Notes & Personnel Info |  | Yerba Buena: Andres Levin (guitar, keyboards). | | Additional personnel: Peret (vocals, acoustic guitar); El Cigala, Fulanito, Joe Bataan, Orishas, Ajay Naidu, Celia Cruz (vocals); Les Nubians, M1 (rap vocals); John Leguizamo, Montse Cortes, Rossy De Palma (spoken vocals); El Nino Josele (acoustic guitar); Ile Aiye (percussion). | | With their unique blend of Latin music, hip-hop, R&B, and pop, Yerba | | Buena made a big splash with their debut album, PRESIDENT ALIEN. While avoiding Rock en Espanol cliches, the follow-up, ISLAND LIFE, boasts a pan-Latin sound that bespeaks the musicians' familiarity with the traditions of Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and more. The pace is generally frenetic throughout the album, and the vibe a steamy one, as percussion, horns, and guitar vie for attention on one percolating, polyrhythmic workout after another. Unlike many Latin acts that have made the crossover to a wider audience, Yerba Buena never seems to be pandering to the gringo market. Only a couple of tracks, the suggestive "Sugar Daddy" and the equally salacious "Bilingual Girl," feature English-language vocals, and there are no tacky rock trappings grafted on. The eclecticism of ISLAND LIFE depends most heavily on the | | aforementioned variety of Latin musical roots, though there are | | undercurrents of funk, reggae and, at one point, a bit of Fela Kuti-style Afrobeat. Uncompromising but completely accessible, ISLAND LIFE moves further down the inroads Yerba Buena made with PRESIDENT ALIEN. |
Producer: Andres Levin |
Musical Guests | | John Leguizamo | | Les Nubians | | Celia Cruz | | Fulanito | | Orishas | | Peret | | Ile Aye | | Ajay Naidu | | El Nino Josele | | Montse Cortes | | Rossy De Palma | | Ile Aiye |
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