Esencia

Latin Beat Magazine, March, 1997 by Rudolph Mangual

GILBERTO SANTA ROSA

(Sony Tropical)

Gilberto Santa Rosa, the undisputed First Knight of Salsa, is back on the airwaves with his latest hit No quiero na 'regala'o from his latest CD Esencia. After the immense success of his previous recording En vivo desde el Carnegie Hall, Santa Rosa disbanded his orchestra in pursuit of a more relaxing solo career and complete dedication to his first love, singing. Esencia is just that, a recording work by a singer about the art of singing. The selections are vocal gems which allow Santa Rosa to shine and exercise his craft like never before. Not compromising a thing, he surrounds himself with exceptional musicians like José Lugo, Jan Duclerc, and Tommy Villarini as well as the backup vocals of Beckie Zambrana, Jerry Rivas, Osvaldo Roman, and Hector Rivera. Strings, guitars, engineers, technicians, public relation types, etc., nothing was overlooked in this production. Gilberto's soneo throughout the entire project is only exceeded by his level of professionalism. Besides the previously mentioned hit song, Santa Rosa does an excellent job with the Pablo Milanés composition Para vivir and the tunes Amandote and Y eso duele. Esencia is a true masterpiece from one of the true masters of the music, Sir Gilberto Santa Rosa.