Homenaje a los cabilleros [click here for full lyrics]

Lovers of the first two Charanga Habanera albums who are wary of change would do well to start with "Yuya la Charanguera" and this one. "Homenaje a los Cabilleros", in addition to setting the all time record for the most sexual double-entendres in one song, combines many of the most exciting musical elements of the earlier CH classics with a bit of virtuosic, fusiony Latin Jazz.

Clave freaks should be able to amuse themselves for hours with this one. [audio example 33]. Give up yet? If you're not interested in this sort of thing, and/or value your sanity, skip to the next section. Still here? All right. As if to help us understand this beast, the arrangers have kindly brought back some of the introductory material at the end of the chart. By that time, the classic CH 3:2 groove of the first two discs is in full swing. When the abbreviated intro returns as an outro, the 3:2 rumba clave continues unabated. [example 34] Listen to example 34 until you get used to feeling the outro in 3:2. Now go back to [example 33] which clearly starts in 2:3 rumba clave. After exactly 8 claves, the familiar 3:2 outro begins. So, if you're familiar with our "Clave Changes in the Music of La Charanga Habanera" article you will confidently identify this as a "3:3 Clave License style clave change", but it only lasts for four claves before changing again, this time "New York style", but with a guaguancó twist. After the four 3:2 claves, a two note bloque fills the 3-side and then the congas come in with the guaguancó rhythm on the two side. This gives us two claves of 2:3 guaguancó which lead nicely into the typical 2:3 rumba groove that CH always uses for its cuerpos. As soon as the cuerpo ends, we go back to the standard 3:2 coro/mambo groove that dominated the first two albums and stay there for the rest of the way. This change is "clave license" style. [audio example 35] To follow along, clap seven 2:3 rumba claves and then repeat the 3 side to switch to 3:2 just as the piano breakdown comes in.

But causing non-Cuban percussionists to pull their hair out in bunches is only part of the charm of this track. The singing on this whole album is exquisite, equally divided between the auspicious debut of Michel Maza and probably the best work of Sombrilla, who on this track masterfully combines a long series of creative melodic guías with perfectly-timed comic interjections like [audio example 36] , where he follows a beautiful impression of a Santiago rumbero with his signature phrase, "¿eh?"