea recta que convergió
Porque la tuya final pidió

[English]
Soft scent of roses at dawn
Sweet note the violin cries
A gripping story that won’t let me sleep
Brought on by love
So are you woman
The birth and death of the illusion
And in this way you live in my heart
And so are you my inspiration
Like a plank drifting off a shipwreck
A stone spinning on the spot
A tormented soul roaming alone
Like the sand and the sea, this is me
My path ahead was stopped in its tracks
Because you said it should be so

6 Semilla De Caña Brava 4:16 (José Antonio ‘Maceo’ Rodríguez, arr Eduardo Himely)

lead vocals: José Antonio ‘Maceo’ Rodríguez, Luis Barzaga, Alberto Virgilio Valdés
rock guitars: Chris Birkett
clean guitar: Marc Ribot

Marc Ribot appears courtesy of Warner Atlantic

[Spanish]
Coro:
Me llaman ‘semilla de caña brava’

Dicen las gentes de la Habana
Que soy semilla de caña brava
Será porque les dá la gana
O es que yo soy candela brava

Coro:
A mi me llaman semilla de caña brava

A mi me pasa una cosa
Que ellos nada más lo saben
No hay cabeza que yo llame
Que no me salga a buscar
En mi corazón encierro
Todo lo justo y lo bueno
Y el que cuida perro ajeno
Pierde el pan y pierde el perro

(Coro)

[English]
Chorus:
They call me ‘wild cane seed’

People from Havana say
That I’m the wild cane seed
Perhaps because they feel like it
Or maybe I am just as wild as they come

Chorus:
They call me ‘wild cane seed’

If something happens to me
That only they could know
There’s no one who I might call on
Who could face me and say no
I keep within my heart
All that’s good and just
If you take care of someone else’s dog
You’ll lose both dog and crust

(Chorus)

7 Camina Como Chencha 3:51 (Ñiquito Saquito, arr Sierra Maestra)

lead vocal: Luis Barzaga
guest vocal: Omara Portuondo
electric guitars: Chris Birkett
acoustic guitar: Eduardo Himely

Omara Portuondo appears courtesy of World Circuit Ltd

[Spanish]
Coro:
Camina como Chencha la gamba

Yo nací con mi pata gamba
Igualito igualito que Chencha
Y que tengo que ver yo con Chencha
Si yo nací con mi pata gamba

Vayanse pa’l diablo
Partí’a de sinverguenzas
Partí’a de canallas
No me hagan hablar

Por aquí me pasó el otro día
Un perrito corriéndole a un gato
Y ahora dicen los malos mulatos
Que por aquí puede pasar un tranvía

Trabajando yo allá en el Nacional
Me han pasado por aquí un telón
Y ahora todos quieren apostar
Que por aquí puede pasar un camión

(Improvisaciones)

[English]
Chorus:
He walks like Chencha the knock-kneed

I was born knock-kneed like Chencha
Just exactly like Chencha
But what have I got to do with Chencha
Just because I was born with a gammy leg

You can all go to hell
You bunch of wasters
Herd of swine
Don’t get me started…

Round here the other day
Ran a little dog after a pussy
And now those smutty mulattos are saying
That there’s room for a tram to get through

Working over at the National Cabaret
There was room for a curtain to pass
Now they all want to put on their bets
That a lorry could get up through the lane

(Ad-libs)

8 Llora Como Yo Lloré 3:59 (Santos Ramirez, arr Eduardo Himely)

lead vocal: Luis Barzaga
party and Cuban claps: Sierra Maestra, Hector Joseph Anderson
Spanish claps: Chris Birkett
acoustic guitar: Eduardo Himely
acoustic guitar solo: Marc Ribot
electric guitars: Chris Birkett

Marc Ribot appears courtesy of Warner Atlantic

[Spanish]
Has de llorar tu tienes que llorar
La conciencia no te deja tranquila
Cuando te ponga’ a pensar
Los juramentos quebrantados
Tus palabras no cumplidas
Tú ves tú tienes que llorar
Pero tú ves tú tienes que llorar

Coro:
Llora como lloré

Dejame decirte ahora
Que ayer mucho que lloré
Que lo que hicistes conmigo
Yo nunca lo olvidaré
Que más yo puedo decir
Llora… cosa buena
Yo lloré un día na’ma’…

