Several months ago my wife and a friend went on a cruise around the San Francisco Bay: she came back raving about a Cuban band that kept them dancing throughout the cruise. When the same band played a gig at Osher Marin a few weeks ago, "we" had to go. The band, Tito y Su Son De Cuba, was as good as she said it was. Bandleader Herberto "Tito" Gonzalez is a relatively recent arrival (2000) from Cuba, where he took lessons from and played with the cream of Cuba's dance and jazz musicians. His music is closer to the sounds Americans heard in the film and on the cd Buena Vista Social Club than it is to New York salsa, but some salsa influence is in evidence. This is logical, since Tito is younger than the oldest of the "Buena Vista" gang, the salsa sound has now entered Cuba. Tito sings in a style reminiscent of Cuban singers of the 1930s, 40s and 50s: not with a pretty voice, but with an authoritative voice. Tito also plays tres: a three-stringed guitar-like instrument similar in size to a ukelele. He picks a mean solo as well as setting a rhythmic pace. As exciting as Tito and his eight-piece group are live, on his cd TITO Y SU SON DE CUBA he has an even fuller sound due to the addition of as many as ten extra musicians and singers, all with years of experience playing Cuban music and salsa. If you want the best in rhumba, guarrcha and especially son (the chief root form of Cuban music), catch Tito at one of his local gigs ? and while you're there, pick up his delightful cd. If you can't catch Tito in person, get a copy of this cd and dance at home!