It was a sad day for
Afro-Cuban music when
Generoso "El Tojo" Jimenez retired from music; he was, after all, one of Cuba's most legendary trombonists. Before 2001, there was no reason to believe that the Cuban trombonist would ever come out of retirement. But surprisingly, an 84-year-old
Jimenez did exactly that in 2001 and recorded
Generoso Que Bueno Toca Usted, which came out in the U.S. in early 2002 and was his first album as a leader since 1965's
El Trombon Majadero. Leading a
big band that is billed as
the Grand Afro-Cuban Orchestra of Generoso Jimenez, he gets in a few trombone solos. But he doesn't solo extensively, which is probably just as well because his chops aren't what they were in the '50s and '60s. When a musician has been in retirement for over 30 years, his chops will inevitably suffer -- especially if his instrument is as demanding as the trombone. Nonetheless,
Generoso Que Bueno Toca Usted is generally quite enjoyable. On this CD,
Jimenez's primary role is that of a bandleader/composer/arranger -- not a soloist. He employs a lot of talented Cuban musicians (including trumpeter
Arturo Sandoval and saxman
Paquito D'Rivera, both ex-members of
Irakere), and they have solid material to work with (all of it new material that
Jimenez wrote especially for this album).
Generoso Que Bueno Toca Usted shows no awareness of the New York-style
salsa that young Cubans and Puerto Ricans were eating up in 2001; lively, hard-swinging numbers like
"Aprendiendo a Tocar Saxofon" and
"Vengo Con Sed" favor a '50s-like approach and recall
Jimenez's years with the influential
Beny More.
Generoso Que Bueno Toca Usted demonstrates that while
Jimenez, at 84, wasn't the trombonist he once was, his considerable talents as a composer and arranger never went away. ~ Alex Henderson
