Global Cuba Fest

Yusa: what can one say! Multi-instrumentalist, multi-lingual, killer guitarist, creativity abundant . Energy flowing from her and all her musicians. Horacio Hernandez was spectacular but so was Yusa's traps drummer! All in all, it was a show to treasure. The start of the evening, however, before Yusa, was surpisingly disappointing. Tony Perez' solo piano performance was a string of over-dramatic poorly Jazzified renditions of worn out tunes like My Way, Unforgettable, New York New York and on and on. He mistakes violent attacks on the keys for communication of deep emotion...relentlessly! Jazz is not his thing. Standards are not his thing. The man's got chops - let's be clear, but massive cascades of runs up and down the keyboard, while technically impressive to some, are ultimately boring and un-creative. And his finale - a totally unfoicussed foray into electronic medium - was so uncreative and silly. Very disappointing. But Yusa made up for it all!!