Marc Ribot Y Los Cubanos Postizos

Amazon.com's Best of 1998
You'd hardly expect New York guitarist Marc Ribot--who's played with lots of ironists and cynics--to do such a spectacular, hearty job of paying homage to Cuban bandleader Arsenio Rodriguez. This CD, though, reaches far and wide, to both straightahead Cuban jazz fans and lovers of more visceral, gritty music. Ribot plays scouring guitar, getting great organ cushions from John Medeski and Roy Coleman. But it's E.J. Rodriguez's deep, traditional Cuban percussion that fattens this CD for its Best of 1998 status. --Andrew Bartlett

Amazon.com
Marc Ribot and his Prosthetic Cubans are a jazz-rock band playing music written by (and for) the late Cuban composer and bandleader Arsenio Rodriguez. While best known for his guitar work with Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, and the Lounge Lizards, Ribot has gained in stature and confidence as a solo artist in recent years. Ribot is accompanied here by the likes of keyboardist John Medeski and Jazz Passengers bassist Brad Jones, and his playing is alternately angular, fluid, and extremely visceral. Within this Latin-jazz context, Ribot occasionally echoes Carlos Santana, while his percussion-fueled ensemble (anchored by E.J. and Robert J. Rodriguez) plays it hot, hot, hot. Very traditional yet ultimately modern, this imaginative session swings much better than most. --Mitch Myers

Marc Ribot Y Los Cubanos Postizos

Marc Ribot Y Los Cubanos Postizos,Marc Ribot & Los Cubanos Postizos,Atlantic / Wea,Cuban Jazz,Jazz,Jazz Music,Jazz-Rock,Pop

Average customer rating: Cocktail music mood setter 4 1/2 stars-- Ribot's "dance band". just to counter point an ealier review Aurora en Pekín is the best most beautiful, soulful electric guitar I have ever heard

Marc Ribot Y Los Cubanos Postizos Marc Ribot & Los Cubanos Postizos Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Cuba | Caribbean & Cuba | International | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Shakin' the Rafters Muy Divertido! Lounge Lizards Purple Onion Legendary Marvin Pontiac ASIN: B000006OB6 Release Date: 1998-06-09

Tracks:

1. Aurora En Pekin
2. Aqui Como Alla
3. Como Se Goza En El Barrio
4. Postizo
5. No Me Llores Mas
6. Los Teenagers Bailan Changui
7. Fiesta En El Solar
8. La Vida Es Un Sueno
9. Esclavo Triste
10. Choserito Plena

Amazon.com's Best of 1998

You'd hardly expect New York guitarist Marc Ribot--who's played with lots of ironists and cynics--to do such a spectacular, hearty job of paying homage to Cuban bandleader Arsenio Rodriguez. This CD, though, reaches far and wide, to both straightahead Cuban jazz fans and lovers of more visceral, gritty music. Ribot plays scouring guitar, getting great organ cushions from John Medeski and Roy Coleman. But it's E.J. Rodriguez's deep, traditional Cuban percussion that fattens this CD for its Best of 1998 status. --Andrew Bartlett

Amazon.com

Marc Ribot and his Prosthetic Cubans are a jazz-rock band playing music written by (and for) the late Cuban composer and bandleader Arsenio Rodriguez. While best known for his guitar work with Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, and the Lounge Lizards, Ribot has gained in stature and confidence as a solo artist in recent years. Ribot is accompanied here by the likes of keyboardist John Medeski and Jazz Passengers bassist Brad Jones, and his playing is alternately angular, fluid, and extremely visceral. Within this Latin-jazz context, Ribot occasionally echoes Carlos Santana, while his percussion-fueled ensemble (anchored by E.J. and Robert J. Rodriguez) plays it hot, hot, hot. Very traditional yet ultimately modern, this imaginative session swings much better than most. --Mitch Myers

Customer Reviews:

Cocktail music mood setter.......2007-05-20

Marc Ribot's fuzzy, dirty guitar sound pulls us right into a lounge sonewhere in which we simultaneously smell cigarette smoke, cheap alcohol and strong coffee as we are eating ropa viejo and black beans (Cuban food), while the kitchen help clatters plates and whistles at the girls walking by outside. Everything works well in this album ... until we hear the track on which Marc Ribot speaks Spanish gringo-style, which breaks both the mood and the magic of this otherwise alluring album.

4 1/2 stars-- Ribot's "dance band"........2007-05-01

Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos, remarkably still in print, is Ribot's self-described dance band and tribute to Cuban musician Arsenio Rodriguez. With a band consisting of Ribot on guitar and occasional vocals, bassist Brad Jones, percussionist (and frequent show stealer) E.J. Rodriguez, drummer Robert Rodriguez and either Anthony Coleman or John Medeski on organ, the album ends up being a mix of Cuban funk, jam band sounds, soul jazz, and a dash of the usual undefinable downtown quality.

