Desde la bahía

Latin Beat Magazine, Sept, 1998 by Jesse Varela

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA

JESUS DIAZ Y SU QBA! It's Saturday night and the Cuban timba sounds of Jesús Díaz y su QBA are filtering out onto a moonlit Columbus Ave. in the City. Inside the 7th Note Showclub - where they're playing - the place is grooving as they jam to one of Cuba's top hits last year, Lola, by La Charanga Habanera.

"Timba is a modern expression," says Díaz, a Havana-born percussionist and singer who came to the Bay Area in the early eighties. "It's syncopated music with Afro-Cuban folkloric elements and funk phrasing. It's not your typical salsa where everything is smooth and stays within a context. This music has a lot of changes."

Part of the attraction of "timba" is the freedom it encourages on the dance floor. While there are those doing chic salsa ballroom steps, most are gyrating loosely with a "put your hands in the air" Caribbean panaché.

The term itself evokes a feeling and was used in the '70s to describe the "songo" beats being honed by Juan Formell and Los Van Van. During the '80s, in an attempt to market this new music, timba was dropped for the more commercial "Nueva Salsa Cubana" (New Cuban Salsa). Now a stream of youthful bands in Cuba are reclaiming timba to describe a music built on these innovations.

As the horn-heavy sound of the 10-piece orchestra percolates and singers Orlando Torriente and Eduardo Herrera vibe with the audience, it motivates a collective participation that Díaz and QBA definitely achieved in late July at the Velvet Lounge as part of the North Beach Jazz Festival.

"This music encourages self-expression. Timba is not a rhythm but a style you use to approach this music. I'm having a lot of fun, this is only our third gig and the response has been great," Díaz states.

GAL COSTA! This exquisite Brazilian diva is an international superstar, who can bend your emotions with a voice filled with charisma and delicious stylistic delights. That's what she did on a Tuesday night in mid-July when she performed in San Francisco at Maritime Hall. With a career spanning over 30 years, she has amassed 8 gold and 3 platinum records since 1968 with a music that ranges from bossa nova to pop rock. From Salvador, Bahia -a never ending source of creativity in Brazilian music- she's a self-taught musician who studied the styles of North American greats Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Stevie Wonder. Her mentor--Joao Gilberto-- predicted early on she would become a star. She went to Rio De Janeiro in the early '60s, surfing the bossa nova waves, but during the dictatorship she joined up with youthful colleagues Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé, and others, fusing the electric sounds of Brazil and the United States with their roots music. Since then, she has grown into an icon, presiding over carnavals barefoot, with her long hair flowing and her enormous, trademark lipstick-red mouth. Making a brief stop, following a Japanese tour, Costa showcased material from her latest release, Acústico (BMG Brazil), an "unplugged" concert taped for MTV. With scaled down acoustic colors, t was a chance to savor the purity of her art. A tip of the hat to promoter Bill Smith for organizing it.

¡SI SE PUEDE! In mid-May, a major fire gutted the Oakland home of renowned Afro-Cuban singer Bobi Céspedes (of Conjunto Céspedes fame), and her partner Edsel Matthews, founder and executive director of Koncepts Cultural Gallery, a Bay Area community arts organization. While their modest duplex in the Sunkist neighborhood was covered with home insurance, their personal possessions were not. With no funds available for clothes, furniture and appliances, an all-star lineup of musical friends, dancers and poets played a benefit on their behalf to help them through this crisis. Performing on two-stages were Conjunto Céspedes, John Santos & The Machete Ensemble, Mingus Amungus, Jon Jang, Vijay Ayer, Street Sounds, Will Power, Avotcja & Modupue, Genny Lim, Devorah Majors, and many more. Both Bobi and Edsel are longtime cultural workers who have graced us with an unselfish artistic vision that is truly a blessing. lf you'd like to help, donations can be sent to: Koncepts Cultural Gallery c/o The Bobi and Edsel Fund, 1428 Alice St., Oakland, Ca. 94609. Ache.

WALDEMAR BASTOS! In early August, following a stunning performance at the WOMAD Festival in Seattle, Angolan singer/songwriter Waldemar Bastos played a rare intimate show at Cafe DuNord in San Francisco. A soulfully gifted artist, he is truly a survivor. After independence was declared in his homeland in 1975, a civil war erupted that wasted half a million people and destroyed the country's infrastructure. Music production stopped and it wasn't until the '80s, when Bastos defected following imprisonment, that he was given an opportunity to record in Brazil thanks to Chico Buarque. Now on his debut Luáka Bop release, Pretaluz (Black Light), he articulates sentiments about the Afro-Portuguese rooted nation with mournfully dreamy melodies that cry of a pain searching for answers as well as optimism and peace. A time of healing, Bastos says, "for the spiritual diseases of war and human cruelty, the power of love is the only antidote."