The concert started with theme ''Yo soy as''í, widely spread by our communicative means and followed by the public chorus only silenced on instrumental pieces.

The Andalucian genre lovers had everything. Chants and dancings took us through 13 Reinier Mariño's themes and one by Maylin Cejudo.

Reinier had the accompaniment of the excellent musicians of his band: bassist and contabassist Adem Rodríguez, percussionist Leonardo Bea.

His leader voice or cantaora. Alena Iran, linked her voice to the sonorous proposal and chorus that, together with instrumentists, made Iralis Carro in charge also of the classical palms and the unavoidable dancing.

The habitual team was joined by guitarist and CD producer José Angel Navarro, violinist Reinier Guerrero and percussionist Damir Fuentes, well known as Piñata. This proposal included bongoes, palo de agua and claves which, although didn't distune at all, could be better used in a searching for Cuban sonority of Flamenco, tackled by Mariño in some of his interviews offered with motive of this CD releasing.

A light design, supported by the so-called smart lights, favoured what our ears were listening to. Even more when dancers from Contemporary Dancing of Cuba and Laura Alonso's Ballet made their bows.

On concert's note, Master Harold Gramatges wrote: ''This group is opening an space for the legitimate emotion in its essence for that Lorca-style goblin showing his face when a group like this one convoke the happy event of the Cuban meeting with Andalucian roots''.

Without a doubt, during XVIII century, qualified by studious as the decisive period in the formation process of Cuban nationality and culture, about 23, 62 % of Iberian inmigrants came from Andalucia. These figures didn't changed in XIX, although Galicians, Catalans and Asturians also found place in our country.

With the exodus everything remains untouched. The so-called transculturation process mutated also the Andalucian essence to give space to Cuban Ajiaco. This ''all mixed'', tackled so many times by Nicolás Guillén, gave more priviledge to ''punto guajiro'' brought by the Isleños than to this sort of peninsular manifestation.

Flamenco music entwined then not only with other instruments, such as batá drums, but also with other sonorities which resulting sound has been registered for history, in the most important luminaries recordings of all times.

Since many years ago, Cubans managed to testify the purest flamenco music revival through dancing companies and older people might remember Obdulia Breijo and Marianita Morejón, both cultivators of this genre just as it came from the Iberian Peninsula.

In this way, Reinier Mariño appearing at the current Cuban stage is not a surprise. Fortunately, EGREM recorded Alma Gitana, featured as the first record of this genre edited in Cuba.

This can be added to the huge quantity of public attending the concert, confirming Mariño's words: ''This genre is still alive in Cuba".

Taken from Granma Newspaper, July/2003.

See discography in our Cuban Music Shop www.soycubano.com