AllMovie

Whereas Wim Wenders's documentaryBuena Vista Social Club carries audiences into the realm of old Cuban music, the concert film Caliente: Cuban Heat pulls viewers into the flashy, fiery world of new Cuban music, performed in neon-lit clubs by high-voltage young bands. Caliente takes as its sampling a cross-assortment of Cuban music styles, sporting performances by son group Orchestra Van Van, the combination salsa/timba band Chispa y los cómplices, the enervated, rhythmic Latin pop of Charanga Forever, the "terror brass" of NG La Banda, and the fiery charanga of Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco.