La Banda el Recodo de Cruz Lizárraga - Mas Fuerte Que Nunca (CD)

All Music Guide

In 2006, Banda el Recodo celebrated their 68th anniversary, and they didn't do it by acting like a "ghost band"; instead, Joel and Alfonso Lizárraga (the youngest sons of the late Recodo founder Don Cruz Lizárraga) kept the Mexican institution moving ahead musically. "Ghost band" is a term that jazz musicians use to describe bands that employ the name of famous bandleaders who have long since diedfor example, there was a still a swing band billing itself as the Glenn Miller Orchestra in 2006 even though Miller himself died in 1944and the "ghost band" concept certainly isn't limited to jazz. There are many Latin "ghost bands," and by calling itself Banda el Recodo de Cruz Lizárraga, the outfit that Joel and Alfonso lead on Mas Fuerte Que Nunca (Stronger Than Ever) is technically a Mexican "ghost band." But unlike so many "ghost bands," this 2006 edition of Banda el Recodo is not a carbon copy of how the outfit sounded 50 or 60 years earlier. Mas Fuerte Que Nunca is faithful to Recodo's ...history in that everything on this 44minute CD is easily identifiable as banda, but Joel and Alfonso use banda in many different ways. This diverse album includes everything from corridos ("El Chivo," "Los Dos Jefes") to ranchera ballads ("Ya No Llores Corazón") to tracks that combine banda with salsa ("Apreta'o, Apreta'o"), cumbia ("Quiero Que Me Des Un Beso") or poprap ("El Club de las Feas"). The latter was used extensively in the popular Mexican telenovela La Fea Mas Bella, a comedy/drama loosely based on the hit Columbian telenovela Yo Soy Betty la Feaand Recodo's appearances in La Fea Mas Bella underscored their willingness to appeal to the Latin pop culture of 2006 instead of being stuck in the past. Not without its share of surprises, Mas Fuerte Que Nunca is a rewarding, lively demonstration of Joel and Alfonso's desire to keep Recodo forging ahead creatively while maintaining their late father's brassy banda orientation. - Alex Henderson, All Music Guide Read more Less