Desde La Bahia - breves notas musicales - TT: From the Bay Area - TA: brief music notes - Columna

Latin Beat Magazine, August, 2000 by Jesse "Chuy" Varela

ANDY MONTAÑEZ. The legendary salsero and his band rolled through San Francisco on Friday, May 26 at Roccapulco which is fast becoming the Bay Area's hotspot for top-notch salsa talent. With recent shows by Tito Rojas, Roberto Roena, Jimmy Bosch, Toño Rosario and others, the promotional efforts of Julio Mercedes have helped revive the cavernous club once run by impresario-pianist César Ascarrunz.

The one-time lead singer for El Gran Combo, Montañez is now an institution in salsa dance music who tours with his sons Harold and Andy Jr. and daughter Ednaliz. On the west coast to attend the 2nd Annual Bacardi West Coast Salsa Congress in Los Angeles, Montañez has traveled through most Spanish-language countries and maintains a reputation as one of the greatest of the Ismael Rivera-inspired singers. From Santurce, he is one of Puerto Rico's favorite sons. A total boricua fest, he gave a masterful performance. The lens of Peter Maiden, who is doing a great job photographing a very vibrant period in Bay Area Latin music, was there and captured the emotional essence of this giant.

MALCOLM X JAZZ AND ARTS FESTIVAL. What better way to celebrate the May 19 birthday of Malcolm X than with an afternoon of world class jazz. Coordinated by a coalition of community-based organizations, the free outdoor event had two stages of talent and featured poet Amiri Baraka, The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble with special guest John Santos, Oaktown Jazz featuring Ed Kelly, Five Generations with Jon Jang, Columna B with Yosvany Terry, Marcus Shelby Quartet with spoken-word griot Paul Flores, Mingus Amungus with John Handy, The Coup, Grito Serpentino and the Black Dot Jazz Workshop.

Held at San Antonio Park in East Oakland, the day-long May 20th event had the barrio grooving on a gorgeous sunny day. I got there a bit late but caught the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble with John Santos as special guest. With Fareed Haque on guitar, the Chicago-based band included Joseph Bowie (brother of the late Lester Bowie) on trombone as well as tenor saxman Edward Wilkerson, Jr. who played an exciting set true to their free improvisational roots. Drummers Santos and Kahlil El'Zabar wailed with potent African-based beats that drew from Congolese and Cuban influences that in turn brought a nice vibe to the communal feeling.

Yosvany Terry and Columna B were a rare treat even though the sound suffered through their set. Still one of the most exciting young Cuban jazz bands to surface, the ensemble picked up a couple of Bay Area members that included Dafnis Prieto (drums), Jesús Díaz (congas), Marty Wehner (trombone), Luis Perdomo (piano) and Yunior Terry (bass). Annoying feedback caused long pauses between tunes and the performance lost momentum. But I still heard inspired playing from Yosvany who has a refined technique on alto sax that squeezes nicely in jazz trajectory between Bobby Watson and Paquito D'Rivera. Prieto played a more subdued role than his usual explosive fare but gels well with Díaz. El Noticiero was their best piece and unfortunately their last as most of their time was wasted trying to get the sound right.

DANZON! A few years ago the film Danzón sparked a worldwide dance revival as viewers were transported to Veracruz, Mexico where danzon parlors and dancers versed in its complexity and beauty still reign true. A popular dance rhythm born out of the fusion of French and Cuban influences in the 1870s, it's a partner dance that requires coordination, skill and style with a ballroom sensuality vital to its aura. In the Bay Area we've been fortunate to have the only danzón orchestra outside of Cuba in our midst and Thursday June 1st they transported us back to the glory days with a performance that included the legendary Richard Egües of Orquesta Aragón fame.

A splendid show with two sets of incredibly memorable music, the 16-piece all-star ensemble kicked off with an instrumental that brought the comfortably packed house to the dance floor. Maestro Egües came up on stage on the son-cha Cuando Llegaré. With that old-school staccato attack, his inimitable voice resonated with a cool melodic timbre that swung. It's important to note that he plays the Euro-style flute and not the characteristic ebony open hole traditional to charanga.

As a pachanga beat kicked in and the pace livened, Egües projected clarity and tone with a glorious sense of syncopation. Not only did he play like the birds but with a rhythmic counterpoint that pushed the exquisite charanga style layers of La Moderna featuring "las cuerdas del terror" --Trager Otton, Sandy Poindexter, and Anthony Blea (violins) with Kash Killion (cello). The tireless Sabra Weber, who also helped organize this event, was on flute with the group's prolific leader, Roberto Borrell, conducting the proceeding with a great program.

As the hits started rolling out --El Bodeguero, Noche Azul, Ay Que Dolor-- it was melt-in-your-mouth music as the voices of Edgardo Cambón, Eddie Herrera and Arwen Castellanos harmonized through these gems. But it's the Justice League, the renowned groove dance palace hall where Cubop Records holds court amid the vibrant turntablist movement of electronica drum-n-bass. It is also home to numerous hip hop crews and as the sisters got in on the jam, they got the party going! They closed the program with Tocala La Flauta Richard and the homegirls screamed with joy encouraging Egües on who took this long amazing solo that was an incredible statement of his art.