Ry Cooder
Chavez Ravine
Release Date: Jun 14, 2005
Genre(s): Rock, Singer-Songwriter, World
Record label: Nonesuch
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Album Review: Chavez Ravine by Ry Cooder
Excellent, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Three years in the making, Chavez Ravine: A Record by Ry Cooder, is his first "solo" offering since 1987's Get Rhythm. In addition, it is a concept album; but don't be afraid. It documents in mythical style the disappeared Los Angeles neighborhood of Chavez Ravine, a Mexican-American district that fought over by real etate developers, urban planning activists and city government.
Opinion: Excellent
It has been a very long time coming, but it has been well worth the wait. Ry Cooder can never be accused of being a slouch when it comes to musical output, but in recent years he has seemed far too much of an enthusiast for other people's work to release an album solely under his own name. Instead, there have been a whole series of production credits and collaborations, from his award-winning duets with the Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré through to his dramatically commercial intervention in the Cuban music scene with the Buena Vista Social Club, and such impressive spin-off sets as his more recent collaboration with the Cuban guitarist Manuel Galban.
'Chavez Ravine'
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