‘Signo de Fuego' by La Evolución

Inspired by the modern Havana sound of large-format Timba (Cuban salsa) orchestras featuring electric guitars and synths over powerful, distinctively Cuban grooves, La Evolución is the latest creation of the acclaimed London-based pianist and band leader Eliane Correa, who brings her own London-infused voice to the genre. We review the band’s debut album ‘Signo de Fuego'

by Mark Williams

Signo de Fuego is the first album by Eliane Correa's most recent project La Evolución - a fresh, high-energy 14+ piece Cuban timba-fusion orchestra consisting of some of the top Cuban and Latin musicians in the UK and Europe.

The album was written and recorded during the pandemic over 3 continents by 23 musicians including the likes of Yuri Hernández (Nathy Peluso, NG La Banda) in Barcelona, Ernesto Marichales (Jordan Rakei, Larry Harlow) in London and Dani Morales (Patax, Alain Pérez).

I listened to this album with a Cuban friend whilst in Havana and we loved it right from the start. We wouldn’t have guessed that the band weren’t in the studio together or that the musicians were in 7 countries for recording, a miraculous logistical and artistic feat, the stress of which is invisible in the final polished result.

While its 10 tracks, excellently mixed by José Mendoza, include examples of diverse Cuban genres such as chachachá and bolero with a touch of rap thrown in by the wonderful female Havana duo “La Reyna y la Real” (interviewed in Lationlife in 2018), the overall emphasis leans towards timba (modern Cuban salsa).

While never descending into copyism, the music, which is all Correa’s original work, wears its references proudly but respectfully on its sleeve, both harmonically and in its various arrangement styles, which show the strength of the overall team who worked on each song.

Eliane’s admiration for contemporary Cuban groups such as Habana D’Primera and Los Van Van is tangible, the former reflected in the opening track La Reina and the latter in the songo-inflected Prefiero Perderte.

Flores de Cristal reminded us of bassist Frank Portuondo’s work with Dúo Jade while later on the jazzy funk of the final track Parará transported us to the basement of Havana’s Berthold Brecht theatre and the legendary late night shows of groups such as Interactivo and Toques del Rio.

Amidst such a lot of good work on the album it’s hard to pick out specifics for praise but it is really Eliane’s lyrics that put their unique stamp and add a great contribution to the timba genre. We loved the brilliant feminist-leaning lyrics on Flores de Cristal which Correa wrote after reading an article on Women's Day 2020 in the national Cuban newspaper that compared women to delicate flowers. “I just wanted to broach the topic of romance and sensuality from a non-misogynistic standpoint within the genre, and ended up writing Flores de Cristal (Glass flowers),” says Eliane about the song.

Indeed La Evolution is one of very few women leading large-format mixed gender Cuban timba-style bands – if not the only one. The amazing voice of singer Yadira Ferrer is a great asset and we were bowled over by the sheer beauty of Habana (track 2) featuring Josbel Figurita, a love song to Havana. These elements stood out in what is really an outstanding album over all. Highly recommended!