Lo Mejor de la Vida

I now have 20 CDs by various artists associated with the Buena Vista Social Club project, and I fell in love with this one from the very first listening.Of the 14 tracks, "Cuba y España" is the only one of which I find tedious.On the other extreme, "Es Mejor Vivir Así" is, by itself, probably worth the price of the whole CD.Most of the rest are excellent. Some of merely wonderful. If you're a fan of Compay Segundo's, this one should definitely be in your collection.

I like this one a lot. I spent some time in Panama, but don't speak the language enough unfortunately. This music takes me back to some of the dances that we attended in the interior of Panama which had great music.

This is as the rest of Compay's recordings a masterpiece and should be owned by anyone that considers themselves a fan of music.

Compay Segundo is a 90 year old Cuban guitarist. His age alone makes this CD somewhat of a miracle and an impressive accomplishment. Listening to it, you would never realize that the fingers that are moving that fast playing all those great songs are fingers that are almost a century old. It is a pity in some ways that the American embargo against Castro prevented this great music from getting to America for so long.You may recognize Compay from his work on Ry Cooder's great album Buena Vista Social Club. It's also worth noting that this CD does sound more like Compay's work on BVSC than any other album he's worked on, including Calle Salud.Unfortunately this disc doesn't have nearly as much variety to it as Cooder's which is probably it's biggest problem. After awhile all the great guitar and percussion work just starts to kind of blend together and I sometimes forget what track I'm on since many sound similar. There also appears to be some bad electronic mixing that was done afterwards, someone told me it sounds like they tried to add an echo.Nonetheless this is a superb effort. In particular there are a couple of tracks where Martirio and Felix Valoy add their vocals to the already superb instrumental sound and the result is quite amazing.There are two tracks that stick out a little in my mind. "Frutas Del Caney" is an older song that Compay does true justice to in this version. And track 8, "Es Mejor Vivi Asi" has some great vocals that seem to cut straight to my heart.If you're looking for a truly great example of Cuban music, then I'd recommend trying Buena Vista first, there is also another CD put out in that same line called Buena Vista presents Ibrahim Ferrer that I think is better than this work as well. However if you have both of those albums or if you just want some more good Cuban music with a great flamenco inspiration then I recommend this CD.

"Lo Mejor..." is a wonderful record that is much closer to Compay Segundo's contributions to the original BVSC disc than his 1999 "Calle Salud," which while a great record in its own right, has clarinets, women singing duets and other stylistic elements which mark it as somewhat different than BVSC. "Lo Mejor..." has some absolutely lovely and dramatic numbers, "Desdichado" and "Para Vigo me Voy" among them, that truly can make one almost cry due to the power of the music. At first listen, this music sounds almost simplistic, but on later hearings it shows incredible inventiveness (i.e. triple against double time) and great beauty. Rarely does one hear such optimistic music in a minor key...I am grateful these musicians have gotten wider exposure since BVSC.

Compay Segundo's rich, throaty voice is a perfect accompaniment to the twangy, slightly out-of-tune armonico guitar he plays on here, which makes "Lo mejor de la vida" a step up from a couple of his other recordings, especially the windy "Calle Salud", which I thought was too top-heavy with clarinets and saxophones. Compay is always at his best, but the accompaniment here truly shines, a fine sugar coating on the tip of this pungent old Cuban cigar.The reviewer below was dead on. Segundo's sound truly is unique and irreplaceable. This is definitely "the best of life". Great stuff! Get it.

Born on November 18, 1907 in Siboney, Cuba, Maximo Francisco Repilado Munoz (better known as "Compay Segundo") died of kidney failure on July 13, 2003 in Havana, Cuba. Farewell to an unbelievably charismatic and talented musician. Known for his sporty, Borsalino-style hats and trademark cigars, Segundo was truly young at heart and rich in sound. He reemerged in popularity in 1997 with the Buena Vista Social Club documentary and CD. With the passing of segundo, the world has lost a truly unique and irreplaceable sound.

Maybe it's just because I have over 30 CDs of Cuban music, but this is not my favorite. Compay is great and I like his voice, but I prefer son/son montuno and the styles of these songs don't appeal to me as much as those of other CDs like "El son es el mas sublime." Certainly worth listening to, but not as stunningly brilliant as the others in the collection.

Okay

Wer auf Kuba steht, kommt an Compay Segundo nicht vorbei.Diese CD läuft bei uns seit einem Jahr immer wieder, und immer noch haben wir sie nicht satt. Sehr eingängig, aber nicht zu platt.Handgemacht, ehrlich, abwechslungsreich (außer Track 14), dabei auch ein bisschen schräg manchmal, aber genau ist das Schöne. Die kleinen Ungenauigkeiten in Timing und Tonhöhe machen gerade den Reiz aus. Man könnte meinen, so klingt es, wenn sich in Havanna an einer Straßenecke ein paar Profimusiker treffen und drauf los spielen. :-)Die beiden Stimmen harmonieren großartig, und immer changiert die Musik zwischen Lebensfreude und Melancholie.Sehr charmant, wie unprätentiös und einfach die Stücke zuweilen enden. Das zaubert mir immer wieder ein Lächeln ins Gesicht.Kurz: Eine absolute Empfehlung. Keine der anderen CDs von Compay Segundo hat mich so berührt.

Die Titel klingen leider sehr ähnlich, da sind die Sachen vom Buena Vista Social Club sehr viel besser aus unserer Sicht.

Wer diese Musik mag und dazu auch Compay Segundo kennen sollte -es grüßt der Buena Vista Social Club :-)-, dem wird diese CD bzw. die Lieder auch gefallen!

Rien a dire Compay c'est Compay et j'adore la musique cubaine !!! surtout la sienneDes nouveaux titres et es classiques Toujours super !!A écouter et re-écouter.Merci Compay Segundo !!