Guajiro Natural

With a raspy but warmly appealing voice, Polo Montañez mines the same roots guajira tradition as Buena Vista Social Club star Eliades Ochoa. But while Montañez's feet are planted in the countryside of West Cuba, his music reaches far beyond, from the jazzy flute that winds around the vocal on "Amenece el Nuevo Ano" to the almost-pop changes of "Un Monton de Estrellas" to "Si Fueras Mia" and its emotive violin accompaniment. For a debut, this is remarkably assured, and the former coal man has the kind of charisma that could easily translate into stardom. Whether on the son of "Como Sera Manana" or when letting his voice lead horns on the title track, Montañez sounds relaxed and simply oozes melody throughout the disc, although he seems happiest in a relatively stripped-down setting, such as on "Canten." Singers this good come along rarely; catch him before he's famous. --Chris Nickson