Ezequiel Peña - Al 100% (CD)

All Music Guide

In 2003, Ezequiel Peña celebrated the brassy richness of banda on an excellent album titled Viva la Banda (Long Live Banda), which is widely regarded as one of his best releases. The Mexican singer is, of course, equally capable of providing norteño (something he began recording on 2005's El de Nayarit) or mariachi, and some Peña discs have favored a mixture of banda, mariachi and norteño. But Viva la Banda was, by design, an allbanda disc, and the same goes for 2007's Al 100 (At 100). Fonovisa could have justifiably called this album Viva la Banda, Vol. 2 and marketed it as a sequel to 2003's Viva la Banda; given banda's tremendous popularity in the regional Mexican market in 2007, that would have made perfect sense. But less important than the album's title is the quality of the music. This 27minute CD isn't the type of stylistic rollercoaster one finds on experimental banda discs like Yolanda Perez' Aquí Me Tienes; Peña is very much a traditionalist, and his fans don't expect him to... feature rappers, combine banda with reggaetón or provide banda arrangements of RB songs. Nonetheless, Al 100 contains a fair amount of variety. Peña approaches banda in a classically ranchero fashion on "Por una Mujer Bonita," "En Donde Está Tu Miel" and "El Necio," but banda is blended with cumbia on a lively arrangement of the familiar "Cangrejito Playero." And "Paso del Norte" reminds us how effectively Peña can sing a corrido. Al 100 isn't as essential as Viva la Banda, but it is a solid, if brief, demonstration of Peña's ability to function enjoyably well in a bandaonly environment. - Alex Henderson, All Music Guide Read more Less