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Downtown Manhattan Social Club

One of Marc Ribot's first solo ventures was called Rootless Cosmopolitans, and appropriately so. Since arriving in New York in 1978, the guitarist has wandered the city and the world, an itinerant axe-for-hire willing and able to lend his angular, soulful instrumental work to just about any musical setting — from Wilson Pickett and Solomon Burke to John Zorn and the Jazz Passengers to, most successfully, the Lounge Lizards and Tom Waits.

On his own, Ribot has been no less eclectic. Most recently, he's found inspiration in the music of legendary Cuban composer and bandleader Arsenio Rodriguez. In 1997 (pre-Buena Vista Social Club), Ribot formed the charmingly inauthentic Cubanos Postizos (Prosthetic Cubans) with percussionist E. J. Rodriguez, bass player Brad Jones and drummer Robert J. Rodriguez, so as to showcase his interpretations of Rodriguez's music. Ribot's first recording with the band in 1998 was an edgy, low-profile musical homage. It sounded as though the group was trespassing on Rodriguez's lawn. On Muy Divertido! they've set up a tent and invited friends over.

It's clear from the start that Muy Divertido! is bolder than the debut, with more Ribot originals and looser renditions the three Arsenio Rodriguez songs found here. While on the previous album Ribot and company eased into the material, here they lock into a party groove right away with Rodriguez's bouncy "Dame un Cachito Pa'huele" (RealAudio excerpt), getting vocal help from actress/singer Eszter Balint and an organ solo from longtime Elvis Costello associate Steve Nieve. Augmented by new Postizo Anthony Coleman (keyboards — a sometime-presence on the last record), the band produces a richer, more accessible rock sound throughout, typified by the almost Santana-like "Se Formo el Bochinche" (RealAudio excerpt).

The production by JD Foster is again great, as is the precise percussion by the two Rodriguezes, though understandably it's Ribot's guitar that remains the central focus. His fuzzy chords and prickly individual lines lead the way, occasionally cracking through the skin of most songs for a brief, noisy solo, as in the mostly acoustic, tuba bottomed "Obsesion," the throbbing Ribot original "Baile Baile Baile" (RealAudio excerpt), and the sing-songy "El Divorcio." It's hard not to share Ribot and the Postizos' enthusiasm for the material, which is especially evident on the last two songs, the slinky "Jaguey" and the speedy rave-up "Carmela Dame La Llave."

Ribot is essentially a musical tourist, but unlike the stereotypical ugly American, he is a respectful, energetic and curious traveler. Ribot will never be mistaken for a native; he can't really speak the language, nor keep his natural eclecticism from seeping out. But he is the sort of informal musical ambassador who gives world music a good name, and who also gives "authenticity," that builder of cultural walls, a good-natured poke in the ribs. Long may he wander.

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