LA Carpool: West Coast Salsa Pop - Artículo Breve

Latin Beat Magazine, May, 2002 by Rudy Mangual

In the melting pot of Hollywood, a city plagued with over-crowded freeways and thousands of struggling artists, L.A. Carpool is a group of musicians worthy of mention in the city of angels.

Blending an authentic hybrid of danceable salsa music with English lyrics and pop music best describes the music of this unique group, a style they have baptized "salsa pop." L.A. Carpool emerged on the music scene about two years ago with the release of its self-produced debut CD, Havana Taxi, that rapidly dominated the mp3.com salsa and Latin charts, as well as earned the band a pop vocals #1 chart topper. All of this was accomplished without the group having ever performed live anywhere. The female vocalist originally featured was Faith Rivera, but by the time of the band's debut live performance last year at the Rumba Club at Universal City Walk, the lead vocals were assumed by Gloria Timmons, of Colombian and Irish descent. Gloria's talent and presence has re-energized the L.A. Carpool like a tank full of high-octane gas. Rounding out the crew of L.A. Carpool are co-founders Jack Gold on congas and composer Frank Garcia on guitar. Honorable Jack Gold is a juvenile court judge in Los Angeles who played congas all the way through law school. Frank Garcia was born in Cuba and arrived in the U.S. at age 12. He was a member of the Geffen Records recording group Oxxo. Puerto Rican Richie Garcia is the drummer, percussionist and musical director of the group. A spokesman for LP percussion instruments for many years, he has played with Diana Ross, Tito Puente, Phil Collins and countless others. Rick Ryan is the group's lyricist, as he steers the Carpool in the right direction, always keeping the soul of Latin music alive. The group has just released their second production titled Salsa Pop, featuring Gloria T. This new CD includes new material as well as some of the favorite tracks from their debut production. Climb aboard the L.A. Carpool for a one-of-a-kind musical joy ride.