June 21–28, 2001

music picks|latin

Afro-Cuban All-Stars

If you’ve seen the film Buena Vista Social Club, you may remember the fella with the dreads and the big grin. That’s Juan de Marcos González, a key figure in global reawakening to genuine Cuban music. We spoke while he broke from mixing a forthcoming CD for his old compay, timbalero Amadito Valdés. In his role as musical director, arranger and tres player with the Afro-Cuban All-Stars, González has taken the next logical step. After showing off what the old-timers could do, he has assured the music’s survival by apprenticing young players. He is exultant about ACAS. "We are 17 pieces on stage, from ages 21 to 63. The sound is modern, very jazzy, like Machito’s big band, in chord progressions and harmonies." Classic sones and boleros, cha-chas and guaguanco keep Afro-Cuban All-Stars just as firmly traditional.

—Mary Armstrong

Tue., June 26, 8 p.m., $27.50, The Keswick Theatre, Easton Rd. and Keswick Ave., Glenside, 215-572-7650, www.keswicktheatre.com.