SOTW: Ricardo Leyva y Sur Caribe

With its rapid trill, la Corneta China (Chinese Cornet) makes an art form of being out of place. Its kite-like phrasing changes direction with too many unseen currents. It’s a magpie landing and taking off again. It’s the dorky kid with the funniest jokes. It interrupts without asking permission.

Given that I’m easily seduced by such aesthetics of irreverence, I’ve been swept away by “Añoranza por la Conga” by Ricardo Leyva y Sur Caribe from their album “Credenciales” (Credentials). Listen to the furious announcement of the corneta china and the way it wags the rest of the recording. Together with the clang clangs of Santiago’s Conga de los Hoyos (the supergroup memorably weaved into Alfredo Rodriguez’s “Para Francia Flores y Para Cuba Tambien” from the masterpiece Cuba Linda), Leyva's cricket voice gives this song the kind of crunch you want between the seasons.





Wendy Guerra has a book out there called Todos se van (Everyone Leaves). The title itself compresses a current archpelagic strain: most island songs are about leaving. Or about being left. The left behind, or those that choose to stay behind, are coping in song, on page, at the half-empty dinner table.

**Special Back-to-School bonus**
If “Añoranza por la Conga” isn’t your thing, here’s another jam that will help you cross the quad with gusto:




God bless. (ATV)