(Coros vs improvisaciones)

[English]
You’re gonna cry, you’ve got to cry
Your conscience won’t let you rest
When you sit and think of
All those broken promises
All those little lies
You see you have to cry
It’s you that has to cry now

Chorus:
Cry, cry the way I cried

Let me tell you now
How much I cried before
Because of what you did and how
I will never forget
What more can I say
Cry… there’s just one good thing
I cried for just one day…

(Chorus and ad-libs)

9 Macuterendey 4:48 (Remberto Becquer, arr Eduardo Himely)

lead vocal: Alberto Virgilio Valdés
party vocals: Hector Joseph Anderson, Mariela Kogan, Sierra Maestra
keyboard effects: Chris Birkett
acoustic guitar: Eduardo Himely

[Spanish]
Coro:
Macuterendey Macú Macuterendey

Este es un dicharacho
De un pueblo donde yo fui
Y lo cantaban a coro
Para saludarme a mí
¡Oye! Me dijó un señor
Que era el que mandaba allí
Canta canta bien sabroso
Que esta fiesta es para ti

Una niña que bailaba
Con un requete meneo
Me decía mira viejo
Como yo te saboreo
Es un baile muy alegre
Que ritmo que sabrosura
Mira si puede aguantar
El ritmo de mi cintura

(Coro)

La luna alumbra de noche
Y el sol alumbra de día
Gloria, Petra y Asunción
Las tres fueron novias mías
La lluvia agua bendita
Macutere... Macuterendey!

[English]
Chorus:
Macuterendey Macú Macuterendey

Is a saying
In a village where I went
And they all sang to me
As a welcome it was meant
Hey! Said the big man
The one who ran the place
This party is for you
Sing, put a smile on your face

A girl who was dancing
With a super sexy swing
Said to me, hey good looking
I like what you’ve got cooking
Mine’s a cracking little dance
What a rhythm, lots of taste
See if you can keep up with
What I’m doing with my waist

(Chorus)

As the moon lights the night
So the sun lights the day
Gloria, Petra and Asunción
All three were my girls
Holy water, holy rain!
Macutere... Macuterendey!

10 Como Me Gusta María 4:10 (Emilio Ramos/Eduardo Himely, arr Eduardo Himely)

lead vocals: José Antonio ‘Maceo’ Rodríguez, Luis Barzaga
background vocals: Hector Joseph Anderson
electric guitars: Chris Birkett

[Spanish]
Coro:
¡Oh! María yo te quiero
¡Oh! María yo te adoro

Cuando conocí a María
Fuimos novios por un mes
Y al cabo de los tres meses
Tuvo mi primer bebé
Es un niño muy bonito
De su padre copia fiel

Si me voy para el trabajo
Lo hago sin preocupación
Porque dejo a mi María
Trabajando con Ramón

Una vez a Veradero
Con María yo me fui
Se encontró quinientos pesos
Y más nunca yo la ví

(Coro)

Bueno Luis ¡es hora ya de decirle las cuatro verdades a María!
Oye Maceo yo creo que tu estás en talla, te la dejo todita a ti
¡Falsa, falsa!

Ya no te quiero, ya no te adoro

Coro:
María María no te quiero más
Yo quiero vivir, quiero trabajar, dejame vivir
¡Ay! La vida…
Libérame, esfúmate, no vuelvas más
Y yo que te leia un poema por día
Ay María…

Coro:
Ay mamá déjame tranquilo !

[English]
Chorus:
Oh Maria! How I love you
Oh Maria! How I adore you

We were together
For one month
And after just three months
She delivered my first child
It’s a very cute baby
Just like his father

When I go to work
I do so without a care
Because I leave my Maria
In the safe hands of Ramón

Once I went with Maria
To Veradero
She found 500 pesos
And I’ve never seen her since

(Chorus)

Well Luis it’s high time you gave it to Maria straight
Hey Maceo, I think you’re right, you can have her
Liar, liar

I don’t love you any more, I don’t adore you any more

Chorus:
Maria, Maria I don’t love you any more
I want my life back, I want to work, let me live
What a life! What a life…
Set me free, get lost, don’t come back!
And to think I used to read you a poem each day
Ay Maria! Leave me alone!

Chorus:
Go home, girl!

