The Art Of Dancing, Cuban Style

The 3rd Annual Salsa Rueda Festival took place this past weekend at San Francisco's Hotel Whitcomb. Produced by the SF based Cuban dance instructor team of Nick Van Eyck and Serena Wong, the festival offered workshops with internationally renowned instructors teaching subjects ranging from rumba to danzon to rueda de casino from beginners to advanced dancers. The festival featured cocktail parties, live dance performances, the Bay Area's best timba dj's: Walt Digz, Antonio and Dark Rum and live music from the likes of Miami's Timbalive, SF's own timba superband Team Bahia and Rumbache. Even though it was pouring rain outside on Friday night, it was steamy inside of the Whitcomb's ballroom whose dance floor was packed with wall to wall dancers groovin' to the sounds of Team Bahia, DJ Antonio and Samba dancers celebrating Carnaval! What a scene. Vendors were selling their wares from music/dance videos from Cuba to unisex clothing. A few feet away, oblivious dancers were busy gracefully grinding their bodies to a steamy Los Van Van timba mix. San Francisco has become a mecca for Cuban music in the United States. The Salsa Rueda Festival exemplifies this movement with style!

Salsa 2011 Style anyone?

Sonido Criminal is a new band from New York determined to keep their roots grounded to the bad boy salsa dura of the 70's while forging new ground in 2011. Their debut cd "Crime Payz" is an homage in image and style to the classic Willie Colon early greatest hits compilation of the 60's and early 70's "Crime Pays". Vocalist Carlos Mojica leads this pack of young lions who play ferocious gutsy salsa as if their life depended on it but they don't limit themselves just to slam it on every track. They do their salsa in English spin on the Wham! 80's chestnut "Careless Whisper" as Mojica interprets the sweetness of the George Michael vocal with a raw swinging edge. Don't worry there is plenty of powerful bite on the cd as displayed on the track "Rumba En El Cielo" that gives due to the ancestors of this music such as Lavoe and Maelo. Sonido Criminal has started 2011 with a big bang for all the aficionados and dancers of this music.

Bittersweet Moments with Bobby Hutcherson

I caught a show that reminded me that you do have to catch older great artists while they are still alive. Case in point is the Bobby Hutcherson show that I caught at Yoshi's in Oakland. The occasion was his 70th Birthday celebration. Now, I haven't seen Bobby in a long time. I decided to go since I had the opportunity to see him at the last minute. I was in for a shocker! A thin, frail Bobby Hutcherson got on stage with tubes from his nostrills connected to a breathing apparatus. My heart sank to see him in this state of health. Although he seemed in great spirits, his body language spoke volumes of his medical condition. He played beautifully. However, his trademark long fluid expressions on the vibes are now replaced by short tasty solos augmented by his great band. This was still first class jazz tastefully performed by these pros. I was later told by my friend at Yoshis that Bobby is suffering from emphysema. I was happy and sad to have been there in attendance. Great artists are human like all of us....and like all of us, they continue to pay their dues.