Thus concludes another Charanga Habanera masterpiece and an even more incredible accomplishment in that David Calzado had to do it with an entirely different supporting cast. I bought the release pictured here in a Cuban nightclub in April of 2000. It actually has 12 tracks, with the last being exactly the same as first. and the traditional "homenaje" piece, described below, dropped in the eleventh spot. It's a strong flow of tracks, although it might have been even more effective if El Bla Bla Bla had been moved to #9 to end with a real flourish, and stronger still had the idea of repeating the opening theme been developed further by actually creating a second version, a la Los Van Van's "Te Pone La Cabeza" album and Klimax's "Oye Como Va".

As mentioned above, the same group of tracks was re-released by the Peruvian company "Rositas Producciones" and both versions have been available at different times in the US. The Peruvian version has different titles and a completely different order, ending with "Sube y Baja" which is called "He Decidido Quedarme Arriba". In whatever form this is one of Timba's best albums.

Endless thanks to: Majela Serrano, Marcos Morales, Yulién Oviedo and Tirso Duarte for shedding so much light on the many mysteries of this incredible music.

This release is almost essentially identical. Many of the songs have different titles and they're in different orders as well, but they're the exact same recordings. "El baile del azúcar", released later, in Peru, has one additional song, the title track, a short live excerpt featuring Tirso Duarte putting the crowd through its paces, a la Ritmo Oriental, with the old "a la derecha, a la izquierda" routine. We'll cover the songs in the order they're presented on the original Cuban release, and give the alternate titles in parentheses.