To close out the year, Crossfade is picking out its favorite albums by 305 artists. Read the full list of Miami's Best Albums of 2010 here.
Suénalo
Live at Transit (Suenalo Music)
Though made up of relatively young cats, Suénalo has established itself as one of our local scene's granddaddies with a smart, hard-grooving fusion that has been accurately called "the sound of Miami." And appropriately, this crew's third and latest release, Live at Transit, which dropped early this year, is exactly what it claims to be -- SoFla's best party band letting loose on one of the Little Havana stages that it helped make famous.
It was all recorded over two extremely memorable nights last year. Or maybe it wasn't especially memorable, depending on what you were drinking and how dangerously you danced. Either way, the big band did it in the group's prime stomping grounds. After all, Suénalo's monthly residency at Transit on the last Saturday of every month has become practically legendary, with descargas unfurling into the wee hours.
Live at Transit actually manages to capture the singular energy and fervor that these ten musicians bring to the stage every night. It's twelve tracks of crowd favorites like the playful "Manguera," "Miami Hustle," and "Kuchi," buzzing with a life you just can't duplicate in the studio. This album is almost like having these cats throw down in your living room. Only better, though, because they're not fucking up your feng shui.
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