POP MUSIC REVIEW : Albita: A Stirring, Tour-de-Force Outing

Is she the new boss of Latin pop? It appears so.

In her Los Angeles debut on Monday at the House of Blues, Cuban singer-songwriter Albita and her eight-piece orchestra offered a stirring, near-perfect tour de force. Opening for Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, she ended up stealing the show convincingly.

The Miami-based artist’s importance goes way beyond her much-publicized masculine look and celebrity following. Even though her premise is to simply preserve punto guajiro and other traditional forms of pre-salsa Afro Cuban music, she takes those roots to a new dimension. Her music is a complete package of vocal skill, poetic beauty and outstanding playing by a group of young Cuban musicians. No room here for corny love songs, cheap erotic lines or the standard crowd-pleasing insults to the Cuban government.

Albita’s nine-song, 90-minute set included five songs from “No Se Parece a Nada” (Unlike Anything Else), her U.S debut album, but she didn’t rely on the safe, straight-ahead dance formula.

At one point she stopped the music altogether for a memorable, a cappella rendition of the classic “Cumbanchero,” during which Albita and the three female band members became a sort of Afro Cuban doo wop group.

Another highlight was “Baile de las Chancletas” (Dance of the Sandals), with the whole orchestra making a rhythmic groove with their feet to evoke a traditional dance brought to Cuba by African slaves.

Headliner Sandoval, concentrating mainly on his last two albums, had the difficult task of following Albita, but he did his job and proved once again that he is much more than “the guy with the high notes.” But there was nobody who could take the night away from Albita.