*** Yomo Toro

LAS MANOS DE ORO

(Xenophile)

Yomo Toro plays the cuatro, a small guitar whose jingling delicacy is the heart of a Puerto Rican folk music called jíbaro. Many of the tracks on his latest CD have a bittersweet lilt that's redolent of the music's roots, but with a lightning-fast line or a flurry of blues notes, Toro can sweep the music far from its rural past and into the urban present. Salsa trombone legend Louis Kahn and flautist Connie Grossman also give the music a contemporary edge. Vocalist Dalia Silva's throaty alto is a tower of strength and passion that gives novelty songs like the opening "La Pepita de Mango" ("The Mango Seed") just the right light-hearted spin, and anguished love songs like "Curame"("Cure Me") and "La Otra" ("The Other Woman") subtlety and fire. Toro's embellishments are like sunlight falling through the trees -- bright streaks of warmth and energy that play among the music's swaying rhythms. And when he steps out for a brief solo, his lines rush forward with a mischievous vitality as warm, optimistic, and open-hearted as his smile.

-- Ed Hazell