Polo Montanez (Fernando Borrego Linares) died in 2002, from injuries sustained in a road accident. Sadly, this weather-beaten Cuban farm worker had only been discovered in 1999. His first album, Guajiro Natural, was released the following year and became a huge hit throughout Latin America, especially in Colombia, where it achieved Platinum status. The present CD was his second recording. Produced in Havana and Paris, it followed a series of triumphant live performances where Polo sold out entire stadiums, winning over audiences who did not usually follow guajiro (peasant) music. And no wonder; his boyishly husky voice and sunny, arpeggiated guitar licks are well-nigh irresistible. Here, he leads a sympathetic crew of journeyman instrumentalists and close-harmony back-up vocalists in 14 tunes and each one is a melody-drenched, dance-inducing delight. Polo comes across as unpretentious, soulful, and warm, a man of the people caught up in the pleasure of everyday music-making. --Christina Roden