11 Carnaval En Camagüey 4:30 (Miguel Roman, arr Eduardo Himely/Oslén Ceballo Brian)

lead vocals: Luis Barzaga, Alberto Virgilio Valdés, José Antonio ‘Maceo’ Rodríguez
crowd: Sierra Maestra, Hector Joseph Anderson, Mariela Kogan
electric guitars: Chris Birkett
keyboard effects: Chris Birkett

[Spanish]
Vengan todos a bailar
El meneito cubano
A la la…
En el carnaval Camagüeyano
Y el coro que dice así

Coro:
Carnaval en Camagüey
Eh me voy a bailar
Ay mira negra me voy a gozar
Que rico en Camagüey me voy a bailar
En la buena conga me voy a arrollar
A Camagüey me voy a vacilar

Somos los Comandos

Coro:
¡Lo que sea!
Estamos acabando
Ina que Ina

Coro:
Y no hay na’
Ina mon
(Improvisaciones vs coros)

[English]
Come on everybody
Dance this Cuban hipsway
A la la…
At the carnival in Camagüey
And the chorus goes like this

Chorus:
‘Carnaval en Camagüey’
Hey I’m going to dance
Hey look sweetheart, I’m going to have a good time
How well I’m gonna dance in Camagüey
Show the rest how to conga away
In Camagüey I’m going to shine

We are the Comandos*
‘Carnaval en Camagüey’. Let’s go
We’re near the end, there’s nothing left

(*special version of the comparsa danced in Camagüey, and those who dance it)

12 El Cumpleaños De Emilio 5:26 (Eduardo Himely, arr Eduardo Himely/Oslén Ceballo Brian)

lead vocal: José Antonio ‘Maceo’ Rodríguez
extra background vocals: Hector Joseph Anderson
acoustic piano: Wilfredo Naranjo
timbales: Pavel Rodríguez-Jimenez
programmed percussion: Chris Birkett
party noise: Sierra Maestra, Hector Joseph Anderson

[Spanish]
Se reunieron los rumberos
Para juntos celebrar
El cumpleaños de Emilio
De una forma singular
Llegaban de todas partes
Buenavista y Atarés
Cayo Hueso, La Victoria
Jesús María y Belén

Pasteles y bocaditos
Helados rica ensalada
Cervezas cake y refrescos
Allí no faltaba nada
Ñiquito sacó las congas
Alejandro su bongó
Himely afinó el bajo
Carlos el güiro tocó
José Antonio junto a Luis
Entonaron la canción
Oslén sacó la trompeta
Ya la fiesta comenzó
Y Virgilio que miraba
De una esquina del salón dijo!
‘Y donde está la botella
O esta fiesta se acabó
Quien ha visto cumpleaños de rumberos
Si no hay ron

Coro:
Y echenme a mi la culpa
De los rumberos
Echenme a mí la culpa, la culpita y la culpona’

Cada vez que aparece el comelón
Se acaba la ensalada y el pan con jamón
Salaman con Chevere
Barrió con los pasteles
Y se comió a su madre. ¡Esto es en juego!
Domitila... dime a donde tu vas
Con Emilio pa’allá

Coro:
De los rumberos

(Improvisaciones)

Coro:
El niño está majadero

(Improvisaciones)

[English]
Some rumberos met up
To celebrate Emilio’s birthday
In a very special way together
They came from all corners
Buenavista and Atarés
Cayo Hueso and La Victoria
Jesús María and Belén*

Buns and sandwiches
Ice cream and tasty salads
Beer, cake and pop
They had the lot
Ñiquito got out the congas
Alejandro his bongos
Himely tuned up the bass
Carlos played the güiro
José Antonio sang the song
Along with Luis
Oslén got out his trumpet
And the party began
And Virgilio looking on
From a corner of the room said:
‘And where’s the bottle
Or this party’s not begun
Whoever saw a rumberos party
Without a shot of rum

Chorus:
And all the rumberos
Put the blame on me
Every bit of blame there is, they put that blame on me’

Every time the greedy one turns up
He finishes off the salad and ham sandwiches
Salaman and Chevere
Scoffed all the cakes, and ate his mother. Hey, just joking!
Domitila… tell me where you’re off to
With Emilio there

Chorus:
Little Johnny wants to come out and play!

