Canter Bridge

Somewhere along the musical pathway that leads up to a splendid, blue-skied Autumn day in America’s midwest, I may have stumbled upon an album that contained more pure joy than Juan Luís Guerra’s Ni es lo mismo ni es igual.

But I can’t for the life of me think what that might have been.

Let’s just say that, at least for the moment, this 1998 release stands atop that particular league table.

And how it stands! In truth, it dances! It twirls! It grins!

It triumphs.

It is alleged that the title of JLG’s band ‘440’ is a musical term that corresponds to precision and crispness. If that’s the case, they might need to add yet another zero to get the superlatives aligned as they should be. JLG and the band are breathtaking in their ability to take the merengue to scientific levels of up-tempo accuracy without for one second tilting at losing the soul of it all.

It’s a marvel. You’ve got to hear it.

JLG’s writing is full of the kind of wit and self-deprecating humor that most artists fail to achieve in a lifetime. JGL tosses it off, album by album, as though it were the artistic equivalent of rolling out of bed and hitting ‘off’ on the aesthetic alarm clock. From the loving lyrics of ‘Mi PC” to the unforgettable social criticism (or is he just having a good time?) of El Niágara en Bicicleta’ to the existential tonal resolution of ‘Testimonio’ and everything in between, this is exceptional writing, superlative performance, and high-quality production that allows its listener to drift far from Santo Domingo not once in eleven tracks.

‘Palomita blanca’ easily places JLG among the ranks of, say, Sting and Paul Simon, with regard to smooth, heart-hooking love song writing. ‘El primo’ picks up a hilarious lyric strain of merengue songsmanship whereby a primo (‘cousin’) is celebrated with outlandish claims of achievement and notoriety. I must have listened to this track a hundred times and I cannot do so on the one hundred and first without grinning, again. One of the principle virtues of JLG’s music is that it does not weary its repeat listener. How could it. The sweetness and joy in it can be squeezed for a few more drops on each return.

Juan Luís Guerra joins Ricardo Arjona on the pantheon of thoughtful Latin musians who keep churning out the good stuff album after album without sounding mass-produced. JGL in particular goes from strength to strength, warming hearts and elevating minds with his incomparable and world-aware artistry.