Rating: NNN
One half of the fraternal twins known as the Puentes Brothers, Adonis goes “solo” here, although hermano Alexis co-wrote, arranged and produced most of Vida’s 10 songs. The brothers keep the pace mid-tempo, playing songs in the Cuban son tradition, a mix of Spanish folk singing, African rhythms and string work, as opposed to the universally beloved salsa vein. Not that the two forms are mutually exclusive, but son is often described as the backbone of salsa it originated in the Cuban Oriente Mountains as a percussion-only form of Afro-pop. Adonis occasionally slows it down, as on the wistful ballad Entre Tus Brazos, before restoking the fire on El Tin Marin, putting the brass section to work and rolling the rrrrrs.
