Search - Trio Matamoros :: El Original Trio Matamoros, Vol. 1: Recordando A Cuba

A Fake

BennyG | New york, NY United States | 12/28/2003

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Matthew Johnston is correct. On the misnamed, El Original Matamoros, the 'original' 1930s recordings have been dubbed over with new guitar and bongos. There is no need for this - the original recordings are excellent as is.Dubbing guitar over Matamoros is roughly equivalent to do doing the same to Robert Johnson or John Lee Hooker - in other words: ridiculous!The musicians doing the dubbing are actually quite talented, but as there is no way they could remove the original guitar and bongos, the new parts clash with the older. There are also extreme sonic differences between the new and older recordings.The best Matamoros tracks are from their earlier trio years. Their later conjunto material is not as noteworthy. The Spanish label, Tumbao, has put out some excellent Matamoros collections. Two particularly good compilations are titled: "La China En La Rumba", and "The Legendary Trio Matamoros". Unfortunately, Tumbao CDs are not available on Amazon in the USA. Both titles are, however, available through Amazon UK (but listed as 'unknown label'). You may also be able to find Tumbao CDs through other US retailers."

Close, but no cigarro

Matthew Johnston | East Coast, USA | 12/05/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"To be sure, there are some great songs on here, but BEWARE: this music is NOT original. The backing music and the vocals come from different recording sessions. The vocals sound completely original (and the quality is quite good), but as you listen to the supporting music, you realize that it must have been recorded in the past 10 years or so... it just sounds too clear, too "new." There is electric bass, and the percussion sounds too trebly when compared with the warm, muted quality of the vocals. It's not necessarily a bad thing: if you don't listen that closely, you probably won't be able to tell, and the overall quality is great. However, I couldn't get over feeling slightly cheated out of what I thought would be a completely authentic set of recordings. The complete absence of liner notes or production data also made me suspicious. There are lots of other Trio Matamoros discs that you might want to check out first. (and let me know which ones are good, because this is the only one I've got so far!)"