There's not a whole lot bad to say about this one, the whole album is pretty much fantastic, whether its the opening and melodrama of opener "Aurora en Pekin" with some of the best playing Ribot's ever laid on record), the circular funk vamp of Ribot-penned Postizo or the surf-tinged "La Vida es un Sueno", it's all pretty much fantastic. The only exception being "Los Teenagers Bailan Changui", which features what I consider a downright irritating organ riff. Still, throughout the playing is consistently top notch, with Ribot in particular generating just enormous depth of mood ("No Me Llores Mas") and the whole band, particularly percussionist E.J. Rodriguez are fantastic throughout.

While it's getting harder to find, courtesy of major labels deciding that real distribution on an album like this isn't necessary, "Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos" (and its followup, "Muy Divertido") are both worth digging up. Recommended.

just to counter point an ealier review.......2006-03-14

Track number 4 , Postizos! is Amazing NY no-wave style fun.
Ribot cannot hold himself to a style and please everyone. Purer Jazz lovers tend to shrink from his punkish rock stylings, where old punk guitarists like me - are drawn to his playing and get introduced to some fine Jazz in the process.

I put this recording on and play along with him - hear his lick, mimic it, i find it improves my ear and my dexterity. Plus, like when I was a kid playing along to Beggar's Banquet and CCR, I feel young again!

Ribot is iconic and powerful. I feel like I know him.

Aurora en Pekín is the best.......2005-05-01

I bought this CD just for the first track, Aurora en Pekín. It's a deeply soulful piece -- not what you would expect showcased for "Track 1" on a CD. I agree with one of the other reviewers who said that you could practice it over and over and still not get it right. It's a perfect performance. Close your eyes and enjoy.

most beautiful, soulful electric guitar I have ever heard.......2002-09-17

I will get the negatives out of the way. I do not like all the tracks, especially the only one penned by Ribot, #4, and # 6. They just don't do it for me. On to the great.

The first track is perhaps the single most beautiful piece of music I have heard. They great thing about Ribot's playing is not only his choice of notes, but his great timing. It is so intuitively right that one could practice the piece forever, and still not play it as he does, which is to say perfectly. And the percusion is perfectly spare for this shimmering, tranquil song.

The second song has a great, soulful groove that is not just a product of the rhythm section and a catchy vamp, but once again of Ribot's great feel for timing. The organ work adds to the simmering, deep groove.

#3 is a fairly typical and repetative cuban uptempo number, but there is a raw and edgy tone that seperates from the cliche cuban piano, or horn vamp.

#4. see above.

#5. More instrumentation and vocals in this one. Even though Ribot is clearly not a singer, this is a strong song because of the veriety of textures -- rock guitar, psychodelic organ, acoustic guitar, horns, cuban chorus, and Ribot's spoken words. They form a hard and yet sentimental mix that is perfect for the words, "don't cry, because when you do, I feel... something."

#6 See above.

#7. A driving, raw and beautiful track that comes to a powerful, intense conclusion.

#8. Again spoken words and also singing by Ribot. Listening to him speak Spanish is funny and but the music is solid.

#9. Perhaps the most jazz-like track on the CD. It feature advanced guiitar work from Ribot, but it is not just technique for it's own sake, but serves the whole, and does not comprimise, but embelishes the beauty.

#10 Somewhat similar to #3, but with had malcontent horn that adds a somewhat whacky, but unique and contributing element to a cuban groove.

If you have any interest in the electric guitar as an instrument, that, contrary to many peoples prejudices, can be played as or more beautifully than any other, by this album. If you don't give one flying hoot about what I just said, but appreciate beautiful, soulful yet not smooth and watered down music, buy this album.

Average customer rating: Breezy followup. Very Entertaining Indeed! A bit over rated Excellent CD ¡Luv IT!

Muy Divertido! Marc Ribot Y los Cubanos Postizos Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Cuba | Caribbean & Cuba | International | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Styles | Music Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Similar Items: Marc Ribot Y Los Cubanos Postizos Queen of All Ears A Yo I Killed Your God Requiem for What's His Name Legendary Marvin Pontiac ASIN: B00004ST0A Release Date: 2000-04-25

Tracks:

1. Dame Un Cachito Pa'Huele
2. Las Lomas De New Jersey
3. El Gaucho Rojo
4. Obsesion
5. El Divorcio
6. Se Formo El Bochinche
7. Baile Baile Baile
8. No Puedo Freinar
9. Jaguey
10. Carmela Dame La Llave

Amazon.com's Best of 2000

Marc Ribot takes the small-group Latin jazz of his Cubanos Postizos' 1998 debut to an even higher level on Muy Divertido! With his lyrical yet biting guitar solos (suggesting a divine cross between Sonny Sharrock and Carlos Santana), Ribot leads the band through an album as gorgeous and rhythmic as any issued in the year 2000. --Rickey Wright

