LEGACY

With the dancers accustomed to the absence of Juan Formell, the Los Van Van presents Legado (Legacy) at the beginning of 2018. It would be worth asking: is Van Van still the same?

Legacy, circulating under the Egrem label, is not a musical and stylistic transition album, although new members have joined the orchestra, as is the case of Juan Carlos and Vanessa Formell: the former as a bass player and her assuming the role of vocalist. Two of the many virtues of this phonogram are: first, it is not shocking for the dancer to get used to the timbre and the turns of the new singer who replaces Yenny Valdés.

Second, the work of Juan Carlos on the bass follows some of the guidelines on which the songo was defined from that instrument, and although his strength is the guitar, this son of Formel's takes the instrument with dignity and enriches it with touches of modern jazz and rock.

The authors that pay tribute to this production do so by recreating the same stories that we have become accustomed to when it comes to Los Van Van: simple chronicles without great linguistic complications, stories for dancing and singing on any street corner. As a complement - and here Formelian philosophy stands out - they recreate themes that never go out of fashion, but from the dynamics and the anxieties of the man of these times.