I heard about Raúl Gutiérrez several years ago through a music file download platform where they published the work of artists and bands that were not so well known, the kind that are not lucky enough to belong to the roster of the big companies, and that I liked it very much because, for a modest monthly fee, I could download up to 90 songs in that period.

You had to look for things you liked in that world of productions, and each recording had a little text that pointed out the essential data of the production. That's how I found Irazú, an orchestra directed by Raúl that had recorded Afro-Cuban music with a lot of flavor and quality. Intrigued, I set out to find out who the character was and discovered that, although he was living in Cuba, Gutiérrez was Chilean, a strange case in the Island where the music scene is quite exclusive, that he had been in several countries before absorbing sounds, doing experiments and polishing his skills and that he had become part of the Havana music movement.

The second time I heard from him was when I learned that he had arrived in the city where a musician by that name lives, to teach at a recently started jazz school. I didn't think it was the same person, however, it was him, the one I had heard recordings of years before, and I thought it was excellent news because I thought it would bring a new impulse to the local music scene... I was not wrong.

After becoming his friend, I can say that Raúl is a fool, that he likes to chop stone and continues to insist on doing the best he can with what he has, that he has often drawn water from the stones and that, above all, he is a musician from head to toe, loves his profession like few others and puts his heart and all his integrity into what he does. He knows about flavor and harpsichord, about tuning, power and nuances, he knows the ways of son and guaracha, of bolero and he even dares with merengue. That is what this work is made of.

But let's take it one step at a time:

First. - Our man has given himself the task of bringing together a reliable group of top international musicians.

Second, he has selected a balanced repertoire that contains classic Afro-Caribbean music themes and unreleased numbers, all of them of excellent quality.

Thirdly, he has entrusted the orchestrations of these songs to some of the best arrangers in Cuba, and that is not just any old thing.

Fourth, he has integrated a very good production team.

Fifth: He has coordinated the recordings.

Sixth: He has asked me to do these lines (I am trying to).

Seventh: You have worked very, very hard.

Ah!... and
Eighth: He played the baritone, alto and soprano saxophones, as well as the flute.

The result?

What you now have in your hands... a recording of great level, varied, well done, above all of great taste and that is what counts when it comes to the music of this part of the world.

This production takes us from the fundamental Miguel Matamoros and Rafael Hernández with their classics "Lágrimas Negras" and "Cachita" to new songs of great quality; there are son, guaracha, merengue, even a bolero, all for the dancer!

So play it, relax, let yourself be caught up in the rhythm and enjoy, your feet won't be able to stand it for long without moving.

Serenity, Raúl!

César Perea /2020