Albita
No se Parece a Nada (Epic) (star) (star)
Albita was the queen of the Centro Vasco, the Little Havana club where her impeccable salsa band didn’t deny its Cuban roots but exploited them. Enter Emilio Estefan Jr., Gloria’s husband and Albita’s ticket to fame outside Miami. He handed Albita over to Ingrid Casares, she of Madonna and Sandra Bernhard fame, for a complete makeover. Though Albita’s still in her trademark butch drag, now it’s stylized and nostalgic. And though the music’s still rooted in Cuban guajiro, Estefan has added a trio of male horn players that dilute the original sound and disrupt the wonderful chemistry between Albita and the founding band members. Sure, there’s still “Que Manera de Quererte,” one of the most deliciously explicit salsa songs in years, but there’s also “Que Culpa Tengo Yo,” overproduced and with a cheerleadering chorus that’s a tad silly. Albita is amazingly talented, but this record is more about image than music.