Amazon.com

At first glance you might think: What's a Downtown New York Anglo hipster guitarist doing in an Afro-Cuban groove like this? Can he swing it? Not to worry. Marc Ribot--who's worked with John Lurie's Lounge Lizards, the Jazz Passengers, Elvis Costello, Susana Baca, and Franz Casseus from Haiti--blends his edgy, cuatro-sounding American guitar licks with organ, percussion, rhythm section, and Cuban clave. Although Santana laid the groundwork for such stuff decades ago, Ribot and his Los Cubanos Postizos add a touch of stateside humor to the spicy, aural sauce. Muy Divertido! picks up where the band's 1998 Atlantic debut left off, adapting the legendary compositions of Arsenio Rodriguez to the 21st century, especially "Dame Un Cachito Pa Huele," "Jaquey," and the festive "El Divorcio." Other Latin gems include Pedro Flores's "Obsesion" and "No Puedo Freinar," A.L. Torruellas's "Carmela Dame La Llave," and Israel Rodriguez's "Se Formo El Bochinche." Ribot's own tunes, such as "El Gaucho Rojo" and "Baile, Baile, Baile," throw some Wes Montgomery chords into the pot, and the band proves that a party's a party from Havana outward. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Customer Reviews:

Breezy followup........2007-05-01

The second album credited to Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos, "Muy Divertido" is quite a different record from his predecessor. The band stays intact-- Ribot on guitar backed by Anthony Coleman (keys, who split the role last record with John Medeski), Brad Jones (bass), E.J. Rodriguez (percussion) and Roberto Rodriguez (drums), but for whatever reason, this time around the record has a lot more space, a breezier feel and sound, and significantly more looseness than their debut. While the lack of density makes it a bit less stylized and immediately recognizable as Ribot, it nonetheless produces a fine album.

This change is sound is immediately noticable from the outset-- "Dame un Cachito Pa'huele" finds a pretty, bright and noticably clean sound to it. This stays throughout hte record-- "Las Lomas de New Jersey" hits a great Hispanic sound, "Obsesion" carries a bizarre dramatic sound fed by tubas, tympanis and acoustic guitar work and "No Puedo Frenar" finds Ribot sinking into an almost schlock balladry sound over a warbly organ by Coleman. This isn't to say the funk sounds from the previous record aren't present-- check "Baile Baile Baile" for a circular funk explosion with Ribot rambling on acoustic or "Jaguey" for a sound reminsicent of the first record, but it's definitely subdued.

If there's a complaint to make, it's that not a whole lot on the record stands out. It's a fine listen and a great followup to the band's first record, but I rate it slightly lower than that one.

Very Entertaining Indeed!.......2004-05-16

For the uninitiated, Marc Ribot's Los Cubanos Postizos (the prosthetic Cubans) ensemble is a group dedicated to playing modern interpretations of the son montuno and it's afro-cuban musical cousins. Originally an informal jam band dedicated to bringing attention to the music of the unsung creator of the son monuto - Arsenio Rodriguez, Marc Ribot's little ensemble quickly drew enthusiastic crowds in their East Village scene. Next thing you know, a major label contract and critically acclaimed debut album. Here then is their follow up effort. And I am pleased to announce that it may even be better than the first album. The energy level seems a bit higher, and Marc's guitar tone and attack are a bit more on the edgy side, much more like the live gigs. How best to describe what the band does? Imagine this : A group of ex- Lounge Lizard and Jazz Passenger alumni that have gigged with everyone from John Zorn to Tom Waits playing rootsy afro-cuban grooves. Highly infectious, adventurous and just plain fun, while never getting too serious. For proof of that just listen to "Las Lomas De New Jersey", a hilarious ode to NJ that never comes off as too corny. On the opposite end try "Baile Baile Baile" with it's thunderous power chord interjections grafted onto a traditional son montuno. For those looking for a good enjoyable modern jazz recording that has rootsy latin elements and the emotional immediacy of rock music, but with the structural complexity of jazz, one needs look no further. The album title says it all.

A bit over rated.......2001-01-20

This is a good album, but not a great one. I am not quite sure why it gets such critical raves. Its a fun, but very quirky album. There is a kind of distorted fun house feel to the album, a bit like all the old movies that have shoot out scenes in an amusement park. We are looking at the world through a lens that distorts everything, making it mildly amusing, but also somehow a bit frightening. There is no sense of light, and little sense of warmth. These people are having fun, but they are deadly serious, and a bit desperate, in their pursuit of it. The album is too relentlessly cool, like being at a party in a big city where everyone is smoking cigarettes, dressed in black, and sporting pasty white complexions.

Excellent CD.......2001-01-12

Overall, this is a great CD - The one track with the spoken word about New Jersey is a little annoying, but otherwise, the CD is a gem. Great tunes, tasty percussion, and a great tone to Ribot's guitar make this one of my favorite CD's of 2000.

¡Luv IT!.......2000-12-23

This CD slams - someome tell Ribot to come out to the Knitting Factory Hollywood (California) for some gigs!

These 'Cubanos' might be 'Postizos', but the music is heartfelt and that's the most important thing. I can't get enough of "El Divorcio" and "Carmela Dame La Llave".

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