(*districts of Havana)

Sierra Maestra are:
José Antonio ‘Maceo’ Rodríguez: lead vocal, guitar
Luis Barzaga: lead vocal, clave
Alberto Virgilio Valdés: lead vocal, maracas
Emilio Ramos: tres
Eduardo ‘Ñiquito’ Rico: percussion
Carlos Puisseaux: güiro
Oslén Ceballo Brian: trumpet
Eduardo Himely: bass, acoustic guitar, percussion, musical director
Alejandro Suárez: percussion, general director

Guest appearances by:
Omara Portuondo and Ibrahim Ferrer courtesy of World Circuit Ltd
Marc Ribot courtesy of Warner Atlantic
Chris Birkett
Erdwin Vichot Blanco
Hector Joseph Anderson
Wilfredo Naranjo
Pavel Rodríguez-Jimenez

Saludos:
En 25 años de trabajo son muchas las personas a las que SM quiere agradecer su colaboración. Lamentablemente no podemos mencionarlos a todos pero sepan los que no aparecen que también les estamos agradecidos. ¡Allá vamos!
Belkis, Francis, Gloria, Cary y Vivian gracias por soportarnos tantos años!
Grisel, Elisabeth y Yeldis gracias por lo que tendrán que soportar!
David Flower, te agradecemos ser nuestro hermano por tanto tiempo!
Chris, gracias por emplear tu tiempo y conocimientos con nosotros.
A nuestros maestros que ya no están Rafael Ortiz, Lázaro Herrera, Alberto Vera, Odilio Urfé, Marcos González (padre), Enriqueta Almanza. ¡Que dios los tenga en la gloria!
A Helène Bonnet la integrante número 10 de SM y a Desiree, muchas gracias.
Gracias mil a los músicos invitados, Erdwin, Anderson, Pachi Jr, Sergio y Pavel.
Punto y a parte para dar las gracias a Omara nuestra amiga desde el principio!
Ibrahim Ferrer ¡Sigues siendo nuestro hermano! Gracias.
World Circuit Records, y demás gracias, por colaborar para que nuestros invitados participaran.
A los que fueron SM, El Fiñe, El Gordo Daniel, Carlos González y Romero, Marcos, Barbarito boca chula y Jesús Alemañy, sabemos que van a disfrutar este disco como si lo siguieran siendo. Muchos exitos.
A nuestras madres (las que están y las que no están) que admitieron que sus hijos fueran músicos y no ingenieros.
Nancy Robinson, Mena, Calderín, Reley, Rosillo, Juaniquiqui y demás colegas cubanos que han tenido que ver con nosotros en estos 25 años. Un abrazo.
Gaby en New York. Aquí está ‘Convergencia’. Gracias.
A World Music Network y especialmente a ti Phil y Sandra muchas gracias.
To Robin Huber for the fantastic food – ¡tremendo el lobo!
UN ABRAZO INMENSO A TODOS LOS FANS DE SIERRA MAESTRA EN TODOS LOS PUNTOS DEL PLANETA PARA USTEDES VA DEDICADO ESTE DISCO.

Sierra Maestra 2002 (www.sierra-maestra.net)

Chris Birkett would like to thank Philippe Saunier, Rob Huber, Nico Miranda, Laurent Beljambe, Jan Birkett, Phyllis Hewett, May Birkett, Mr Roussille, Mario Caldato Jr, Fontana, Fred and Mdm Petit

Booking agent/contratación:
SASA MUSIC
David Flower
tel: + 44 (0)20 7359 9232
fax: + 44 (0)20 7359 9233
rab@sasa.demon.co.uk
www.sasamusic.com

Visit www.worldmusic.net to listen to sound samples of all World Music Network and Riverboat Records releases

A World Music Network production
Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 and 12 copyright control
Tracks 5, 6, 7 and 11 published by Editora de Cuba/copyright control
Produced by Chris Birkett
Executive Producers: David Flower and Phil Stanton
Recorded and mixed by Chris Birkett
Musical direction and arrangements by Eduardo Himely
A&R by Sandra Alayón-Stanton
Mastered by Chris Birkett and Jim Birkett
Recorded, mixed, and mastered at Château Richard, St Cibard, France
Additional recording at EGREM Studios, Havana, Cuba
Recording Engineers: Chris Birkett, Jim Birkett and Eduardo Pérez González
Song translation by Maria ‘Gallina’ Rodríguez and David Flower
Designed by Intro, coordinated by Duncan Baker

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