'Some music is instant, immediately making the world a better place as soon as it flows from the speakers ... A more fulfilling and enlivening album this, or any other year, would be hard to find.' (5 stars)

- Daily Mirror

'A band who can shrug off personnel upheavals and the vagaries of music fashion to keep developing while holding steadfastly to the traditions and values that drove them in the first place is either lucky or shrewd. Sierra Maestra may just be both.'

- BBC Music

'The album is precisely performed, the rhythms rock solid, the horns dovetailing with the piano riffs.' (3 stars)

- Financial Times

'Five of the original members remain, and – with guaracha son, son montunoa, and some lovely changui riffs – the basic sound is the same. But the lyrics, by some very young musicians, reflect a move forward from the old Cuban clichés. The gerontocracy has departed, but son lives splendidly on.'

- The Independent

On Live Shows:

‘The broad audience – from twentysomething hipsters to silver haired aficionados – was testament to the all encompassing appeal of this effortless party music.’

- The Scotsman

‘Their sheer energy made them sound quite unlike traditional revivalists. Sierra Maestra may be veteran ambassadors of the Castro era but they evoke the glamour associated with Havana in the forties and fifties.'

- The Guardian

‘From the third number to the encore, the floor was filled … an infinite variety of complex structures inspired the regiment of twinkle toed prancers.’

- The Glasgow Herald

‘…the band burst into a blaze of song that brought the pavilion crowd to its feet … They soon had the joyous audience stamping and shaking and pulsating towards the stage, forgetting the bleak rainy night outside, just trying to get as close as possible to this source of amazing heat.’

- Bath Chronicle

’Master musicians, the band swap smiles of appreciation for each others solos in performances built around musical conversations. Th is deceptively unpretentious performance was packed with musical thrills.’

- London Evening Standard

‘... heavily laden with personality and charm, they had the audience of 2000 in the palm of their hands, moving and grooving to the marvellously tropical Latin rhythms they so effortlessly purvey.’           

- Drum Media Live, Sydney, Australia

‘Anyone with two left feet suddenly had one of each, and more amazingly, the sublime ability to dance… Then Sierra Maestra exploded into a pulsing number with the battery of percussionists rifling intricate variations of the audience’s handclapped clave. Magic.’

- The Coast, Halifax, Canada