Wild Heart

Few artists have the power this Gypsy guitar-violin duo boast to transport listeners to an exotic universe. For Willie & Lobo, it's their regular haunt in a Puerto Vallarta cantina by the sea. On Wild Heart, the duo bring that bar to life with gently swaying tunes that go down as easy as that last corona. Typical of their laid-back style is "Egyptian Odyssey," which rings like a theme to a dusty Western in which the cowboys have to head south of the border. Producer Rick Braun toggles the record between hip-hop grooves and more organic percussion. He also picks up his trumpet to turn the loping "Rosas Hermanas" into a graceful Herb Alpert-type gem. Violinist Willie Royal shows his diversity on this cut, laying down his violin and picking up an acoustic guitar to jam with his partner, Wolfgang Fink, and with pop-flamenco guitarist Marc Antoine. It's a formidable triple threat, with the focus more on subtlety than jamming. Willie & Lobo's more boisterous side (think last call, with the crowd getting rowdy) comes alive on "El Ni?o." It begins with a weird violin vamp, then explodes into vocal cries and empathic guitar - all over a percolating funk groove. The two also enjoy playing somewhere between the beaches of Mexico and a field in Ireland on "Rita's Jig." That piece is all Royal's (Lobo plays percussion) as he zigzags over the throbbing Celtic drum of Scott Breadman.