Grupo Son Boricua and Salsa Son Timba - Checking out regional Latin bands

So August 18th I headed down to Syracuse with a friend to check out a couple bands. I want to add to the Latin band rotation for the Oasis dance club of Ithaca NY. Currently, Oasis only has El Rumbon of Ithaca and Grupo Calle Uno of Rochester. The latter don't play well when they drink, which they typically do. So, I was lucky this time to have along for company, Eva Luna. With her to entertain time flew by and we reached Skiddy Park, Syracuse where the band had already started playing. There wasn't anyone dancing but I had Eva and so we started. After a while we got a few other people going and it was fun.
I found Grupo Son Boricua, really good. They know what they are good at and played it. You could also see the various band members really grooving and part of the music. Unfortunately, a little too laid back for a Latin Night, but I definitely would get them for a barbecue, or festival like they were playing at that day. The icing on the cake? I was videotaped and photographed for the Syracuse Post Standard, and if you want to see me I am there starting at about 44 seconds into the short video. Not really dancing as such in the video, but I think you can see Eva and I were enjoying ourselves.
After Grupo Son Borica, the band Salsa Son Timba came on as part of the 2011 Syracuse Jazz in the City celebration. A totally different experience. The girl singers were not good. The male singer's voice was ok, but his strutting and swaying looked artificial and contrived. Then the playing! It sounded like a bunch of individual musicians playing, not like a band. However, Eva and I decided that sometimes a band can need a little time to warm up, or perhaps have an off song. So we stuck it out through the first. Then the second song began and after 20 seconds we ran away. I was sorely disappointed with them and expected a lot more. I hope that they can improve with time as currently I feel they are giving local live Latin Music a bad name. I love Latin music and dance, and think that good live music is a great way to get more people to be seduced into joining the Latin music/dance community.

Ritmo Seis and Lovin' Cup - A Rochester Latin Night

I recently drove to Rochester,NY to check out a dance venue and a band. Lovin' Cup bistro is a really nice place to get something to eat and drink, but the dance floor reminded me of New York City. The floor is sticky, but I had with me my trusty talc/baby powder and that did the trick.
Ritmo Seis is an ok band. They played quite a few cha cha chas, which I liked, but their playing does not compare to Grupo Son Boricua of Syracuse, or El Rumbon of Ithaca, both of NY as well. However, Ritmo Seis has the sound needed for a Latin dance, so I passed on word to Oasis Dance Club that they were worth considering adding to the mix of Latin bands.
Speaking of adding bands I haven't talked about my Syracuse adventures of last week, so that will be my next post, coming up...pronto.

DJ Virgilio for your Latin Music Events

I just had my second dj gig at the Oasis dance club in Ithaca, NY this month and it went well. What I like about it? I play a lot of music that is not typically played at Latin dances and I still have people on the dance floor. My emphasis is Cuban, though I try to play music that expresses the breadth and depth of the Latin music world. Come to a night that I play and then go to another Latin dance. I guarantee you won't hear at least 60% of my music at any other event. It is very safe to play music that you know people like and is popular, but the inner rebel in me keeps on coming out, continually pushing the envelope... And it has worked so far.

Progress on the Cuban enchufla in rueda

And so today was the weekly pre-performance rueda class composed of people interested in joining the Ithakeros rueda de casino performance group, and again we made great progress. It is exciting for me to figure out how to translate something that comes naturally, break it down and then see other people getting it.

Today I took the leaders and Nan (Nancy A.) took the followers and we worked on using the "Cuban enchufla" for the first half of the basic in al centro position. Then we came together and applied it using con las manos: first holding hands and me calling dame with basics in between, and then con las manos proper. Finally, this was applied to dame while doing rueda.

Next step? Do it with the Ithakeros performance group during our practice tomorrow - Monday night.

Grupo Calle Uno And Me - Maybe?

So, Grupo Calle Uno from Rochester played for the Ithaca Puerto Rican Festival on July 30th. It was early evening and they hadn't started drinking. The band played well though they just played covers. Next they came to Oasis played all salsa sets and actually played new material! I couldn't believe my ears and at first thought that the dj had suddenly jumped in and I had lost track of time, but it was the band actually playing new songs!

So if the Grupo Calle Uno does not drink and plays new material I enjoy them. How many times am I going to enjoy these particular circumstances? Going by past history? I think I'll still pass them if I can help it.

Ithakeros Rueda de Casino Group update

Dance Movement - The group is now working on Cuban stepping - enchufla, dame/DQN, abajo with enchufla step...). It is an exciting time for me! I now can see people getting what I've been talking about from the time I started this group and how we will be different from others in the area.

Group Membership - There is a strong possibility of some new members joining the demo/performance group. These are people coming from the performance orientated beginner class that Nancy (co-directer/co-founder and I started a little while back) Growth is always great.

Publicity: We have a website, flyers, business cards... http://ithakeros.weebly.com

The Caterpillar - The Butterfly - Life!

For what the caterpillar sees as the end of its journey,
A butterfly views as time to test its wings,
Flying free...

We crawl, and then transform ourselves so we can fly
Die many little deaths, to be born/start anew...

(In the first three lines similarity can be seen from something I read in "No Perfect People Allowed" by John Burke.)

Djing

So, this past Tuesday, the 10th, I dj'd in an official capacity at the Oasis dance club. It was a lot of fun playing more of the music that I liked, and also adjusting what I played according to the crowd. I'm now busy selecting songs for my next gig - again at the Oasis - on the 23rd. It's easy to play songs that one knows people will like, but not as easy to choose music that one likes - is new to the crowd - and blend it in with a few not-played-as-often favorites. But, I refuse to cop out and the take the easy option. I want people to be exposed to the Latin music universe, and not the typical small corner that they do with what others play.