Radio Mundial

Latin Beat Magazine, Feb, 2005 by Melissa Castillo-Garsow

It's tough to be a Latin Alternative act in New York. Unlike in California and in many Latin American cities, there's a much smaller alterlatino scene to work with. For a young band, it means playing in obscure venues and having to win over audiences who haven't heard Café Tacuba, Manu Chao of Bacilos; who are unfamiliar with the genre and most likely skeptical of its merits. Few groups have overcome these obstacles and persisted--Los Amigos Invisibles and Yerba Buena stand apart as exceptional groups with New York staying power. And pretty soon you may be able to add up and coming Latin funk masters Radio Mundial to that very short list.

"Very few groups that come here get this kind of response," said David Fernández, producer and talent coordinator for the Jack Daniel's 2004 Concert Series, which organized the Radio Mundial's recent performance at D'Antigua, a Queens lounge. "It's very special."

But the five-piece group, led by Bronx natives Jean and Richard Shepard, two brothers of Peruvian and Puerto Rican descent, definitely labored for every single ovation, slowly building and enthralling the audience with their unique funk, reggae, rock, Latin-flavored mix for an impressive nonstop hour and a hall long show. Like La Raiz, the first song on their 2003 self-produced CD of the same name, Radio Mundial took its time introducing the different aspects of its music and the group's multi-faceted style. The ten-string Puerto Rican cuatro is followed by congas, which are layered with timbales, trap drums, and then more guitars (both acoustic and electric), a bass, solo vocals that lead into three and four part harmonies, and then maybe an electronic wave, until the chorus, like the audience now on their feet, has reached a fever pitch with shouts of "Radio Mundial!" and "Encore!"

According to the Shepard brothers, their Miami upbringing has left a distinctive impression on their music. "When you grow up in a household like that, you're hearing all traditional music from both parts, from both cultures," Jean Shepard said of his Puerto Rican mother and Peruvian father. "And then also when you're growing up in the United States you're hearing all the kinds of influences that are around you outside--like the music on the radio." Still, the 28-year-old musician who grew up listening to hip-hop, as well as Pearl Jam and Nirvana, now says he reaches into the past--to '70s salsa and North American funk--for his inspiration.

"The reason I really researched all the old salsa from the '70s and all the old funk from the '70s and really got in depth is because I would find out stuff that really connected with me," he said. "So I grabbed that stuff and I got influenced by it and I would listen to it and try and imitate it with [my] music."

And so, while Jean and his older brother Richard, 29, may differ in personal style (Richard counts Stevie Wonder, Tool, and Caetano Veloso among his major influences) when Radio Mundial comes together, their focus is clear.

"I think we try to maintain this theme that is Latin funk," Jean explained. "A mixture of the traditional beats, the traditional rhythms--traditional Latin music whether its salsa, mozambique, songo--all these rhythms mixed in with funk and house and reggae; things that we really like."

Radio Mundial, or Worldwide Radio, clearly achieved this balance, both on its CD and at D'Antigua--its first performance back in New York after a whirlwind European tour ending in Spain's Canary Islands on November 7. Released in July 2003, La Raiz, (Roots) is an energetic, barrier-breaking journey from Latin America's best tropical and rock traditions to Jamaica's reggae to even a hint of new wave electronica. The cuatro's sound, clear and pure, is just astounding in its simplicity, but still manages to fit in perfectly with the strong conga, timbal, and other funk-inspired percussion. While the pulsating beats of Me Voy leave your hips swinging and feet moving, Hasta al Final is heartbreakingly beautiful in its emotional soulful vocals and Hold On, a track with Spanish verses and English chorus, is pure barefoot reggae dancing on a sandy white beach.

The group is even better live. The Shepards--with Jean, more the moody rocker and Richard, the exuberant extrovert, in brightly coordinated shirts and ties--have excellent stage presence, plus definite sex appeal. Just one glance at the female swarms waiting to hang with the band after their performance is enough to feel the pair's picante edge. Add percussionist Gianni Mano, a Russian Italian Jew; North American drummer Eric Bolívar, and French bassist Patrice Blanchard, to get a true world sound.

Radio Mundial's greatest strength is their ability to infuse a heat, intensity and fresh edge into their music, after three years of struggling to establish themselves. And maybe that has something do with the group's origins. The brothers, who had always pursued separate music careers, were inspired to form a band for the first time after the attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.