An album from the Salsa Mundo series, which aims to explore the spread of Cuban music throughout the world. This album features Cuban music re-Africanized as salsa (as well as other styles, really) is represented throughout Africa. Of course, being in Africa dictates that guitars will have to hold a featured role in the music that gets produced. The album starts out with some Congolese reworking of charanga, then moves into a mix of son with Senegalese mbalax. As the album progresses, Moussa Diawara provides a stunning piece of kora work that fits quite well with the salsa feel and Papa Wemba provides a more straightforward piece of Cuban sounds. The electric guitar makes its presence known in Youssou N'Dour's old band Etoile de Dakar as they perform a Pacheco cover, and continues on to finish on another band that once featured N'Dour as the Star Band Number One plays a cover of an old Matamoros song. While the Salsa Mundo album on the same label might be rather more diverse in its range (Sweden to Japan and back), Africa is really the place where Cuban music spread after World War II. This album makes a good show of the directions it took once it got there. ~ Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide