Yoser Rodriguez – Pollen (Lulaworld Records, 2016)
Cuban bassist and vocalist Yoser Rodriguez is a well-known musician in the Toronto salsa and Latin jazz music scene. Pollen is his solo debut album.
The first two songs on Pollen, ”El Sueño” and “Weird Look” are two of the best on the album, featuring a nice mix of Latin jazz and Cuban timba.
After that, Yoser turns towards pop with the catchy “Muchacha” and romantic ballad “Posible Tus Deseos.”
On the title cut, “Pollen” Yoser shifts to mesmerizing African rhythms, using a kalimba fabulous as lead instrument.
Track 6, “Gente Que,” mixes timba beats and arrangements and pop vocal hooks.
“Mi Libertad” is a pop song with a funk beat, followed by the upbeat romantic track, “Mojito Song” featuring Brazilian beats and the classic cuica friction drum.
The song “Te Le Escapas a los Años” begins with mainstream pop with a heavy beat and evolves into a pretty good rock song with an irresistible funk groove.
The last track on the album, “Entendimiento,” is a Latin jazz instrumental featuring Cuban Chendy León (drums) and Roberto Riveron (bass), where the bass plays the leading role.
The Pollen lineup includes Yoser Rodriguez on bass, acoustic guitar and lead vocals; Jeremy Ledbetter on keyboards, melodica, percussion, kazoo and vocals; and Luis Orbegoso on percussion, vocals and trombone. Guests include Adonis Puentes on vocals; Eliana Cuevas on vocals; Chendy León on drums; Marito Marques on drums, percussion and kalimba; Amhed Mitchel on drums and vocals; Maninho Costa on percussion; Roberto Riveron on bass; Elmer Ferrer on electric guitar; Alexis Baro on trumpet; Christian Overton on trumpet; Braxton Hicks on saxophone and clarinet; Aleksandar Gajiv on violin and viola; Naomi Barron on cello; and Diego Las Heras on synthesizer.
Overall, Pollen is a crossover album with some material of interest to the world music and Latin jazz fan and plenty of pop-oriented songs meant to appeal to a larger mainstream Latin pop audience.
Buy Pollen
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
