Back to José Ma. Vitier with La Frontera Del Deber (1976)

Gotta love that pro-Castro cover art.  The one thing missing on that pictorial representation is the begging bowl, since any visitor to that island country will surely leave surprised at the skill the crafty natives have developed for begging for anything, a bar of soap, a towel, even a couple US dollars, often employing their wide-eyed children for that purpose as in so many others countries suffering extreme poverty.  And I suppose they also should have painted on the cover, perhaps in the background, a mass grave of disappeared family members shot in the head.  But don't let that bother you, this music straddles easy listening and composed orchestral music perfectly with virtually no cliches, no universal socialized healthcare, and a minimum of the typical hispanic musical stereotypes including those silly percussive rhythms, the women screaming 'ay!,' or mystery illnesses afflicting foreign diplomats.  I guess when all is said and done there's no country I don't mind making fun of.  Though Russia really is my favourite in that dept.  Anyhow, I guess few would argue the best composition is the secret zone, presumably by this he meant where all the 'disappeared' were buried along with the bullets in their brains:





But in this zone let's not keep this great music secret.