NG La Banda

NG, la Banda que manda (NG= New Generation, the Band that rules), as its battle cry says, was formed in 1988 by José Luis Cortes "El tosco", flautist and singer who had acquired most of his training in two of the most influential Cuban music groups of the 20th Century: Los Van Van and Irakere.

With what he had learned, "El Tosco" formed a group which, despite not having surpassed its teachers and the bands the musicians came from, has always been noted for its unique rhythmic richness and flavor, with arrangements of extraordinary precision and first rate soloists, which include José Luis Cortés himself on the flute, Rolando Pérez on the saxophone and Feliciano Arango on the bass, as well as the excellent job done by the brass instruments, known as "los metales del terror" (the brass of terror).

The band’s first record "No puede tapar el sol" (1988) included some of the band’s first hits such as "La expresiva" and "Los sitios entero". This last song marked out the tendency in NG’s work by incorporating, theme-wise and music-wise, elements related to the Afro-Cuban religion known as santería, which would later be repeated in songs such as "Que viva Changó" and "Santa Palabra".

The next project was a record made in collaboration with Malena Burke (daughter of Elena) titled " Salseando" (1990) where instead of working with their own material as they used to do, they rearranged some of the genre’s classics, such as "Bruca Maniguá" and "Me voy pa'l pueblo," in a range of rhythms and styles that go from the guajira to the guaguancó and through to the chachachá and of course, the son.

The next recording "En la calle" (1993) was a combination of reedited songs from previous records with new material, among which an extraordinary version of Celina González’s classic, "Qué viva Changó", stands out. It also flirted with Latin pop music: "Necesito una amiga". NG edited three more records that same year, "De NG para Curazao", "Cabaret panorámico" and "Llegó NG, camará". The record "De NG para Curazao" does not do the band’s quality justice although there are a few good moments in it. The other two contain excellent material. Some items worth mentioning include "Santa Palabra" in the former and in the second, an excellent chachachá written especially for "el Tosco" by none other than the very same Juan Formell titled "Cha Cortés".

The band’s most recent productions include "La que manda" (1994), "La bruja" (1995), the record recorded live "En Directo desde el patio de mi casa" (1995), and the jazzy descarga called "Nuestro hombre en La Habana (1995)". A compilation was also recorded in 1997 called "Best of NG La Banda" (1997). While it is not really the band’s best, it does carry a few important, memorable songs.

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