A few years ago,Adan Pedroso and Asere,the group he founded,created the beautiful 'Romantica',a love song that captured the tentative,bittersweet and often painful nature of falling in love.Now,on his debut solo album,Pedroso consolidates his work as a sonwriter whit a heartfelt sequence of songs,having moved on from Asere into partnership whit Papa Noel. Any Cuban troubadour is going to be heavily influenced by Silvio Rodriguez and Pablo Milanes,the giants of the nueva trova movement of the second half of the 20th century.There is certainly a great deal here to remind you of their seminal work,particularly Rodriguez's philosophies and his magical ability to create insinuating melodies that get into your soul.Whit these benchmark artist as his touchstones,Pedroso carves his own sensibilities into each piece,from 'Quedate' (Stay),a nuanced song of hope for the future of the world,to the lively 'Una vez mas'(One more time). 'Ella Estaba desnuda ante Mi'(She was naked before me),his tribute to John Lennon,reminds us of the strong influence the Beatles had in Cuba. The delivery is strikingly minimalist,just brilliant guitar work and some quite terrific blasts of fabulous harmonica from a guy called Beaz,who is absolutely superb on the rockier 'Cuatro Verdades' (Four Truths). This is a fine,intimate album of song expressing a world in which everything is touched whit meaning. Jan Fairley